“Too frequent rewards indicate that the general is at the end of his resources; too frequent punishments that he is in acute distress.”

On War (1832), Book 3

Source: Utopia (1516), Ch. 9 : Of the Religions of the Utopians
Context: Those among them that have not received our religion do not fright any from it, and use none ill that goes over to it, so that all the while I was there one man was only punished on this occasion. He being newly baptised did, notwithstanding all that we could say to the contrary, dispute publicly concerning the Christian religion, with more zeal than discretion, and with so much heat, that he not only preferred our worship to theirs, but condemned all their rites as profane, and cried out against all that adhered to them as impious and sacrilegious persons, that were to be damned to everlasting burnings. Upon his having frequently preached in this manner he was seized, and after trial he was condemned to banishment, not for having disparaged their religion, but for his inflaming the people to sedition; for this is one of their most ancient laws, that no man ought to be punished for his religion.

1770s, Boston Massacre trial (1770)
Context: It is more important that innocence be protected than it is that guilt be punished, for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world that they cannot all be punished.
But if innocence itself is brought to the bar and condemned, perhaps to die, then the citizen will say, "whether I do good or whether I do evil is immaterial, for innocence itself is no protection," and if such an idea as that were to take hold in the mind of the citizen that would be the end of security whatsoever.

Source: The House of Hades

Source: An Essay on The Principle of Population (First Edition 1798, unrevised), Chapter V, paragraph 2, lines 1-5

Essentials to Peace (1953)
Context: Discussions without end have been devoted to the subject of peace, and the efforts to obtain a general and lasting peace have been frequent through many years of world history. There has been success temporarily, but all have broken down, and with the most tragic consequences since 1914. What I would like to do is point our attention to some directions in which efforts to attain peace seem promising of success.

Song lyrics, Mutiny (1993), Mutiny in Heaven

Source: Das Ressentiment im Aufbau der Moralen (1912), L. Coser, trans. (1961), p. 97

Hartshorne (1933) " Geographic and political boundaries in Upper Silesia http://piotrwroblewski.us.edu.pl/rudy/Richard_Hartshorne.pdf" in: Annals of the Association of American Geographers. Vol. 23, No. 4 (Dec., 1933), p. 195