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.
Extreme justice is extreme injustice.
Extreme justice is extreme injustice.
The severest justice may not always be
The severest justice may not always be the best policy.
Trial by jury itself, instead of being a
Trial by jury itself, instead of being a security to persons who are accused, shall be a delusion, a mockery, and a snare.
Overlook our deeds, since you know that
Overlook our deeds, since you know that crime was absent from our inclination.
It isn't true that convicts live like
It isn't true that convicts live like animals: animals have more room to move around.
A man will be imprisoned in a room with
A man will be imprisoned in a room with a door that's unlocked and opens inwards, as long as it does not occur to him to pull rather than push.
Vices are not crimes.
Vices are not crimes.
It becomes not a law-maker to be a
It becomes not a law-maker to be a law-breaker.
Why would anyone expect him to come out
Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter? He went to prison for three years, not Princeton.
I submit that an individual who breaks a
I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.
If punishment reaches not the mind and
If punishment reaches not the mind and makes not the will supple, it hardens the offender.
Adversities such as being homeless and
Adversities such as being homeless and going to prison has made many people stronger.
Prison makes you a better judge of
Prison makes you a better judge of character. You pick up on people much faster.
It is better that ten guilty persons
It is better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer.
The worst prison is not of stone. It is
The worst prison is not of stone. It is of a throbbing heart, outraged by an infamous life.
To trial bring her stolen charms, and
To trial bring her stolen charms, and let her prison be my arms.
By noiselessly going to a prison a
By noiselessly going to a prison a civil-resister ensures a calm atmosphere.
It is the spirit and not the form of law
It is the spirit and not the form of law that keeps justice alive.
Justice renders to every one his due.
Justice renders to every one his due.
Intellectual despair results in neither
Intellectual despair results in neither weakness nor dreams, but in violence. It is only a matter of knowing how to give vent to one's rage; whether one only wants to wander like madmen around prisons, or whether one wants to overturn them.
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.
It is safer that a bad man should not be
It is safer that a bad man should not be accused, than that he should be acquitted.
No matter how you seem to fatten on a
No matter how you seem to fatten on a crime, that can never be good for the bee which is bad for the hive.
Virtue pardons the wicked, as the
Virtue pardons the wicked, as the sandal-tree perfumes the axe which strikes it.