Quotes about punishment (1142 quotes, page 12)

“Capital punishment [could] serve as a deterrent. I do not think we have enough deterrents in this country for criminals – let’s not forget that murders, rapists and criminals of that nature choose to commit the crimes that they commit.”

Priti Patel (1972) British politician

Said during a Question Time debate. Quoted by the Independent. Priti Patel MP: Who is the new Treasury minister who supports death penalty and rejects plain packaging for cigarettes? https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/priti-patel-mp-who-is-the-new-treasury-minister-who-supports-death-penalty-and-rejects-plain-9608096.html (15 July 2014)
2014

Nature , Thinking , Forgetting , Country

“It was easy to sound that confident; less easy to believe it in his heart. They had got this far did not give them an automatic guarantee of success. The world did not work like that. It took pleasure in punishing the cocksure.”

Alastair Reynolds book Terminal World

Source: Terminal World (2010), Chapter 24 (p. 455)

Confidence , Success , Heart , Pleasure

“It has long been a fashion amongst you, which you have had the complaisance to adopt at the instigation of a corrupt press, to call every friend of reform, every friend of freedom, a Jacobin, and to accuse him of French principles. ... What are these principles?—That governments were made for the people, and not the people for governments.—That sovereigns reign legally only by virtue of the people's choice.—That birth without merit ought not to command merit without birth.--That all men ought to be equal in the eye of the law.—That no man ought to be taxed or punished by any law to which he has not given his assent by himself or by his representative.—That taxation and representation ought to go hand in hand.—That every man ought to be judged by his peers, or equals.—That the press ought to be free. ... Ten thousand times as much has been written on the subject in England as in all the rest of the world put together. Our books are full of these principles. ... There is not a single political principle which you denominate French, which has not been sanctioned by the struggles of ten generations of Englishmen, the names of many of whom you repeat with veneration, because, apparently, you forget the grounds of their fame. To Tooke, Burdett, Cartwright, and a whole host of patriots of England, Scotland and Ireland, imprisoned or banished, during the administration of Pitt, you can give the name of Jacobins, and accuse them of French principles. Yet, not one principle have they ever attempted to maintain that Hampden and Sydney did not seal with their blood.”

William Cobbett (1763–1835) English pamphleteer, farmer and journalist

‘To the Merchants of England’, Political Register (29 April 1815), pp. 518–19
1810s

Time , Law , Freedom , Forgetting

“I have said on many occasions, in Parliament and elsewhere, that I am not convinced that this [the restoration of corporal punishment for young offenders] would have the effect for which its advocates hope.”

Rab Butler (1902–1982) British politician

Speech to the Association of Chief Officers of Police in Bournemouth (25 May 1960), quoted in The Times (26 May 1960), p. 18
Home Secretary

Hope

“[Only federalism] allows democratic control and can punish abuses of power. Only federalism can guarantee respect for national character and regional variety. ... The springtime of Europe is still before us.”

Jacques Delors (1925) French economist and politician

Speech to the European Parliament (19 January 1995), quoted in The Times (20 January 1995), p. 11
President of the European Commission

“The lustful who punish beauty would be wiser to control lust.”

Sheri S. Tepper (1929–2016) American fiction writer

Source: The Fresco (2000), Chapter 24, p. 181

Beauty

“Offences committed by people’s representatives should be severely and promptly punished. No one has the right to claim to be more inviolable than other citizens.”

Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) French revolutionary lawyer and politician

Original: (fr) XXXIII. Les délits des mandataires du peuple doivent être sévèrement et facilement punis. Nul n'a le droit de se prétendre plus inviolable que les autres citoyens.
Source: "Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, proposed by Maximilien Robespierre" (24 April, 1793)

People

“Problems or successes, they all are the results of our own actions. Karma. The philosophy of action is that no one else is the giver of peace or happiness. One's own karma, one's own actions are responsible to come to bring either happiness or success or whatever... As you sow, so shall you reap. It's a very old proverb of mankind. As you sow, so shall you reap. Sometime you may have killed that man, and then sometime now he comes to kill you... What we have done, the result of that comes to us whenever it comes, either today, tomorrow, hundred years later, hundred lives later, whatever, whatever. And so, it's our own karma.
That is why that philosophy in every religion: Killing is sin. Killing is sin in every religion. Whosoever sins, whoever is killed, it doesn't matter. It's a sin. And sin.. is a punishable offense. Because when you sin, when you've killed some man, what you are killing? You are killing the cosmic potential within the individual. Individual is cosmic. Individual potential of life is cosmic potential. Individual is divine deep inside. Transcendental experience awakens that divinity in man...When you kill a man like that you deprive him from getting to his human right.”

