The torment of human frustration,
The torment of human frustration, whatever its immediate cause, is the knowledge that the self is in prison, its vital force and 'mangled mind' leaking away in lonely, wasteful self-conflict.
The severest justice may not always be
The severest justice may not always be the best policy.
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.
I know how men in exile feed on dreams
I know how men in exile feed on dreams of hope.
Some laws of state aimed at curbing
Some laws of state aimed at curbing crime are even more criminal.
No crime has been without a precedent.
No crime has been without a precedent.
The guilt of enforced crimes lies on
The guilt of enforced crimes lies on those who impose them.
Forgiveness, that noblest of all
Forgiveness, that noblest of all self-denial, is a virtue which he alone who can practise in himself can willingly believe in another.
It isn't true that convicts live like
It isn't true that convicts live like animals: animals have more room to move around.
Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten
Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass, Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron, Can be retentive to the strength of spirit; But life, being weary of these worldly bars, Never lacks power to dismiss itself.
The English laws punish vice; the
The English laws punish vice; the Chinese laws do more, they reward virtue.
I can work for the Lord in or out of
I can work for the Lord in or out of prison.
Mere factual innocence is no reason not
Mere factual innocence is no reason not to carry out a death sentence properly reached.
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.
The solution to our drug problem is not
The solution to our drug problem is not in incarceration.
I know not whether laws be right, or
I know not whether laws be right, or whether laws be wrong; All that we know who lie in gaol is that the wall is strong; And that each day is like a year, a year whose days are long.
We judge ourselves by what we feel
We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.
We who live in prison, and in whose
We who live in prison, and in whose lives there is no event but sorrow, have to measure time by throbs of pain, and the record of bitter moments.
I am certain that nothing has done so
I am certain that nothing has done so much to destroy the juridical safeguards of individual freedom as the striving after this mirage of social justice.
We are prisoners of ideas.
We are prisoners of ideas.
The best situation of all, and one
The best situation of all, and one frequently utilized, is for jails and prisons to allow volunteer ministers of all faiths to enter prisons and offer their services to the inmates who want them. That way, the religious needs of inmates are met but without government funds being spent.
So justice while she winks at crimes,
So justice while she winks at crimes, Stumbles on innocence sometimes.
Justice is justice though it's always
Justice is justice though it's always delayed and finally done only by mistake.
Intellectual despair results in neither
Intellectual despair results in neither weakness nor dreams, but in violence. It is only a matter of knowing how to give vent to one's rage; whether one only wants to wander like madmen around prisons, or whether one wants to overturn them.
A pedestal is as much a prison as any
A pedestal is as much a prison as any small, confined space.
