Mere factual innocence is no reason not
Mere factual innocence is no reason not to carry out a death sentence properly reached.
It is impossible to go through life
It is impossible to go through life without trust: That is to be imprisoned in the worst cell of all, oneself.
The severest justice may not always be
The severest justice may not always be the best policy.
No written law has been more binding
No written law has been more binding than unwritten custom supported by popular opinion.
The only effect of public punishment is
The only effect of public punishment is to show the rabble how bravely it can be borne; and that every one who hath lost a toe-nail hath suffered worse.
The public have more interest in the
The public have more interest in the punishment of an injury than he who receives it.
It is better that ten guilty persons
It is better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer.
Vices are not crimes.
Vices are not crimes.
Steal goods and you’ll go to prison,
Steal goods and you’ll go to prison, steal lands and you are a king.
To seek the redress of grievances by
To seek the redress of grievances by going to law, is like sheep running for shelter to a bramble bush.
If you want total security, go to
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.
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.
We shall fight against them, throw them
We shall fight against them, throw them in prisons and destroy them.
Kill a man, and you are an assassin.
Kill a man, and you are an assassin. Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror. Kill everyone, and you are a God.
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.
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.
It is more dangerous that even a guilty
It is more dangerous that even a guilty person should be punished without the forms of law than that he should escape.
Money will determine whether the accused
Money will determine whether the accused goes to prison or walks out of the courtroom a free man.
The worst of prison life, he thought,
The worst of prison life, he thought, was not being able to close his door.
Justice is that virtue of the soul which
Justice is that virtue of the soul which is distributive according to desert.
On a planet that increasingly resembles
On a planet that increasingly resembles one huge Maximum Security prison, the only intelligent choice is to plan a jail break.
To be at peace in crime! Ah, who can
To be at peace in crime! Ah, who can thus flatter himself.
The law does not pretend to punish
The law does not pretend to punish everything that is dishonest. That would seriously interfere with business.
As we grow in wisdom, we pardon more
As we grow in wisdom, we pardon more freely.
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.