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1917–2008) Inventor of Transcendental Meditation, musician

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, in CNN Larry King Weekend:Interview With Maharishi Mahesh Yogi http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0205/12/lklw.00.html, (2002)

Peace , Religion , Success , Happiness

“NO EMOTION IS A MISTAKE

Awakening is not about deleting or transcending human emotions, for how would the ocean transcend a single wave, and how would the sun transcend one of its beloved sunbeams? It's about seeing that every emotion - from joy to despair, bliss to boredom, agony to ecstasy - is only a movement of life energy, actually a movement of yourself, a wave in your vastness. No emotion is a threat, an enemy, or a punishment. Every emotion is an invitation to remember your vastness, rest in your oceanic nature. You are on a pathless path of radical inclusion, friend, and there are no mistakes here.”

Jeff Foster (1980) Spiritual teacher

Source: https://www.facebook.com/LifeWithoutACentre/photos/no-emotion-is-a-mistakeawakening-is-not-about-deleting-or-transcending-human-emo/1109464082484532/

“Radicals and Conservatives are not at all unlike, temperamentally. They want order, organization, efficiency, perfection. The Conservative or Reactionary thinks these can be best obtained by putting and keeping the power in the hands of a small class. He is afraid that an extension of democracy will destroy form and tradition, which he believes are essential to holding any society together. The Radical is so obsessed by the obvious faults of society that he wants to pull everything up by the roots and start all over again, and build a perfect society according to a blueprint. It is interesting that when the extreme Radicals triumph—in a revolution, for instance, as in Russia—they immediately become rigidly conservative, and punish all deviation rigorously. The worst fundamentalists in the world today are the Russian communists.”

Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) American journalist and radio broadcaster

Source: Dorothy Thompson’s Political Guide: A Study of American Liberalism and its Relationship to Modern Totalitarian States (1938), p. 86

Perfection , Thinking , World , Democracy

“Allah, You created me when I was not worthy of mention; And You provided for me when I had nothing; And I wronged my soul and sinned, and I confess my guilt. If You forgive me, that will in no way reduce Your sovereignty; And if You punish me, that will in no way augment Your authority. You can find others to punish besides me, But I can find no one to forgive me but You. Truly, You are the most Merciful of those who show mercy. The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) said 'Owais will come to Madinah to meet me, but he will not find me physically, for I shall then be united with my Lord.”

Uwais al-Qarani (594–657) Muslim saint

Quoted in Owais Qarni and his love for Prophet, https://www.arabnews.com/node/930256/islam-perspective by Abu Tariq Hijazi, Arab News, (28 May 2016)

Forgiveness , Soul , Way , Peace

“At present they [philosophers] seem to be in a very lamentable condition, and such as the poets have given us but a faint notion of in their descriptions of the punishment of Sisyphus and Tantalus.”

David Hume book A Treatise of Human Nature

For what can be imagin'd more tormenting, than to seek with eagerness, what for ever flies us; and seek for it in a place, where 'tis impossible it can ever exist?
Part 4, Section 3
A Treatise of Human Nature (1739-40), Book 1: Of the understanding

“Life favors the specific ask and punishes the vague wish.”

Timothy Ferriss book Tools of Titans

Life

“The function of punishment is to do good, to improve the universe, to add to the sum total of happiness. And punishment which does not do this is not justified. It is a crime in itself. The penal acts of society should be judged just as other acts of conduct are judged—by their utilities.”

J. Howard Moore (1862–1916)

Source: The New Ethics (1907), The Perils of Over-population, p. 152

Universe , Happiness

“If the soul, through attentiveness, reduces the blindness caused by the love of this world, it will consider its slightest faults to be very grave and will continually shed tears. ... But if the soul persists in its worldly disposition, even though it commits a murder or some other act deserving severe punishment, it takes little notice; and it is quite unable to discern its other faults, often considering them to be signs of progress, and in its wretchedness it is not ashamed to defend them heatedly.”

