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Punishment
- All punishment is mischief: all punishment in itself is evil.1748–1832 English philosopher: Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789) ch. 13, para. 2
- He that spareth his rod hateth his son.: Proverbs ch. 13, v. 24
- Hanging is too good for him, said Mr Cruelty.1628–88 English writer and Nonconformist preacher: The Pilgrim's Progress (1678) pt. 1
- Cameron's empty idea seems to be ‘let's hug a hoodie’, whatever they have done.1953– British Labour politician: commenting on the text of a forthcoming speech by David Cameron: see Cameron; in Observer 9 July 2006
- Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.1787 the first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights: Eighth Amendment (1791)
- Better build schoolrooms for ‘the boy’,
Than cells and gibbets for ‘the man’.1818–89 English poet: ‘A Song for the Ragged Schools’ (1853) - To crush, to annihilate a man utterly, to inflict on him the most terrible punishment so that the most ferocious murderer would shudder at it beforehand, one need only give him work of an absolutely, completely useless and irrational character.1821–81 Russian novelist: House of the Dead (1862) pt. 1, ch. 1
- Punishment is not for revenge, but to lessen crime and reform the criminal.1780–1845 English Quaker prison reformer: note found among her papers; Rachel E. Cresswell and Katharine Fry Memoir of the Life of Elizabeth Fry (1848)
- Whenever the offence inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigour of penal law is obliged to give way to the common feelings of mankind.1737–94 English historian: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776–88) ch. 14
- As some day it may happen that a victim must be found,
I've got a little list—I've got a little list
Of society offenders who might well be under ground
And who never would be missed—who never would be missed!1836–1911 English writer of comic and satirical verse: The Mikado (1885) act 1 - My object all sublime
I shall achieve in time—
To let the punishment fit the crime—
The punishment fit the crime.1836–1911 English writer of comic and satirical verse: The Mikado (1885) act 2 - Men are not hanged for stealing horses, but that horses may not be stolen.(‘the Trimmer’) 1633–95 English politician and essayist: Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections (1750) ‘Of Punishment’
- This is the first of punishments, that no guilty man is acquitted if judged by himself.c.ad 60–c.140 Roman satirist: Satires no.13, l. 2
- Society needs to condemn a little more and understand a little less.1943– British Conservative statesman; Prime Minister, 1990–7: interview with Mail on Sunday 21 February 1993
- For de little stealin' dey gits you in jail soon or late. For de big stealin' dey makes you Emperor and puts you in de Hall o' Fame when you croaks.1888–1953 American dramatist: The Emperor Jones (1921)
- Lay then the axe to the root, and teach governments humanity. It is their sanguinary punishments which corrupt mankind.1737–1809 English political theorist: The Rights of Man (1791)
- I'm all for bringing back the birch, but only between consenting adults.1925–2012 American novelist and critic: in Sunday Times Magazine 16 September 1973
