Assassination is the extreme form of
Assassination is the extreme form of censorship.
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.
Punishment, that is the justice for the
Punishment, that is the justice for the unjust.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
I never told a victim story about my
I never told a victim story about my imprisonment. Instead, I told a transformation story - about how prison changed my outlook, about how I saw that communication, truth, and trust are at the heart of power.
Those magistrates who can prevent crime,
Those magistrates who can prevent crime, and do not, in effect encourage it.
The thoughts of a prisoner - they're not
The thoughts of a prisoner - they're not free either. They keep returning to the same things.
Civilization is maintained by a very few
Civilization is maintained by a very few people in a small number of places and we need only some bombs and a few prisons to blot it out altogether.
They were being driven to a prison,
They were being driven to a prison, through no fault of their own, in all probability for life. In comparison, how much easier it would be to walk to the gallows than to this tomb of living horrors!
Women have worked hard; starved in
Women have worked hard; starved in prison; given of their time and lives that we might sit in the House of Commons and take part in the legislating of this country.
There are only two places in the world
There are only two places in the world where time takes precedence over the job to be done. School and prison.
Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule
Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.
Society prepares the crime; the criminal
Society prepares the crime; the criminal commits it.
Virtue pardons the wicked, as the
Virtue pardons the wicked, as the sandal-tree perfumes the axe which strikes it.
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.
Crime succeeds by sudden despatch;
Crime succeeds by sudden despatch; honest counsels gain vigor by delay.
Well, I don't think prisons are the
Well, I don't think prisons are the answer to everything, obviously.
I sometimes wish that people would put a
I sometimes wish that people would put a little more emphasis upon the observance of the law than they do upon its enforcement.
By noiselessly going to a prison a
By noiselessly going to a prison a civil-resister ensures a calm atmosphere.
Prison makes you a better judge of
Prison makes you a better judge of character. You pick up on people much faster.
No obligation to justice does force a
No obligation to justice does force a man to be cruel, or to use the sharpest sentence.
Every instance of a man's suffering the
Every instance of a man's suffering the penalty of the law is an instance of the failure of that penalty in effecting its purpose, which is to deter.
The object of punishment is prevention
The object of punishment is prevention from evil; it never can be made impulsive to good.
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.
When it comes to freedom, we are but
When it comes to freedom, we are but prisoners of our own desires.