The law does not pretend to punish
The law does not pretend to punish everything that is dishonest. That would seriously interfere with business.
Shyness is the prison of the heart.
Shyness is the prison of the heart.
The reformative effect of punishment is
The reformative effect of punishment is a belief that dies hard, chiefly I think, because it is so satisfying to our sadistic impulses.
Prosecution I have managed to avoid; but
Prosecution I have managed to avoid; but I have been arrested, charged in a police court, have refused to be bound over, and thereupon have been unconditionally released - to my great regret; for I have always wanted to know what going to prison was like.
What is crime amongst the multitude, is
What is crime amongst the multitude, is only vice among the few.
Crime succeeds by sudden despatch;
Crime succeeds by sudden despatch; honest counsels gain vigor by delay.
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.
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.
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.
Man is born free, and everywhere he is
Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.
It is better that ten guilty persons
It is better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer.
Our task must be to free ourselves from
Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
Distrust all in whom the impulse to
Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful.
The only real prison is fear, and the
The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.
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.
A Sunday school is a prison in which
A Sunday school is a prison in which children do penance for the evil conscience of their parents.
You stuff somebody into the American
You stuff somebody into the American dream, and it becomes a prison.
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.
On a planet that increasingly resembles
On a planet that increasingly resembles one huge Maximum Security prison, the only intelligent choice is to plan a jail break.
The virtue of justice consists in
The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom.
In my country we go to prison first and
In my country we go to prison first and then become President.
The most anxious man in a prison is the
The most anxious man in a prison is the governor.
Prison makes you a better judge of
Prison makes you a better judge of character. You pick up on people much faster.
It was only when I lay there on the
It was only when I lay there on the rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not between states nor between social classes nor between political parties, but right through every human heart, through all human hearts. And that is why I turn back to the years of my imprisonment and say, sometimes to the astonishment of those about me, bless you, prison, for having been a part of my life.
Do not lay on the multitude the blame
Do not lay on the multitude the blame that is due to a few.
