There is no greater punishment of
There is no greater punishment of wickedness that that it is dissatisfied with itself and its deeds.
Written laws are like spiders' webs, and
Written laws are like spiders' webs, and will, like them, only entangle and hold the poor and weak, while the rich and powerful will easily break through them.
Body is a home, a prison and a grave.
Body is a home, a prison and a grave.
The severest justice may not always be
The severest justice may not always be the best policy.
So justice while she winks at crimes,
So justice while she winks at crimes, Stumbles on innocence sometimes.
I don't like jail, they got the wrong
I don't like jail, they got the wrong kind of bars in there.
Two men look out the same prison bars;
Two men look out the same prison bars; one sees mud and the other stars.
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.
Overlook our deeds, since you know that
Overlook our deeds, since you know that crime was absent from our inclination.
We shall fight against them, throw them
We shall fight against them, throw them in prisons and destroy them.
Faults of the head are punished in this
Faults of the head are punished in this world, those of the heart in another; but as most of our vices are compound, so also is their punishment.
You utter a vow, or forge a signature,
You utter a vow, or forge a signature, and you may find yourself bound for life to a monastery, a woman, or prison.
The worst prison is not of stone. It is
The worst prison is not of stone. It is of a throbbing heart, outraged by an infamous life.
Hard cases, it is said, make bad law.
Hard cases, it is said, make bad law.
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.
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.
The worst of prison life, he thought,
The worst of prison life, he thought, was not being able to close his door.
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.
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
Care should be taken that the punishment
Care should be taken that the punishment does not exceed the guilt; and also that some men do not suffer for offenses for which others are not even indicted.
A pedestal is as much a prison as any
A pedestal is as much a prison as any small, confined space.
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.
There is no peace because the making of
There is no peace because the making of peace is at least as costly as the making of war - at least as exigent, at least as disruptive, at least as liable to bring disgrace and prison and death in its wake.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
We're in a war. People who blast some
We're in a war. People who blast some pot on a casual basis are guilty of treason.
