100 Quotes About Prison

It's no secret that prison is a dangerous place. Not only are inmates separated from society, but they are also deprived of many of the freedoms we take for granted. But prison doesn't mean you have to let your guard down. Here are some inspiring prison quotes to remind you that you can still be strong and fight for freedom.

Body is a home, a prison and a grave.
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Body is a home, a prison and a grave. James Runcie
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Realizing the seriously ruthless, venomous habits and agendas of evil always instills a more fierce passion and longing for a closer God. Men, out of pride, may claim their own authorities over what constitutes good and evil; they may self-proclaim a keen knowledge of subjective morality through religion or science. But that is only if they are acknowledging the work of evil as a cartoon-like, petty little rain cloud in the sky that merely wants to dampen one's spirits. On the contrary, a man could be without a doubt lit with the strength, the peace, and the knowledge of the gods, his gods, but when or if the devils grow weary in unsuccessful attempts to torment him, they begin tormenting his loved ones, or, if not his loved ones, anyone who may attempt to grasp his philosophies. No matter how godly he may become, God is, in the end, his only hope and his only grace for the pressures built around him - it is left up to a higher authority and a more solid peace and a wider love to eclipse not just one's own evils but all evils for goodness to ultimately matter. If all men were gods, each being would dwell in a separate prison cell, hopeless, before finally imploding into nothingness. Criss Jami
The loss of liberty may imprison a person, but it...
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The loss of liberty may imprison a person, but it does not confine their mind. Anthony T. Hincks
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That's for the best. Otherwise they might realize they're in prison. It can't be helped. You women are used to harems and prisons. A person can spend his whole life between four walls. If he doesn't think or feel that he's a prisoner, then he's not a prisoner. But then there are people for whom the whole planet is a prison, who see the infinite expanse of the universe, the millions of stars and galaxies that remain forever inaccessible to them. And that awareness makes them the greatest prisoners of time and space. Vladimir Bartol
God's creatures who cried themselves to sleep stirred to cry...
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God's creatures who cried themselves to sleep stirred to cry again. Thomas Harris
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Fuck you, angel. Fuck you and all God's little prison bitches. He slips you some cigarettes and a con job smile and you run off to do his dirty work for him. Go and scare some sinners. No one's listening to you here. Richard Kadrey
I had no real communication with anyone at the time,...
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I had no real communication with anyone at the time, so I was totally dependent on God. And he never failed me. Diet Eman
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(Thinking while being interrogated by the Germans) You big shots think you can decide on my life, but I have news for you: you can't touch a hair on my head without the will of God my Father, because He is on my side. Diet Eman
I would stand there at times and remember how beautiful...
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I would stand there at times and remember how beautiful God created this world, and then I would be reassured that he would certainly take care of me and all of my loved ones. Diet Eman
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The subsistence mentality of a person is a prison in which his personal joy is detained. If you want to live in joy, you don't live for yourself alone. Live for others too! Israelmore Ayivor
Unforgiveness denies the victim the possibility of parole and leaves...
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Unforgiveness denies the victim the possibility of parole and leaves them stuck in the prison of what was, incarcerating them in their trauma and relinquishing the chance to escape beyond the pain. T.d. Jakes
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You are in your own prison. Lailah Gifty Akita
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He said it was as if Tommy had produced a key which fit a cage in the back of his mind, a cage like his own cell. Only instead of holding a man, that cage held a tiger, and that tiger's name was Hope. Williams produced the key that unlocked the cage and the tiger was out, willy-nilly, to roam his brain. Stephen King
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When you are up in life your friends get to know who you are. When you are down in life you get to know who your friends are.#minoradjustments101 Unknown
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One of the first signs of the beginning of understanding is the wish to die. This life appears unbearable, another unattainable. One is no longer ashamed of wanting to die; one asks to be moved from the old cell, which one hates, to a new one, which one willl only in time come to hate. In this there is also a residue of belief that during the move the master will chance to come along the corridor, look at the prisoner and say: "This man is not to be locked up again, He is to come with me. . Franz Kafka
Power does not pardon, power punishes.
