Adversities such as being homeless and
Adversities such as being homeless and going to prison has made many people stronger.
So justice while she winks at crimes,
So justice while she winks at crimes, Stumbles on innocence sometimes.
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.
We are prisoners of ideas.
We are prisoners of ideas.
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.
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.
Clemency alone makes us equal to the
Clemency alone makes us equal to the gods.
You stuff somebody into the American
You stuff somebody into the American dream, and it becomes a prison.
While we have prisons it matters little
While we have prisons it matters little which of us occupy the cells.
How dreadful it is when the right judge
How dreadful it is when the right judge judges wrong.
No man survives when freedom fails. The
No man survives when freedom fails. The best men rot in filthy jails, and those who cry 'appease, appease' are hanged by those they tried to please.
The perfection of a thing consists in
The perfection of a thing consists in its essence; there are perfect criminals, as there are men of perfect probity.
There are few better measures of the
There are few better measures of the concern a society has for its individual members and its own well being than the way it handles criminals.
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.
A just chastisement may benefit a man,
A just chastisement may benefit a man, though it seldom does; but an unjust one changes all his blood to gall.
Do not lay on the multitude the blame
Do not lay on the multitude the blame that is due to a few.
Money will determine whether the accused
Money will determine whether the accused goes to prison or walks out of the courtroom a free man.
If punishment reaches not the mind and
If punishment reaches not the mind and makes not the will supple, it hardens the offender.
The penalty for laughing in a courtroom
The penalty for laughing in a courtroom is six months in jail; if it were not for this penalty, the jury would never hear the evidence.
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.
Federal prison, if you get any of it,
Federal prison, if you get any of it, you're going to have to do 85% of it. And the reason why I called it that is because I had a friend who got sent to the federal joint and his whole... it wasn't about him being in jail. He cried about the 85%.
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.
The punishment can be remitted; the
The punishment can be remitted; the crime is everlasting.
Mere factual innocence is no reason not
Mere factual innocence is no reason not to carry out a death sentence properly reached.