Diadochos of Photiki (400–486) Byzantine saint

§ 27
On Spiritual Knowledge and Discrimination (480 AD)

Soul , World , Love , Making love

“To punish the guilty adequately exceeds the power of any civilised man; for the atrocities which have been committed are such as to be imagined and perpetrated only by demons sallying forth from the lowest depths of hell.”

Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1784–1865) British politician

Speech in the Guildhall, London, on the Indian Mutiny (9 November 1857), quoted in The Times (10 November 1857), p. 7
1850s

Hell , Imagination

“You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.”

Gautama Buddha (-563–-483 BC) philosopher, reformer and the founder of Buddhism

Anger , Deep , Wise

“If you show her too much favor she will be punished. If you touch her, we’re all dead,” Ty said.
“Why?”

Neal Stephenson book Seveneves

Einstein asked.
“Because this is one of those cultures that is psychotic about female reproductive organs.”
“Five Thousand Years Later” (p. 776)
Seveneves (2015), Part Three

Dead

“If you err it is not for me to punish you. We are punished by our sins not for them.”

Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher fue el escritor del jarron azul

in The Note Book, Kessinger Publishing (reprint 1998) ISBN 0766104168, 9780766104167
Source: The Note Book of Elbert Hubbard (1927), p. 12

“The worst punishment from God is the separation from Him.”

Sari al-Saqati (772–867) Iraqi sufi

Source: The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam, p. 43

God

“No tyranny can exist without police powers to enforce the ruler's "laws" and punish rebels or free thinkers. The enforcers are called soldiers when sent to other countries and police when operating inside a country. But their function is the same.”

David Lane (white nationalist) (1938–2007) American white supremacist, convicted felon

Focus Fourteen

Law , Country

“I don't know what is in this money that you are punishing other struggling citizens for, it's not like you're going to go to heaven with all the money.”

Suraj Sani (1996) Nigerian writer, Spoken word artist

P. 17. Thorns in the desert https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10937346-i-don-t-know-what-is-in-this-money-that-you

Money

“There is no correlation between having the ability to punish and being right. More often than not, the wrong people get punished. And the punishers use their power to keep from being accountable.”

Sarah Schulman (1958) American writer

Conflict Is Not Abuse: Overstating Harm, Community Responsibility, and the Duty of Repair (2016)

People

“Look, I don’t want to punish anyone’s success, but the wealthy have been getting a free ride at the expense of the middle class for too long.”

Joe Biden (1942) 47th Vice President of the United States (in office from 2009 to 2017)

I intend to pass one of the biggest middle class tax cuts ever — paid for by making those at the top pay their fair share.
Source: https://whdh.com/news/democrats-look-to-tax-people-earning-more-than-400k-no-one-else-for-3-5-trillion-bill/ Democrats look to tax people earning more than $400K, no one else for $3.5 trillion bill (September 14, 2021)

Success

“We live in a self-defeating culture that pays lip service to heroic action in times of crisis, yet brutally punishes the very kind of snap judgments and instant security profiling that make such heroism possible in the first place.”

Michelle Malkin (1970) American political commentator

America’s Empty Slogan: “See Something, Say Something” http://michellemalkin.com/2013/04/17/americas-empty-slogan-see-something-say-something/ (April 17, 2013)

Time

“Anyone who states that God should not have made those people who will be punished, is also saying that He should not have made those who will be saved, or any rational and free beings at all.”

Gregory Palamas (1296–1359) Monk and archbishop

Source: Predestination? On Why God Made Those Who Would Perish

God , People

“The call to abolish the prison as the dominant form of punishment cannot ignore the extent to which the institution of the prison has stockpiled ideas and practices that are hopefully approaching obsolescence in the larger society, but that retain their ghastly vitality behind prison walls.”

Angela Davis Are Prisons Obsolete?

Source: Are Prisons Obsolete? (2003), Chapter Four

Idea

“Although men constitute the vast majority of prisoners in the world, important aspects of the operation of state punishment are missed if it is assumed that women are marginal and thus undeserving of attention.”

Angela Davis Are Prisons Obsolete?

Source: Are Prisons Obsolete? (2003), Chapter Four

World , Women , Men

“The notion of a prison industrial complex insists on understandings of the punishment process that take into account economic and political structures and ideologies, rather than focusing myopically on the individual criminal conduct and efforts to "curb crime."”

