“I'm an educated man, the prisons I know are subtle ones.”

“I am very subtle; but Man is deeper in his thought than I am. The woman knows that there is no such thing as nothing: the man knows that there is no such day as tomorrow. I do well to worship them.”

“Prison itself is a tremendous education in the need for patience and perseverance. It is above all a test of one's commitment.”

“The aim of a college education is to teach you to know a good man when you see one.”

“That subtle knot which makes us man:
So must pure lovers' souls descend
T' affections, and to faculties,
Which sense may reach and apprehend,
Else a great Prince in prison lies.”

“I'm afraid I'm a practical man,' said the doctor with gruff humour, 'and I don't bother much about religion and philosophy.'
'You'll never be a practical man till you do,' said Father Brown. 'Look here, doctor; you know me pretty well; I think you know I'm not a bigot. You know I know there are all sorts in all religions; good men in bad ones and bad men in good ones.”

“It is the mark of a truly educated man to know what not to read.”

“One of the greatest delusions of the average man is to forget that life is death's prisoner.”

“Every man is a prisoner, and the greatest irony of all is to be the prisoner of another man.”

“Years from now, when I'm successful and happy,… and he's in prison… I hope I'm not too mature to gloat.”