Punishment is the last and the least effective instrument in the hands of the legislator for the prevention of crime.

Punishment is the last and the least effective instrument in the hands of the legislator for the prevention of crime.

Two of the cruelest, most primitive punishments our town deals out to those who fall from favor are the empty read more

Two of the cruelest, most primitive punishments our town deals out to those who fall from favor are the empty mailbox and the silent telephone.

Let the punishment be equal with the offence.
[Lat., Noxiae poena par esto.]

Let the punishment be equal with the offence.
[Lat., Noxiae poena par esto.]

Something lingering with boiling oil in it . . . something
humorous but lingering--with either boiling oil or melted read more

Something lingering with boiling oil in it . . . something
humorous but lingering--with either boiling oil or melted lead.

And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee
to enter into life maimed, read more

And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee
to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell,
into the fire that never shall be quenched:
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

He is next to the gods whom reason, and not passion, impels; and
who, after weighing the facts, can read more

He is next to the gods whom reason, and not passion, impels; and
who, after weighing the facts, can measure the punishment with
discretion.
[Lat., Diis proximus ille est
Quem ratio non ira movet: qui factor rependens
Consilio punire potest.]

Whipping and abuse are like laudanum: you have to double the dose as the sensibilities decline.

Whipping and abuse are like laudanum: you have to double the dose as the sensibilities decline.

It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his
neck, and he cast into the sea, read more

It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his
neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of
these little ones.

Men are rewarded or punished not for what they do but for how their acts are defined. That is why read more

Men are rewarded or punished not for what they do but for how their acts are defined. That is why men are more interested in better justifying themselves than in better behaving themselves.