Whatever is worthy to be loved for
Whatever is worthy to be loved for anything is worthy of preservation. A wise and dispassionate legislator, if any such should ever arise among men, will not condemn to death him who has done or is likely to do more service than injury to society. Blocks and gibbets are the nearest objects with legislators, and their business is never with hopes or with virtues.
Hanging was the worst use a man could be
Hanging was the worst use a man could be put to.
I have never been contained except I
I have never been contained except I made the prison.
The public have more interest in the
The public have more interest in the punishment of an injury than he who receives it.
Forgiveness, that noblest of all
Forgiveness, that noblest of all self-denial, is a virtue which he alone who can practise in himself can willingly believe in another.
I don't like being famous - it is like a
I don't like being famous - it is like a prison. And driving for Ferrari would make it far worse.
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.
In the halls of justice, the only
In the halls of justice, the only justice is in the halls.
Why would anyone expect him to come out
Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter? He went to prison for three years, not Princeton.
When I was in prison, I was wrapped up
When I was in prison, I was wrapped up in all those deep books. That Tolstoy crap - people shouldn't read that stuff.
The severest justice may not always be
The severest justice may not always be the best policy.
In prison, you get the chance to see who
In prison, you get the chance to see who really loves you.
We have initiated programs for re-entry
We have initiated programs for re-entry offenders, since some 500,000 to 600,000 offenders will come out of prison each year for the next three or four years. We want to have positive alternatives when they come back to the community.
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.
Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule
Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.
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.
The most anxious man in a prison is the
The most anxious man in a prison is the governor.
A pedestal is as much a prison as any
A pedestal is as much a prison as any small, confined space.
When you are younger you get blamed for
When you are younger you get blamed for crimes you never committed and when you're older you begin to get credit for virtues you never possessed. It evens itself out.
A just chastisement may benefit a man,
A just chastisement may benefit a man, though it seldom does; but an unjust one changes all his blood to gall.
He who does not prevent a crime when he
He who does not prevent a crime when he can, encourages it.
The common argument that crime is caused
The common argument that crime is caused by poverty is a kind of slander on the poor.
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.
We shall fight against them, throw them
We shall fight against them, throw them in prisons and destroy them.
He who profits by a crime commits it.
He who profits by a crime commits it.
