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.
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.
Fast closed with double grills
Fast closed with double grills
And triple gates – the cell
To wicked souls is hell;
But to a mind that's innocent
'Tis only iron, wood and stone.
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.
There are dreadful punishments enacted
There are dreadful punishments enacted against thieves; but it were much better to make such good provisions, by which every man might be put in a method how to live, and so to be preserved from the fatal necessity of stealing and dying for it.
I can work for the Lord in or out of
I can work for the Lord in or out of prison.
By noiselessly going to a prison a
By noiselessly going to a prison a civil-resister ensures a calm atmosphere.
Society prepares the crime; the criminal
Society prepares the crime; the criminal commits it.
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!
Nelson Mandela and Malcolm X came out of
Nelson Mandela and Malcolm X came out of prison stronger.
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.
Taught from infancy that beauty is
Taught from infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison.
In prisons, those things withheld from
In prisons, those things withheld from and denied to the prisoner become precisely what he wants most of all.
To make punishments efficacious, two
To make punishments efficacious, two things are necessary. They must never be disproportioned to the offence, and they must be certain.
The severest justice may not always be
The severest justice may not always be the best policy.
Prisons don't rehabilitate, they don't
Prisons don't rehabilitate, they don't punish, they don't protect, so what the hell do they do?
It is hard, but it is excellent, to find
It is hard, but it is excellent, to find the right knowledge of when correction is necessary and when grace doth most avail.
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.
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.
Virtue pardons the wicked, as the
Virtue pardons the wicked, as the sandal-tree perfumes the axe which strikes it.
Punishment, that is the justice for the
Punishment, that is the justice for the unjust.
A pedestal is as much a prison as any
A pedestal is as much a prison as any small, confined space.
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.
One should respect public opinion
One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny.
Prison continues, on those who are
Prison continues, on those who are entrusted to it, a work begun elsewhere, which the whole of society pursues on each individual through innumerable mechanisms of discipline.
