Whatever you think of de Sade, he was a
Whatever you think of de Sade, he was a complex figure and we should not look for easy answers with him. He was, strangely perhaps, against the death penalty, and he was never put in prison for murders or anything like that.
I know how men in exile feed on dreams
I know how men in exile feed on dreams of hope.
Shyness is the prison of the heart.
Shyness is the prison of the heart.
There's no greater threat to our
There's no greater threat to our independence, to our cherished freedoms and personal liberties than the continual, relentless injection of these insidious poisons into our system. We must decide whether we cherish independence from drugs, without which there is no freedom.
We are prisoners of ideas.
We are prisoners of ideas.
Well does Heaven have care that no man
Well does Heaven have care that no man secures happiness by crime.
We shall not yield to violence. We shall
We shall not yield to violence. We shall not be deprived of union freedoms. We shall never agree with sending people to prison for their convictions.
Hard cases, it is said, make bad law.
Hard cases, it is said, make bad law.
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.
Distrust all in whom the impulse to
Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful.
I never told a victim story about my
I never told a victim story about my imprisonment. Instead, I told a transformation story - about how prison changed my outlook, about how I saw that communication, truth, and trust are at the heart of power.
Overlook our deeds, since you know that
Overlook our deeds, since you know that crime was absent from our inclination.
Steal goods and you’ll go to prison,
Steal goods and you’ll go to prison, steal lands and you are a king.
Crimes lead one into another; they who
Crimes lead one into another; they who are capable of being forgers are capable of being incendiaries.
The English laws punish vice; the
The English laws punish vice; the Chinese laws do more, they reward virtue.
I can work for the Lord in or out of
I can work for the Lord in or out of prison.
The reformative effect of punishment is
The reformative effect of punishment is a belief that dies hard, chiefly I think, because it is so satisfying to our sadistic impulses.
There is a point at which even justice
There is a point at which even justice does injury.
Prison continues, on those who are
Prison continues, on those who are entrusted to it, a work begun elsewhere, which the whole of society pursues on each individual through innumerable mechanisms of discipline.
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.
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.
Crime succeeds by sudden despatch;
Crime succeeds by sudden despatch; honest counsels gain vigor by delay.
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 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.
Man is born free, and everywhere he is
Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.
