By noiselessly going to a prison a
By noiselessly going to a prison a civil-resister ensures a calm atmosphere.
I have paid no poll-tax for six years. I
I have paid no poll-tax for six years. I was put into a jail once on this account, for one night; and, as I stood considering the walls of solid stone, I could not help being struck with the foolishness of that institution which treated me as if I were mere flesh and blood and bones, to be locked up...I saw that, if there was a wall of stone between me and my townsmen, there was a still more difficult one to climb or break through, before they could get to be as free as I was. I did not for a moment feel confined, and the walls seemed a great waste of stone and mortar.
Clemency alone makes us equal to the
Clemency alone makes us equal to the gods.
I have never been contained except I
I have never been contained except I made the prison.
Whatever you think of de Sade, he was a
Whatever you think of de Sade, he was a complex figure and we should not look for easy answers with him. He was, strangely perhaps, against the death penalty, and he was never put in prison for murders or anything like that.
The severest justice may not always be
The severest justice may not always be the best policy.
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
Two men look out the same prison bars;
Two men look out the same prison bars; one sees mud and the other stars.
You utter a vow, or forge a signature,
You utter a vow, or forge a signature, and you may find yourself bound for life to a monastery, a woman, or prison.
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.
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.
It is impossible to go through life
It is impossible to go through life without trust: That is to be imprisoned in the worst cell of all, oneself.
Nothing can be more abhorrent to
Nothing can be more abhorrent to democracy than to imprison a person or keep him in prison because he is unpopular. This is really the test of civilization.
The uneven impact of actual enforcement
The uneven impact of actual enforcement measures tends to mirror and reinforce more general patterns of discrimination (along socioeconomic, racial and ethnic, sexual, and perhaps generational lines) within the society. As a consequence, such enforcement (ineffective as it may be in producing conformity) almost certainly reinforces feelings of alienation already prevalent within major segments of the population.
Crimes lead one into another; they who
Crimes lead one into another; they who are capable of being forgers are capable of being incendiaries.
Prison, dungeons, blessed places where
Prison, dungeons, blessed places where evil is impossible because they are the crossroads of all the evil in the world. One cannot commit evil in hell.
Wicked deeds are generally done, even
Wicked deeds are generally done, even with impunity, for the mere desire of occupation.
Man is condemned to be free.
Man is condemned to be free.
He who opens a school door, closes a
He who opens a school door, closes a prison.
No crime has been without a precedent.
No crime has been without a precedent.
We're in a war. People who blast some
We're in a war. People who blast some pot on a casual basis are guilty of treason.
The world itself is but a large prison,
The world itself is but a large prison, out of which some are daily led to execution.
I don't like jail, they got the wrong
I don't like jail, they got the wrong kind of bars in there.
Liberty is rendered even more precious
Liberty is rendered even more precious by the recollection of servitude.
A country is in a bad state, which is
A country is in a bad state, which is governed only by laws; because a thousand things occur for which laws cannot provide, and where authority ought to interpose.
