One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny.
I existed in a world that never is - the prison of the mind.
We're in a war. People who blast some pot on a casual basis are guilty of treason.
Adversities such as being homeless and going to prison has made many people stronger.
The worst of prison life, he thought, was not being able to close his door.
Fear can be like a prison. It is, however, a self made prison. Many are imprisoned by fear. No one else can liberate them from this prison. Others may inspire them but they must liberate themselves.
Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.
Self is the only prison that can bind the soul.
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
He was a first-time nonviolent possible offender, ... And under the mandatory minimums, he was put in prison for 15 years. Not only does the punishment not fit the crime, but the mandatory minimums don't give judges any discretion to look at the background of the case, to read into the specifics of the case. I don't know a judge who really is in favor of the mandatory minimums.
If you strike at, imprison, or kill us, out of our prisons or graves we will still evoke a spirit that will thwart you, and perhaps, raise a force that will destroy you! We defy you! Do your worst!
Women now have choices. They can be married, not married, have a job, not have a job, be married with children, unmarried with children. Men have the same choice we've always had: work, or prison.
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.
Three hundred years ago a prisoner condemned to the Tower of London carved on the wall of his cell this sentiment to keep up his spirits during his long imprisonment: “It is not adversity that kills, but the impatience with which we bear adversity.”
No written law has been more binding than unwritten custom supported by popular opinion.
It isn't true that convicts live like animals: animals have more room to move around.
The only effect of public punishment is to show the rabble how bravely it can be borne; and that every one who hath lost a toe-nail hath suffered worse.
Crime is a logical extension of the sort of behavior that often [is] considered perfectly respectable in legitimate business.
The only difference between me and my fellow actors is that I've spent more time in jail.
The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom.
Hanging was the worst use a man could be put to.
One man meets an infamous punishment for that crime which confers a diadem upon another.
When I was in prison, I was wrapped up in all those deep books. That Tolstoy crap - people shouldn't read that stuff.
It is safer that a bad man should not be accused, than that he should be acquitted.
Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices - just recognize them.