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Power does not pardon, power punishes. Amit Kalantri
They kept me in a cage for too long because...
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They kept me in a cage for too long because now every room I am standing in is just another cell. Raegan Butcher
Anyone who has no feelings for animals has a dead...
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Anyone who has no feelings for animals has a dead heart. Raegan Butcher
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Bad breath and butt smell; that is prison, in a nutshell. Raegan Butcher
While writing is like a joyful release, editing is a...
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While writing is like a joyful release, editing is a prison where the bars are my former intentions and the abusive warden my own neuroticism. Tiffany Madison
I was kind of excited to go to jail for...
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I was kind of excited to go to jail for the first time and I learnt some great dialogue. Quentin Tarantino
Christians talk as though goodness was their idea but good...
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Christians talk as though goodness was their idea but good behavior doesn't have any religious origin. Our prisons are filled with the devout. Andy Rooney
Most doctors are prisoners of their education and shackled by...
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Most doctors are prisoners of their education and shackled by their profession. Richard Diaz
They say you can tell a lot about a country...
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They say you can tell a lot about a country by the way it treats its prisoners… I believe the same can be said for how a country treats its children Jill Telford
He offered her power, money, status...a giant prison, all in...
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He offered her power, money, status...a giant prison, all in exchange for only...her soul. Coco J. Ginger
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Your eyes were the bait luring me into your world. Your kiss was the trap door keeping me prisoner there. Melody Lee
The whole value of solitude depends upon oneself; it may...
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The whole value of solitude depends upon oneself; it may be a sanctuary or a prison, a haven of repose or a place of punishment, a heaven or a hell, as we ourselves make it. John Lubbock
The slang for the rectum is
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The slang for the rectum is "prison wallet". Mary Roach
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He was a very private person, and sometimes it seemed to me that he was no longer interested in the world or in other people... I got the feeling that Julián was living in the past, locked in his memories. Julián lived within himself, for his books and inside them - a comfortable prison of his own design."" You say this as if you envied him."" There are worse prisons than words. Unknown
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I spent much of my prison time reading. I must have read over 200 large books, mostly fictional stories about the American pioneers, the Vikings, Mafia, etc. As long as I was engrossed in a book, I was not in prison. Reading was my escape. Frazier Glenn Miller
The eyes of god are upon you, I mean the...
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The eyes of god are upon you, I mean the eyes of society. We are prisoners of societies in which we live Bangambiki Habyarimana
We have glorified wealth and freedom so much that it...
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We have glorified wealth and freedom so much that it is impossible for most of us to truly believe that a man can truly be happy in a shack or within the confines of a prison cell. Mokokoma Mokhonoana
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The best thing–in Shadow's opinion, perhaps the only good thing–about being in prison was a feeling of relief. The feeling that he'd plunged as low as he could plunge and he'd hit bottom. He didn't worry that the man was going to get him, because the man had got him. He was no longer scared of what tomorrow might bring, because yesterday had brought it. Neil Gaiman
Life is a movement, a constant movement in relationship; and...
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Life is a movement, a constant movement in relationship; and thought, trying to capture that movement in terms of the past, as memory, is afraid of life. Jiddu Krishnamurti
The more we construct lives that prioritize safety, the bigger...
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The more we construct lives that prioritize safety, the bigger the prison we construct around ourselves. Craig D. Lounsbrough
To look beyond our horizons is to acknowledge that we’ve...
