I have been studying how I may compare
I have been studying how I may compare This prison where I live unto the world; And, for because the world is populous, And here is not a creature but myself, I cannot do it. Yet I'll hammer it out.
America is the land of the second chance
America is the land of the second chance – and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life.
The worst of prison life, he thought,
The worst of prison life, he thought, was not being able to close his door.
He who does not prevent a crime when he
He who does not prevent a crime when he can, encourages it.
It is not at the table, but in prison,
It is not at the table, but in prison, that you learn who your true friends are.
They're not supposed to show prison
They're not supposed to show prison films in prison. Especially ones that are about escaping.
Prison continues, on those who are
Prison continues, on those who are entrusted to it, a work begun elsewhere, which the whole of society pursues on each individual through innumerable mechanisms of discipline.
Governments have tried to stop crime
Governments have tried to stop crime through punishment throughout the ages, but crime continued in the past punishment remains. Crime can only be stopped through a preventive approach in the schools. You teach the students Transcendental Meditation, and right away they’ll begin using their full brain physiology sensible and they will not get sidetracked into wrong things.
We are prisoners of ideas.
We are prisoners of ideas.
It isn't true that convicts live like
It isn't true that convicts live like animals: animals have more room to move around.
Mere factual innocence is no reason not
Mere factual innocence is no reason not to carry out a death sentence properly reached.
Intellectual despair results in neither
Intellectual despair results in neither weakness nor dreams, but in violence. It is only a matter of knowing how to give vent to one's rage; whether one only wants to wander like madmen around prisons, or whether one wants to overturn them.
Society has used the juvenile courts to
Society has used the juvenile courts to create a caste system where there are throw-away people.
What is crime amongst the multitude, is
What is crime amongst the multitude, is only vice among the few.
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 mellow sweetness of pumpkin pie off
The mellow sweetness of pumpkin pie off a prison spoon is something you will never forget.
If you want total security, go to
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.
The virtue of justice consists in
The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom.
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.
In the halls of justice, the only
In the halls of justice, the only justice is in the halls.
The reformative effect of punishment is
The reformative effect of punishment is a belief that dies hard, chiefly I think, because it is so satisfying to our sadistic impulses.
If we were brought to trial for the
If we were brought to trial for the crimes we have committed against ourselves, few would escape the gallows.
Liberty is rendered even more precious
Liberty is rendered even more precious by the recollection of servitude.
One of the many lessons that one learns
One of the many lessons that one learns in prison is, that things are what they are and will be what they will be.
No crime has been without a precedent.
No crime has been without a precedent.
