The severest justice may not always be
The severest justice may not always be the best policy.
Three hundred years ago a prisoner
Three hundred years ago a prisoner condemned to the Tower of London carved on the wall of his cell this sentiment to keep up his spirits during his long imprisonment: “It is not adversity that kills, but the impatience with which we bear adversity.”
Written laws are like spiders' webs, and
Written laws are like spiders' webs, and will, like them, only entangle and hold the poor and weak, while the rich and powerful will easily break through them.
Justice renders to every one his due.
Justice renders to every one his due.
I have never been contained except I
I have never been contained except I made the prison.
While we have prisons it matters little
While we have prisons it matters little which of us occupy the cells.
Those magistrates who can prevent crime,
Those magistrates who can prevent crime, and do not, in effect encourage it.
There is no greater punishment of
There is no greater punishment of wickedness that that it is dissatisfied with itself and its deeds.
Once we are destined to live out our
Once we are destined to live out our lives in the prison of our mind, our duty is to furnish it well.
How dreadful it is when the right judge
How dreadful it is when the right judge judges wrong.
Laws do not persuade just because they
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten.
I was in prison, and you came unto me.
I was in prison, and you came unto me. Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
~(Jesus Christ) Matthew 25:36, 40
The public have more interest in the
The public have more interest in the punishment of an injury than he who receives it.
Taught from infancy that beauty is
Taught from infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison.
It is the spirit and not the form of law
It is the spirit and not the form of law that keeps justice alive.
To be in prison so long, it's difficult
To be in prison so long, it's difficult to remember exactly what you did to get there.
Prison continues, on those who are
Prison continues, on those who are entrusted to it, a work begun elsewhere, which the whole of society pursues on each individual through innumerable mechanisms of discipline.
The most anxious man in a prison is the
The most anxious man in a prison is the governor.
Self is the only prison that can bind
Self is the only prison that can bind the soul.
The refined punishments of the spiritual
The refined punishments of the spiritual mode are usually much more indecent and dangerous than a good smack.
Any punishment that does not correct,
Any punishment that does not correct, that can merely rouse rebellion in whoever has to endure it, is a piece of gratuitous infamy which makes those who impose it more guilty in the eyes of humanity, good sense and reason, nay a hundred times more guilty than the victim on whom the punishment is inflicted.
Wherever any one is against his will,
Wherever any one is against his will, that is to him a prison.
So justice while she winks at crimes,
So justice while she winks at crimes, Stumbles on innocence sometimes.
It is certain that the study of human
It is certain that the study of human psychology, if it were undertaken exclusively in prisons, would also lead to misrepresentation and absurd generalizations.
And while God had work for Paul, he
And while God had work for Paul, he found him friends both in court and prison. Let persecutors send saints to prison, God can provide a keeper for their turn.