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To look beyond our horizons is to acknowledge that we’ve hemmed ourselves in by creating them in the first place. Craig D. Lounsbrough
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I would suggest that the prisons I incessantly create are not designed to lock me in, rather they are designed to lock the world out. And the oddity is that either way, I am a prisoner who has sentenced himself to a prison within which I do not belong. Craig D. Lounsbrough
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Terrell is weeping soundlessly, and despite the guard’s objection, he raises his hand up to the glass. Geraldine mimics him, lining her fingers up with his. It’s lonely to think that one little sheet of glass could create such a thick distance between them, but all the same, regardless of what he’s done, he’s still one of the closest friends she has. Rebecca McNutt
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I'd watched too many schoolmates graduate into mental institutions, into group homes and jails, and I knew that locking people up was paranormal - against normal, not beside it. Locks didn't cure; they strangled. Scott Westerfeld
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The things people say of a man do not alter a man. He is what he is. Public opinion is of no value whatsoever. Even if people employ actual violence, they are not to be violent in turn. That would be to fall to the same low level. After all, even in prison, a man can be quite free. His soul can be free. His personality can be untroubled. He can be at peace. And, above all things, they are not to interfere with other people or judge them in any way. Personality is a very mysterious thing. A man cannot always be estimated by what he does. He may keep the law, and yet be worthless. He may break the law, and yet be fine. He may be bad, without ever doing anything bad. He may commit a sin against society, and yet realize through that sin his true perfection. . Oscar Wilde
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Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage; Minds innocent and quiet take That for an hermitage; If I have freedom in my love And in my soul am free, Angels alone, that soar above, Enjoy such liberty. Richard Lovelace
That's all the freedom we can hope for - the...
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That's all the freedom we can hope for - the freedom to choose our prison. L.m. Montgomery
You're still in prison if you do nothing better in...
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You're still in prison if you do nothing better in freedom. Toba Beta
The securest place is a prison cell, but there is...
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The securest place is a prison cell, but there is no liberty Benjamin Franklin
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Man is complete in himself. When they go into the world, the world will disagree with them. That is inevitable. The world hates Individualism. But that is not to trouble them. They are to be calm and self-centred. If a man takes their cloak, they are to give him their coat, just to show that material things are of no importance. If people abuse them, they are not to answer back. What does it signify? The things people say of a man do not alter a man. He is what he is. Public opinion is of no value whatsoever. Even if people employ actual violence, they are not to be violent in turn. That would be to fall to the same low level. After all, even in prison, a man can be quite free. His soul can be free. His personality can be untroubled. He can be at peace. And, above all things, they are not to interfere with other people or judge them in any way. Personality is a very mysterious thing. A man cannot always be estimated by what he does. He may keep the law, and yet be worthless. He may break the law, and yet be fine. He may be bad, without ever doing anything bad. He may commit a sin against society, and yet realise through that sin his true perfection. Oscar Wilde
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Moreover, in the system of criminal punishment in the libertarian world, the emphasis would never be, as it is now, on "society's" jailing the criminal; the emphasis would necessarily be on compelling the criminal to make restitution to the victim of his crime. The present system, in which the victim is not recompensed but instead has to pay taxes to support the incarceration of his own attacker – would be evident nonsense in a world that focuses on the defense of property rights and therefore on the victim of crime. Murray N. Rothbard
In here I'm the guy who can get things for...
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In here I'm the guy who can get things for you... outside all you need is the Yellow Pages. I don't think I could make it. Stephen King
Because of the Dharma, my mind was more free in...
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Because of the Dharma, my mind was more free in prison than worldly people experience in the best of circumstances. Yangthang Rinpoche
It is not the chains of some tyrant that robs...
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It is not the chains of some tyrant that robs us of freedom. Rather, it is the staleness of our attitude. Craig D. Lounsbrough
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The enemy knows that without surrender, we will never experience the freedom that God offers us. Without surrender, we will remain spiritually malnourished, ill and confused. Without surrender, our foxholes become prisons of the enemy's making. Our lack of full surrender limits God's ability to both work in our lives and through our lives. God's call to surrender is not an intimidating, angry bark heard from the other side of a battlefield. God's invitation to surrender is expressed through the example of his Son, Jesus, as described in Philippians 2:5-11. Katherine J Walden
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We have to respect freedom only when it is intended for freedom, not when it strays, flees itself, and resigns itself. A freedom which is interested only in denying freedom must be denied. And it is not true that the recognition of the freedom of others limits my own freedom: to be free is not to have the power to do anything you like; it is to be able to surpass the given toward an open future; the existence of others as a freedom defines my situation and is even the condition of my own freedom. I am oppressed if I am thrown into prison, but not if I am kept from throwing my neighbor into prison. . Simone De Beauvoir
Sanity and sense becomes a prison.