Angela Davis Are Prisons Obsolete?

Source: Are Prisons Obsolete? (2003), Chapter Five

Understanding , Effort

“Those who are not bettered by kind treatment, or moved by soft words, must be brought under by the application of stern and rigorous punishment.”

Mateo Alemán book Guzmán de Alfarache

Pt. I, Lib. III, Ch. IX.
Guzmán de Alfarache (1599-1604)

“Some of us got this feeling stuck inside, all the time, like we’ve done something wrong. Like we ourselves are something wrong … We drink alcohol because it helps us feel like we can be ourselves and not be afraid. But we punish ourselves with it.”

Tommy Orange book There There

There There (2018)
Source: As quoted in [Buchanan, Rowan Hisayo, There There by Tommy Orange review – Native American stories, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/18/there-there-tommy-orange-review, 9 August 2018, The Guardian, July 18, 2018]

Drink , Time , Help , Alcohol

“if we get it wrong we will be punished”

Boris Johnson (1964) British politician, historian and journalist

Source: Theresa May on why Boris Johnson speech made her cross https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45722675, BBC News, 2 October 2018

“If the legislature would punish, it must enlist... the other branches—the executive to prosecute, the judicial to try and convict.”

Laurence Tribe (1941) American lawyer and law school professor

American Constitutional Law (1978), Approaches to Constituitonal Analysis

“The truth is, distributing intimate photos with the intent to publish them is a crime, and the perpetrator should be punished to the full extent of the law. I have notified Capitol Police, who are investigating it, and therefore will have no further comment on the matter.”

Katie Hill (politician) (1987) former U.S. Representative from California

Source: "Rep. Katie Hill threatens legal action after another conservative outlet publishes her nude photo" https://www.salon.com/2019/10/25/rep-katie-hill-threatens-legal-action-after-another-conservative-outlet-publishes-her-nude-photo/, Salon (October 25, 2019)

Photo , Truth , Law

“I never thought I'd see the day
when murder would become so commonplace.
Hardly a minute ever goes by
without a murder taking place. And why?
Well, for a start, the punishment's not hard:
they sentence you to life but you're out in no time.”

Gilbert O'Sullivan (1946) Irish singer-songwriter

"Talking of Murder" (song)
Gilbert O'Sullivan, "Talking of Murder" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a327hRmOEes (song on YouTube)
Song lyrics

Time , Life

“Once in a while you’re momentarily conscious of being happy. But I’m superstitious, and I picture Fate—best be respectful, and use a capital F—as a misty presence somewhere up in the sky but not too far away. Always listening, alert and ready to punish forbidden optimism.”

Jack Finney book From Time to Time

Source: From Time to Time (1995), Chapter 1 (p. 38)

Fate , Happiness , Optimism

“O God! Whatever punishment you inflict upon me, do not punish me with the humiliation of being veiled from Thee.”

Sari al-Saqati (772–867) Iraqi sufi

Source: The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam, p. 43

God

“But you can't just stand there and try to judge
It hurts but your jealousy probably tears you up inside as much
And it's such a pleasure every button that I touch
I treasure every glutton that I punish in my lust”

Eminem (1972) American rapper and actor

"Stimulate" (from 8 Mile, 2002)
2000s

Hurt , Pleasure , Tear , Jealousy

“It is a fantasy to believe that you punish politicians by throwing them out of office. It is when they leave office that they start making the real money.”

Peter Hitchens (1951) author, journalist

2022-06-01
GB News Dewbs & Co

Money

“Nations, like individuals, cannot become desperate gamblers with impunity. Punishment is sure to overtake them sooner or later.”

Charles Mackay book Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841)

“Sooner or later the end of the punishment will come, the expiation of sins; so live sinning and don't do good: don't serves at a dick.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: Prima o poi verrà la fine della punizione, l'espiazione dei peccati; quindi vivi peccando e non fare il buono: non serve a un cazzo.
Source: prevale.net

“Loneliness is not a punishment, but a choice. A choice that simply shows you who stays, when you stop being useful.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: La solitudine non è una punizione, ma una scelta. Una scelta che ti mostra semplicemente chi resta, quando smetti di essere utile.
Source: prevale.net

Loneliness

Quotes about punishment page 12

Quotes about punishment
page 12