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.
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.
I am certain that nothing has done so
I am certain that nothing has done so much to destroy the juridical safeguards of individual freedom as the striving after this mirage of social justice.
The refined punishments of the spiritual
The refined punishments of the spiritual mode are usually much more indecent and dangerous than a good smack.
Man is condemned to be free.
Man is condemned to be free.
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.
Justice is that virtue of the soul which
Justice is that virtue of the soul which is distributive according to desert.
Taught from infancy that beauty is
Taught from infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison.
No obligation to justice does force a
No obligation to justice does force a man to be cruel, or to use the sharpest sentence.
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.
I existed in a world that never is - the
I existed in a world that never is - the prison of the mind.
We judge ourselves by what we feel
We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.
Clemency alone makes us equal to the
Clemency alone makes us equal to the gods.
A Sunday school is a prison in which
A Sunday school is a prison in which children do penance for the evil conscience of their parents.
We don't seem to be able to check crime,
We don't seem to be able to check crime, so why not legalize it and then tax it out of business.
To my mind, to kill in war is not a whit
To my mind, to kill in war is not a whit better than to commit ordinary murder.
The English laws punish vice; the
The English laws punish vice; the Chinese laws do more, they reward virtue.
You stuff somebody into the American
You stuff somebody into the American dream, and it becomes a prison.
Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule
Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.
I was in prison, and you came unto me.
I was in prison, and you came unto me. Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
~(Jesus Christ) Matthew 25:36, 40
It is the spirit and not the form of law
It is the spirit and not the form of law that keeps justice alive.
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 object of punishment is prevention
The object of punishment is prevention from evil; it never can be made impulsive to good.
Society has used the juvenile courts to
Society has used the juvenile courts to create a caste system where there are throw-away people.
On average, drug prisoners spend more
On average, drug prisoners spend more time in federal prison than rapists, who often get out on early release because of the overcrowding in prison caused by the Drug War.