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Sanity and sense becomes a prison. Darnell Lamont Walker
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You're back where you swore yourself you wouldn't be The familiar shackles you can't tell from your own skin Your head's under water when you learned to swim On a road to hell, congratulations, you're free... Sanhita Baruah
This free-man's prison known as life.
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This free-man's prison known as life. Vanessa Ronan
Solitary confinement is rock bottom, it’s absolute unfreedom.
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Solitary confinement is rock bottom, it’s absolute unfreedom. Arthur Koestler
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Is it possible that my walls are specifically erected and intentionally reinforced out of the fear that God calls me to an existence without walls? And if this is so, do I realize that I am the warden of prison that I created in which I myself am the prisoner? Craig D. Lounsbrough
The real purpose of the opposition is to minimize the...
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The real purpose of the opposition is to minimize the amount of money the ruling party will have stolen from the people at the end of its term. Mokokoma Mokhonoana
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Here was a temporary solution. Parole would get Mofokeng and Mokoena out of jail as quickly as possible. Other details could be sorted out later. I accompanied Nyambi to Kroonstad jail at the end of October and remember that as he told Mofokeng and Mokoena the news–that they would be home for Christmas–smiles slowly but surely transformed the sombre, cautious expressions on their faces. Big problem: it was discovered in December, a full two months after the judgment was made, that the court order does not mention the NCCS at all. Consequently, the NCCS interpreted the court's order as having removed the NCCS's jurisdiction to deal with any "lifers" sentenced pre-1994. The members of the NCCS packed their briefcases and went home. No one knows why the judgment didn't mention the NCCS; maybe the judge who wrote it, Justice Bess Nkabinde, simply didn't know how the parole system operates; but eight of her fellow judges, the best in the land, found with her. The Mofokeng and Mokoena families, who are from 'the poorest of the poor', as the ANC likes to say, are distraught. But the rest–the law men, the politicians and the government ministers–well, quite frankly, they don't seem to give a fig. Zuma has gone on holiday, to host his famous annual Christmas party for children. Mapisa-Nqakula has also gone on holiday. Mofokeng and Mokoena remain where they were put 17 years ago, despite not having committed any crime. . Jeremy Gordin
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The Corrupt Officer has a Price and the Honest Officer has Integrity Gary York
Looks sure can be deceiving: not every ‘ugly’ person is...
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Looks sure can be deceiving: not every ‘ugly’ person is a ‘bad’ person (or is guilty of whatever it is that they are accused of). Mokokoma Mokhonoana
All during that prison time I really lived by prayer....
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All during that prison time I really lived by prayer. Be in prayer always, we're told, and back then I was. Diet Eman
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Living according to God's truth means that my ego must die, and I must live entirely for God and for my neighbors. Living according to God's truth means not following the crowd and not being dismayed when even your friends misunderstand you. For the God whom you serve will have the final word. On the day of judgement he will speak the final word over the whole of your life. Mikhail Khorev
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To promise to abide by this legislation, so inimical to God, would mean forsaking the gospel and turning away from God's law. This is why Christians have a choice to make, either to trade in their loyalty to God for freedom from persecution, or to remain true to Christ and consequently run the risk of persecution. Mikhail Khorev
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I became a Christian at the age of seventeen. I made a very conscious act of commitment and my only desire was to be kept in purity and holiness throughout the whole time of my earthly pilgrimage. I didn't choose Christ's narrow path for the riches, fame, or comfortable life it would bring, for I had experienced several times in my family before I became a Christian that true discipleship would mean a life of persecution. Mikhail Khorev
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Like most arts, the link between the mind and the pen can chain you like an enslaved workaholic. Even on an intended vacation you suddenly have this killer urge to record whatever the vacation may teach. Criss Jami
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The dead are immune from our prison of Time. The distance between the living and dead may be vast, but the space of Time the dead experience when they are reunited with their loved ones is only paper-thin. Suzy Kassem
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I am thankful that I can be thankful, for if thankfulness did not exist my heart would be irretrievably imprisoned by the crazed twins of acquisition and possession, and my soul would exist as a forever slave to greed. Craig D. Lounsbrough
