The law does not pretend to punish
The law does not pretend to punish everything that is dishonest. That would seriously interfere with business.
Self is the only prison that can bind
Self is the only prison that can bind the soul.
What is crime amongst the multitude, is
What is crime amongst the multitude, is only vice among the few.
Prosecution I have managed to avoid; but
Prosecution I have managed to avoid; but I have been arrested, charged in a police court, have refused to be bound over, and thereupon have been unconditionally released - to my great regret; for I have always wanted to know what going to prison was like.
While crime is punished it yet
While crime is punished it yet increases.
Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule
Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.
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.
The world itself is but a large prison,
The world itself is but a large prison, out of which some are daily led to execution.
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.
There is a point at which even justice
There is a point at which even justice does injury.
The guilt of enforced crimes lies on
The guilt of enforced crimes lies on those who impose them.
To try to raise a son from inside the
To try to raise a son from inside the prison walls is a very difficult thing. But I want to say to the world my son at 16 was the one who tried the most to get me out of prison.
~Jim Bakker
Overlook our deeds, since you know that
Overlook our deeds, since you know that crime was absent from our inclination.
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.
Pardon is the virtue of victory.
Pardon is the virtue of victory.
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.
I was put into jail as I was going to
I was put into jail as I was going to the shoemaker's to get a shoe which was mended. When I was let out the next morning, I proceeded to finish my errand, and, having put on my mended shoe, joined a huckleberry party, who were impatient to put themselves under my conduct; and in half an hour -- for the horse was soon tackled -- was in the midst of a huckleberry field, on one of our highest hills, two miles off, and then the State was nowhere to be seen.
Every crime has, in the moment of its
Every crime has, in the moment of its perpetration, Its own avenging angel--dark misgiving, An ominous sinking at the inmost heart.
The torment of human frustration,
The torment of human frustration, whatever its immediate cause, is the knowledge that the self is in prison, its vital force and 'mangled mind' leaking away in lonely, wasteful self-conflict.
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.
If you share the crime of your friend,
If you share the crime of your friend, you make it your own.
A pedestal is as much a prison as any
A pedestal is as much a prison as any small, confined space.
To trial bring her stolen charms, and
To trial bring her stolen charms, and let her prison be my arms.
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.
It is certain that the study of human
It is certain that the study of human psychology, if it were undertaken exclusively in prisons, would also lead to misrepresentation and absurd generalizations.
