So justice while she winks at crimes,
So justice while she winks at crimes, Stumbles on innocence sometimes.
Crimes lead one into another; they who
Crimes lead one into another; they who are capable of being forgers are capable of being incendiaries.
Laws do not persuade just because they
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten.
We are prisoners of ideas.
We are prisoners of ideas.
It isn't true that convicts live like
It isn't true that convicts live like animals: animals have more room to move around.
I know not whether laws be right, or
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.
What restrains us from killing is partly
What restrains us from killing is partly fear of punishment, partly moral scruple, and partly what may be described as a sense of humor.
Law is merely the expression of the will
Law is merely the expression of the will of the strongest for the time being, and therefore laws have no fixity, but shift from generation to generation.
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.
If we were brought to trial for the
If we were brought to trial for the crimes we have committed against ourselves, few would escape the gallows.
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.
It is the spirit and not the form of law
It is the spirit and not the form of law that keeps justice alive.
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.
The idea that the sole aim of punishment
The idea that the sole aim of punishment is to prevent crime is obviously grounded upon the theory that crime can be prevented, which is almost as dubious as the notion that poverty can be prevented.
The severest justice may not always be
The severest justice may not always be the best policy.
Nothing can be more abhorrent to
Nothing can be more abhorrent to democracy than to imprison a person or keep him in prison because he is unpopular. This is really the test of civilization.
The law does not pretend to punish
The law does not pretend to punish everything that is dishonest. That would seriously interfere with business.
The guilt of enforced crimes lies on
The guilt of enforced crimes lies on those who impose them.
The virtue of justice consists in
The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom.
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.
Prison makes you a better judge of
Prison makes you a better judge of character. You pick up on people much faster.
Corporal punishment falls far more
Corporal punishment falls far more heavily than most weighty pecuniary penalty.
I know how men in exile feed on dreams
I know how men in exile feed on dreams of hope.
There are only two places in the world
There are only two places in the world where time takes precedence over the job to be done. School and prison.
Crimes generally punish themselves.
Crimes generally punish themselves.
