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.
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.
Everyone is a prisoner of his own
Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices - just recognize them.
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 have paid no poll-tax for six years. I
I have paid no poll-tax for six years. I was put into a jail once on this account, for one night; and, as I stood considering the walls of solid stone, I could not help being struck with the foolishness of that institution which treated me as if I were mere flesh and blood and bones, to be locked up...I saw that, if there was a wall of stone between me and my townsmen, there was a still more difficult one to climb or break through, before they could get to be as free as I was. I did not for a moment feel confined, and the walls seemed a great waste of stone and mortar.
Oh who is that young sinner with the
Oh who is that young sinner with the handcuffs on his wrist? And what has he been after that they groan and shake their fists? And wherefore is he wearing such a conscience-stricken air? Oh they're taking him to prison for the colour of his hair.
How dreadful it is when the right judge
How dreadful it is when the right judge judges wrong.
One of the many lessons that one learns
One of the many lessons that one learns in prison is, that things are what they are and will be what they will be.
Pardon is the virtue of victory.
Pardon is the virtue of victory.
Self is the only prison that can bind
Self is the only prison that can bind the soul.
Society has used the juvenile courts to
Society has used the juvenile courts to create a caste system where there are throw-away people.
Justice is that virtue of the soul which
Justice is that virtue of the soul which is distributive according to desert.
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
No man survives when freedom fails. The
No man survives when freedom fails. The best men rot in filthy jails, and those who cry 'appease, appease' are hanged by those they tried to please.
The most anxious man in a prison is the
The most anxious man in a prison is the governor.
Punishment, that is the justice for the
Punishment, that is the justice for the unjust.
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.
I asked a man in prison once how he
I asked a man in prison once how he happened to be there and he said he had stolen a pair of shoes. I told him if he had stolen a railroad he would be a United States Senator.
What is crime amongst the multitude, is
What is crime amongst the multitude, is only vice among the few.
The perfection of a thing consists in
The perfection of a thing consists in its essence; there are perfect criminals, as there are men of perfect probity.
Hard cases, it is said, make bad law.
Hard cases, it is said, make bad law.
Hanging was the worst use a man could be
Hanging was the worst use a man could be put to.
No crime has been without a precedent.
No crime has been without a precedent.
It becomes not a law-maker to be a
It becomes not a law-maker to be a law-breaker.
A man will be imprisoned in a room with
A man will be imprisoned in a room with a door that's unlocked and opens inwards, as long as it does not occur to him to pull rather than push.