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In three months Ron read more than he had in his entire previous life. He felt his mind widen, his perceptions become more acute, for each book was a prism refracting the infinitely varied truths of experience. Some were telescopes; some microscopes. Edward Bunker
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Do you know a Psychopath?You do not know me; but after reading my memoir you will know me a little better and you will have had the experience of safely getting into the mind and life of a young psychopath in training. Critics have written: It is a powerful and unusual memoir; brutal and raw. A Psychopath In Training: In 1997 psychiatrist’s contracted by the Correctional Service and the National Parole Board wrote in their final report, before I was released back into the community, they had diagnosed me to be a psychopath. A Psychopath: How does one become a Psychopath?After of the death of my young mother, when I was fourteen, I became a ward of the state and forced into the care and custody of the Catholic Christian Brothers at St. John’s Catholic Training School for Boys until after I turned sixteen. Since then I have been incarcerated over seventeen years in various prisons, institutions and juvenile detention centres. I have been interviewed and treated by so many prison psychiatrists and psychologists I should be called the professional. In my youth I have experienced almost every kind of sleaze, sex and violence humans can inflict on each other. I had to learn the hard way on how to identify and deal with the people who were the dangerous psychopath’s in my life and the proof I succeeded is; I am still alive. My book cover depicts what is coming out of the government foster homes and prisons today: Our communities and our police forces are not at all prepared for the dangerous psychopaths being churned out. Are you ready? You and the educators alike can learn from my memoir. Michael A. Hodge
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In Santiago, the capital of the kingdom of Chile, at the moment of the great earthquake of 1647 in which many thousands lost their lives, a young Spaniard called Jeronimo Rugera was standing beside one of the pillars in the prison to which he had been committed on a criminal charge, and he was about to hang himself. Heinrich Von Kleist
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All history is one continuous pestilence. There is no truth and there is no illusion. There is nowhere to appeal and nowhere to go. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
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The dogs brought it all back to, you know, to the human side. Unknown
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I am a waning birdencased in a glass sphere; I cannot see my prison, and my cries no one can hear. Craig Froman
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She was his only escape, And she was his only prison. Akshay Vasu
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The next morning he drove the stranger’s car half way to the Registry of Motor Vehicles before he realized he could not apply for a driver’s license. He suddenly realized he had left his name at the prison. DeirdreElizabeth Parker
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I have spent my whole life preparing to be William Wallace’s wife. The choices I make are defined by the person I am.“ I am Mrs. William Victor Wallace. I am married to a federal felon whom I love unconditionally. I hold my head high, I take pride in my life and I walk this world without regret. I will be the perfect wife and my husband deserves nothing less. DeirdreElizabeth Parker
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I am flagrantly nuts. I can say this because I am a doctor and I know about these things. DeirdreElizabeth Parker
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Being a copper I like to see the law win. I'd like to see the flashy well-dressed mugs like Eddie Mars spoiling their manicures in the rock quarry at Folsom, alongside of the poor little slum-bred guys that got knocked over on their first caper amd never had a break since. That's what I'd like. You and me both lived too long to think I'm likely to see it happen. Not in this town, not in any town half this size, in any part of this wide, green and beautiful U.S.A. We just don't run our country that way. Raymond Chandler
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(From Danielle Raver's short story THE ENCHANTRESS)Thick chains attached to the wall hold a metal collar and belt, restraining most of the tiger's movements. Open, bloody slashes cover his face and back, but he shows no loss of strength as he pulls on the chains and tries to rip the flesh of the surrounding humans with his deadly claws. Out of his reach, I kneel down before him, and his lightning-blue eyes cross my space for a moment. “Get her out of there! ” I hear from behind me.“ Numnerai, ” I speak urgently to the tiger. “They will kill you! ” He growls and gnashes his teeth, but I sense he is responding to me. “Great white tiger, your duty is to protect the prince. But how can you do that if they sink the end of a spear into your heart?” He looks at me for a longer moment. The fighters respond to this by growing still. In their desperation, they are overlooking my foolishness for a chance to save their fellows' lives. I crouch on my feet and begin to nudge closer to him. The tiger growls a warning, but does not slash out at me. “Think of the prince, protector of the palace. Right now he prays for you to live. . D.M. Raver
