“No words used in the Gospels can legitimately be twisted to mean unending punishment, and indeed, such an expression is self-contradictory. The main motive of punishment surely is to reform the sufferer; in school, to make a better scholar; in the State, to make a better citizen. If the punishment goes on forever when does the sufferer benefit by the punishment or use the lesson he has learned so painfully? If Hell were endless it would be valueless.”

“The broad effects which can be obtained by punishment in man and beast are the increase of fear, the sharpening of the sense of cunning, the mastery of the desires; so it is that punishment tames man, but does not make him "better."”

“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending.”

“This legible lesson, this ritual recording, must be repeated as often as possible; the punishments must be a school rather than a festival; an ever-open book rather than a ceremony. The duration that makes the punishment effective for the guilty is also useful for the spectators. They must be able to consult at each moment the permanent lexicon of crime and punishment. A secret punishment is a punishment half wasted. Children should be allowed to come to the places where the penalty is being carried out; there they will attend their classes in civics. And grown men will periodically relearn the laws. Let us conceive of places of punishment as a Garden of the Laws that families would visit on Sundays.”

“It is better for a leader to make a mistake in forgiving than to make a mistake in punishing.”

“Marijuana is […] self-punishing. It makes you acutely sensitive and in this world, what worse punishment could there be?”

“The sufferings and death of Jesus Christ are a substitution for the endless punishment of all who truly believe on Him.”

“If God has nothing better to do than punish schoolgirls for a bit of tomfoolery, then I've no use for God.”

“Happiness is not a reward - it is a consequence. Suffering is not a punishment - it is a result.”

“God doesn’t need to punish us. He just grants us a long enough life to punish ourselves.”