hit somebody when they are down
hit a man when he's down
kick a man when he's down

"Never hit a man when he's down; it's always easier to kick him."

"There's something unfair about it," I added, "like hitting a man when he's down."

You wouldn't hit a man when he's down.'

So there was nothing else for it but Rule of Life No 4: Never hit a man when he's down; run over him.

A famous phrase in Russian, "Do not hit a man when he's down", has roots in that sport.

"Hit a man when he's down," Kiley roared.

"Granted; but you need n't hit a man when he 's down," muttered Tom to himself, feeling every moment a stronger desire to do something that should silence everybody.

Most of what is now written about foreign policy is simply an embroidery on this theme, and for several decades such phrases as 'Play the game', 'Don't hit a man when he's down' and 'It's not cricket' have never failed to draw a snigger from anyone of intellectual pretensions.