A country is in a bad state, which is governed only by laws; because a thousand things occur for which laws cannot provide, and where authority ought to interpose.
I just remember that disturbing feeling of walking into that prison, the complete loss of privacy, the complete loss of stimulation, dignity.
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.
Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.
The most anxious man in a prison is the governor.
Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.
It is the spirit and not the form of law that keeps justice alive.
The law does not pretend to punish everything that is dishonest. That would seriously interfere with business.
The object of punishment is prevention from evil; it never can be made impulsive to good.
Hard cases, it is said, make bad law.
Shyness is the prison of the heart.
Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter? He went to prison for three years, not Princeton.
Reality becomes a prison to those who can’t get out of it.
No written law has been more binding than unwritten custom supported by popular opinion.
Every instance of a man's suffering the penalty of the law is an instance of the failure of that penalty in effecting its purpose, which is to deter.
If you want total security, go to prison. There you’re fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking…is freedom.
In a civilized society, all crimes are likely to be sins, but most sins are not and ought not to be treated as crimes.
I wrote a million words in the first year, and I could never have done that outside of prison.
Crime is a logical extension of the sort of behavior that often [is] considered perfectly respectable in legitimate business.
When I was in prison, I was wrapped up in all those deep books. That Tolstoy crap - people shouldn't read that stuff.
A man who has no excuse for a crime, is indeed defenseless!
When it comes to freedom, we are but prisoners of our own desires.
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.
Only free men can negotiate. Prisoners cannot enter into contracts.
Justice is that virtue of the soul which is distributive according to desert.
