Overlook our deeds, since you know that
Overlook our deeds, since you know that crime was absent from our inclination.
I wrote a million words in the first
I wrote a million words in the first year, and I could never have done that outside of prison.
There's no greater threat to our
There's no greater threat to our independence, to our cherished freedoms and personal liberties than the continual, relentless injection of these insidious poisons into our system. We must decide whether we cherish independence from drugs, without which there is no freedom.
The virtue of justice consists in
The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom.
Clemency alone makes us equal to the
Clemency alone makes us equal to the gods.
Laws do not persuade just because they
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten.
Definition, rationality, and structure
Definition, rationality, and structure are ways of seeing, but they become prisons when they blank out other ways of seeing.
The object of punishment is prevention
The object of punishment is prevention from evil; it never can be made impulsive to good.
America is the land of the second chance
America is the land of the second chance – and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life.
It is the deed that teaches, not the
It is the deed that teaches, not the name we give it. Murder and capital punishment are not opposites that cancel one another, but similars that breed their own kind.
Probably the only place where a man can
Probably the only place where a man can feel really secure is in a maximum security prison, except for the imminent threat of release.
It is the spirit and not the form of law
It is the spirit and not the form of law that keeps justice alive.
A man who has no excuse for a crime, is
A man who has no excuse for a crime, is indeed defenseless!
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.
History is full of people who went to
History is full of people who went to prison or were burned at the stake for proclaiming their ideas. Society has always defended itself.
I existed in a world that never is - the
I existed in a world that never is - the prison of the mind.
No man should be judge in his own case.
No man should be judge in his own case.
The world is a prison in which solitary
The world is a prison in which solitary confinement is preferable.
Everyone is a prisoner of his own
Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices - just recognize them.
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.
Before we can diminish our sufferings
Before we can diminish our sufferings from the ill-controlled aggressive assaults of fellow citizens, we must renounce the philosophy of punishment, the obsolete, vengeful penal attitude. In its place we would seek a comprehensive, constructive social attitude - therapeutic in some instances, restraining in some instances, but preventive in its total social impact. In the last analysis this becomes a question of personal morals and values. No matter how glorified or how piously disguised, vengeance as a human motive must be personally repudiated by each and every one of us.
Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule
Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.
The most anxious man in a prison is the
The most anxious man in a prison is the governor.
If two people fight on the street, whose
If two people fight on the street, whose fault is it? Who is the criminal? It is the government’s responsibility because the government has not educated the people to not make mistakes. The people have inadequate, incompetent education, so they make mistakes! It is such a fraud.
A pedestal is as much a prison as any
A pedestal is as much a prison as any small, confined space.
