I was in prison, and you came unto me.
I was in prison, and you came unto me. Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
~(Jesus Christ) Matthew 25:36, 40
The common argument that crime is caused
The common argument that crime is caused by poverty is a kind of slander on the poor.
It is true you cannot eat freedom and
It is true you cannot eat freedom and you cannot power machinery with democracy. But then neither can political prisoners turn on the light in the cells of a dictatorship.
There is no peace because the making of
There is no peace because the making of peace is at least as costly as the making of war - at least as exigent, at least as disruptive, at least as liable to bring disgrace and prison and death in its wake.
Reality becomes a prison to those who
Reality becomes a prison to those who can’t get out of it.
I know how men in exile feed on dreams
I know how men in exile feed on dreams of hope.
While crime is punished it yet
While crime is punished it yet increases.
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.
It is certain that the study of human
It is certain that the study of human psychology, if it were undertaken exclusively in prisons, would also lead to misrepresentation and absurd generalizations.
Hard cases, it is said, make bad law.
Hard cases, it is said, make bad law.
Crimes generally punish themselves.
Crimes generally punish themselves.
Hanging was the worst use a man could be
Hanging was the worst use a man could be put to.
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.
In jail a man has no personality. He is
In jail a man has no personality. He is a minor disposal problem and a few entries on reports. Nobody cares who loves or hates him, what he looks like, what he did with his life. Nobody reacts to him unless he gives trouble. Nobody abuses him. All that is asked of him is that he go quietly to the right cell and remain quiet when he gets there. There is nothing to fight against, nothing to be mad at. The jailers are quiet men without animosity or sadism.
Only free men can negotiate. Prisoners
Only free men can negotiate. Prisoners cannot enter into contracts.
As we grow in wisdom, we pardon more
As we grow in wisdom, we pardon more freely.
Well, I don't think prisons are the
Well, I don't think prisons are the answer to everything, obviously.
The worst of prison life, he thought,
The worst of prison life, he thought, was not being able to close his door.
There is a point at which even justice
There is a point at which even justice does injury.
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.
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.
Show me the prison, Show me the jail,
Show me the prison, Show me the jail, Show me the prisoner whose life has gone stale. And I'll show you a young man with so many reasons why And there, but for fortune, go you or I.
In a civilized society, all crimes are
In a civilized society, all crimes are likely to be sins, but most sins are not and ought not to be treated as crimes.
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 variety in punishment is of utility,
A variety in punishment is of utility, as well as a proportion.