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Prison is designed to separate, isolate, and alienate you from everyone and everything. You're not allowed to do so much as touch your spouse, your parents, your children. The system does everything within its power to sever any physical or emotional links you have to anyone in the outside world. They want your children to grow up without ever knowing you. They want your spouse to forget your face and start a new life. They want you to sit alone, grieving, in a concrete box, unable even to say your last farewell at a parent's funeral. Damien Echols
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Mom hadn't met Ramon; her advocacy was more arm's length - petitions, the website, letter writing, meetings with politicians. Her friend Hanna had formed a close friendship with Ramon though, visiting him as often as she could. Hanna told me that Ramon's greatest regret was that he wouldn't get to see his daughter grow up. And Jeremy's dad, who had that opportunity, was just throwing it away. It made me furious, and I couldn't let it go. Robin Stevenson
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A prisoner should know that there are thousands of imprisoned freemen living in this world…jailed in their own society, handcuffed by duties.. Munia Khan
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I am not a prisoner to be locked up in people's ideologies, I am not a criminal to be locked up in your mind, I am a free spirit and I make no apologies for it Evy Michaels
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Mental ghettos are not mirages; they actually exist in palpable reality: being "open" inside one's mental or intellectual ghetto does not open its door but simply allows one to harbour the illusion that there is no ghetto and no door. The most dangerous prisons are those with invisible bars. Tariq Ramadan
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Free your mind from the prison of your past. Time has allowed you to grow and develop into the person you're meant to be. Now, you are living a purposed filled life. Amaka Imani Nkosazana
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Being open is happiness and being closed is sadness. So free your mind from the prison of binding ideas and thoughts. Debasish Mridha
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We’re not broken. We’re not in the wrong bodies. We’re not inadequate. We’re not lesser. We’re not unwanted. We’re not fraudulent. We’re not undesirable. That’s all just a set of lies we tell to soothe the experience of the prisons we put ourselves in. Agnostic Zetetic
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Don’t sanctuaries become prisons, and vice versa, foremost in the mind? Changrae Lee
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My head is a prison I’ve been locked in from the start, So if I'm treated like a criminal I might as well play the part.(attrib: E. Tancarville) Dan GarfatPratt
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The world we are is a secret prison and the secret prison is power. Saminu Kanti
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It's time to get healed. It's time to confess. Falling for the bait doesn't make you the worst person in the world. You were snared. You were hooked. But you don't have to stay that way. Now is the time to deal with the shackles that keep you enslaved. Today you can leave the prison that sexual immorality has created from your past mistakes. Hear your Father's voice call out to you above the noisy clamor of our culture. He says, "I love you. You're free to go now. Sexual sin has no hold on you. Craig Groeschel
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Our hearts are all prison walls when we hold people captive with chains of unforgiveness. Ikechukwu Izuakor
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The greater ignorance towards a country is not ignoring what its politicians have to say, it is ignoring what the inmates in its prisons have to say. Criss Jami
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And the castle in which she dwelt was a prison to her; and sometimes sudden fits of gusty passion would overtake her, for weariness grew to hate, and hate to wrath, " The Serpent's Head Lady Dilke
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When you settle for anything short of the best life God wants to offer you, then you have been tempted to remain safe and the accountability for not changing your life becomes your prison of regret. Shannon L. Alder
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Self-doubt imprisons those that never overcome it. Obiora Embry
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Psychological imprisonment was no less uncomfortable than its physical counterpart. In some ways, it was even worse; it provided the illusion of physical freedom, but garnered none of the benefits of it. Nenia Campbell
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This is central to the development of feminist abolitionist theories and practices: we have to learn how to think and act and struggle against that which is ideologically constituted as "normal". Angela Y. Davis
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While there is a lower class I am in it. While there is a criminal element I am of it. While there is a soul in prison I am not free. Eugene V. Debs
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In short, the right given to one man to inflict corporal punishment on another is one of the ulcers of society, one of the most powerful destructive agents of every germ and every budding attempt at civilization, the fundamental cause of its certain and irretrievable destruction. Fyodor Dostoyevsky