The reformative effect of punishment is a belief that dies hard, chiefly I think, because it is so satisfying to our sadistic impulses.
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.
What restrains us from killing is partly fear of punishment, partly moral scruple, and partly what may be described as a sense of humor.
The perfection of a thing consists in its essence; there are perfect criminals, as there are men of perfect probity.
It was only when I lay there on the rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not between states nor between social classes nor between political parties, but right through every human heart, through all human hearts. And that is why I turn back to the years of my imprisonment and say, sometimes to the astonishment of those about me, bless you, prison, for having been a part of my life.
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.
While crime is punished it yet increases.
Wicked deeds are generally done, even with impunity, for the mere desire of occupation.
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.
The English laws punish vice; the Chinese laws do more, they reward virtue.
Oh who is that young sinner with the handcuffs on his wrist? And what has he been after that they groan and shake their fists? And wherefore is he wearing such a conscience-stricken air? Oh they're taking him to prison for the colour of his hair.
I have never been contained except I made the prison.
Adversities such as being homeless and going to prison has made many people stronger.
Self is the only prison that can bind the soul.
Probably the only place where a man can feel really secure is in a maximum security prison, except for the imminent threat of release.
There is no greater punishment of wickedness that that it is dissatisfied with itself and its deeds.
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.
On a planet that increasingly resembles one huge Maximum Security prison, the only intelligent choice is to plan a jail break.
One of the many lessons that one learns in prison is, that things are what they are and will be what they will be.
Vices are not crimes.
I don't like jail, they got the wrong kind of bars in there.
The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.
We're in a war. People who blast some pot on a casual basis are guilty of treason.
We shall fight against them, throw them in prisons and destroy them.
Since 1957, black people have experienced double-digit unemployment - in good times and bad times. Look at the population of African Americans in prison. They represent more than half the population of prisoners in the country, 55 percent of those on death row.
