Nelson Mandela and Malcolm X came out of prison stronger.
Once we are destined to live out our lives in the prison of our mind, our duty is to furnish it well.
While we have prisons it matters little which of us occupy the cells.
What restrains us from killing is partly fear of punishment, partly moral scruple, and partly what may be described as a sense of humor.
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
On average, drug prisoners spend more time in federal prison than rapists, who often get out on early release because of the overcrowding in prison caused by the Drug War.
I know not whether laws be right, or whether laws be wrong; All that we know who lie in gaol is that the wall is strong; And that each day is like a year, a year whose days are long.
Care should be taken that the punishment does not exceed the guilt; and also that some men do not suffer for offenses for which others are not even indicted.
When I was in prison, I was wrapped up in all those deep books. That Tolstoy crap - people shouldn't read that stuff.
In a civilized society, all crimes are likely to be sins, but most sins are not and ought not to be treated as crimes.
Wicked deeds are generally done, even with impunity, for the mere desire of occupation.
Educate your children to self-control, to the habit of holding passion and prejudice and evil tendencies to an upright and reasoning will, and you have done much to abolish misery from their future lives and crimes to society.
Mere factual innocence is no reason not to carry out a death sentence properly reached.
Assassination is the extreme form of censorship.
The law does not pretend to punish everything that is dishonest. That would seriously interfere with business.
It is impossible to go through life without trust: That is to be imprisoned in the worst cell of all, oneself.
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.
Self is the only prison that can bind the soul.
If it's near dinner-time, the foreman takes out his watch when the jury has retired, and says: "Dear me, gentlemen, ten minutes to five, I declare! I dine at five, gentlemen." "So do I," says everybody else, except two men who ought to have dined at three and seem more than half disposed to stand out in consequence. The foreman smiles, and puts up his watch:--"Well, gentlemen, what do we say, plaintiff or defendant, gentlemen?
If you want total security, go to prison. There you’re fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking…is freedom.
Extreme justice is extreme injustice.
I wrote a million words in the first year, and I could never have done that outside of prison.
There is no greater punishment of wickedness that that it is dissatisfied with itself and its deeds.
Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass, Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron, Can be retentive to the strength of spirit; But life, being weary of these worldly bars, Never lacks power to dismiss itself.
It becomes not a law-maker to be a law-breaker.
