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.

See they suffer death,
But in their deaths remember they are men,
Strain not the laws to read more

See they suffer death,
But in their deaths remember they are men,
Strain not the laws to make their tortures grievous.

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.]

If punishment makes not the will supple it hardens the offender.

If punishment makes not the will supple it hardens the offender.

Men simply copied the realities of their hearts when they built prisons

Men simply copied the realities of their hearts when they built prisons

Some have been beaten till they know
What wood a cudgel's of by th' blow:
Some kick'd read more

Some have been beaten till they know
What wood a cudgel's of by th' blow:
Some kick'd until they can feel whether
A shoe be Spanish or neat's leather.

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.

I stew all night in my own grease.

I stew all night in my own grease.

When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.

When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.