WIST Quotations

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- Lecture (1884-01-20), “Orthodoxy,” Tabor Opera House, Denver, Colorado

Dave — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 18:16:14 +0000

In this world we never will be perfectly civilized as long as a gallows casts its shadow upon the earth. As long as there is a penitentiary, within the walls of which a human being is immured, we are not a perfectly civilized people. We shall never be perfectly civilized until we do away with crime.
And yet, according to this Christian religion, God is to have an eternal penitentiary; he is to be an everlasting jailer, an everlasting turnkey, a warden of an infinite dungeon, and he is going to keep prisoners there forever, not for the purpose of reforming them — because they are never going to get any better, only worse — but for the purpose of purposeless punishment. And for what? For something they failed to believe in this world. Born in ignorance, supported by poverty, caught in the snares of temptation, deformed by toil, stupefied by want — and yet held responsible through the countless ages of eternity! No man can think of a greater horror; no man can dream of a greater absurdity.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1884-01-20), “Orthodoxy,” Tabor Opera House, Denver, Colorado

Published as its own book in 1884.

Bible, Vol. 2. New Testament -- Book 19. Letter to the Hebrews 13: 3 (Heb 13:3) [NRSV (2021 ed.)]

Dave — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 15:50:01 +0000

Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them, those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.

[μιμνῄσκεσθε τῶν δεσμίων ὡς συνδεδεμένοι, τῶν κακουχουμένων ὡς καὶ αὐτοὶ ὄντες ἐν σώματι.]

The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Book 19. Letter to the Hebrews 13: 3 (Heb 13:3) [NRSV (2021 ed.)]

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.
[KJV (1611)]

Keep in mind those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; and those who are being badly treated, since you too are in the one body.
[JB (1966)]

Keep in mind those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; and those who are being badly treated, since you too are in the body.
[NJB (1985)]

Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them. Remember those who are suffering, as though you were suffering as they are.
[GNT (1992 ed.)]

Remember prisoners as if you were in prison with them, and people who are mistreated as if you were in their place.
[CEB (2011)]

Chuang Tzu -- Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzŭ), ch. 10 “Quqie [胠篋; Rifling Trunks]” (3rd C BC) [tr. Graham (1981)]

Dave — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 22:13:09 +0000

The man who steals a buckle is put to death, the man who steals a state becomes a prince.

[竊鉤者誅，竊國者侯 – traditional]
[窃钩者诛，窃国者侯 – simplified]

Chuang Tzu (369–286 BC) Chinese Taoist philosopher [Zhuang Zhou (莊周), Zhuangzi ( 莊子)]
Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzŭ), ch. 10 “Quqie [胠篋; Rifling Trunks]” (3rd C BC) [tr. Graham (1981)]

See O'Neill (1921).

(Source (Chinese, traditional; simplified)). Other translations:

One man steals a purse, and is punished. Another steals a State, and becomes a Prince.
[tr. Giles (1889)]

Here is one who steals a hook (for his girdle); -- he is put to death for it: here is another who steals a state; -- he becomes its prince.
[tr. Legge (1891)]

A poor man must swing
For stealing a belt buckle
But if a rich man steals a whole state
He is acclaimed
As statesman of the year.
[tr. Merton (1965)]

This one steals a buckle and he is executed, that one steals a country and he becomes its ruler.
[tr. Palmer (1996)]

He who steals a belt buckle pays with his life; he who steals a state gets to be a feudal lord.
[tr. Watson (2013)]

One steals a hook -- he is put to death. Another steals a state -- he becomes a prince.
[tr. Yang/Höchsmann (2007)]

He who steals a belt buckle is executed, but he who steals a state is made a feudal lord.
[tr. Ziporyn (2009)]

This adage can be found in a wide array of forms, with the same basic structure (steal something small, get punished; steal something big, get rewarded), usually stripped of its Chinese/Taoist origin, e.g.:

Steal money you're a thief; steal a country you're a king.
["Japanese proverb"]

Stealing a dog is said to be immoral. Still, they steal a country and call it righteousness.
[Source]

To steal a purse is rightly held a crime.
To steal a country is an act sublime.
[Percy Russell (1919)]

One who steals a pearl is persecuted as a thief. One who steals a nation is revered as a king.
[Source]

When you steal a pin, you are executed; but if you steal a country, you become a king.
[Chinese historian Sima Qian (c. 145 – c. 86 BC)]

One who steals a little is a thief. One who steals a little bit more is a robber. And one who steals a nation is a king.
[Source]

To steal a fruit means theft, while to steal a country does not.
["Old Chinese saying"]

Those that steal a loaf of bread are hanged as thieves - those that steal a country are made emperor.
[Source]

Steal an apple and you're a thief. Steal a country and you're a statesman.
[Disney's Aladdin (2019)]

Franklin, Benjamin -- Poor Richard (1737 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 16:35:51 +0000

There are no ugly Loves, nor handsome Prisons.

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1737 ed.)

Lovelace, Richard -- “To Althea, from Prison,” l. 25 (1649)

Dave — Tue, 20 Jun 2017 01:22:44 +0000

Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage.

Richard Lovelace (1617–1657) English poet
“To Althea, from Prison,” l. 25 (1649)

Mandela, Nelson -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 17 May 2017 00:03:54 +0000

As I walked out the door toward my freedom, I knew that if I did not leave all the anger, hatred, and bitterness behind, that I would still be in prison.

Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) South African revolutionary, politician, statesman
(Attributed)

On his release from 27 years behind bars. Quoted by Hillary Clinton from a conversation she had with him.

O'Neill, Eugene -- The Emperor Jones, Act 1 (1921)

Dave — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 06:16:01 +0000

JONES: For de little stealin’ dey gits you in jail soon or late. For de big stealin’ dey makes you Emperor and puts you in de Hall o’ Fame when you croaks.

Eugene O'Neill (1888–1953) Irish American playwright, Nobel laureate
The Emperor Jones, Act 1 (1921)

See Chuang Tzu.

Bunyan, John -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 14:14:54 +0000

I shall stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience.

John Bunyan (1628–1688) English Christian writer, preacher
(Attributed)

Quoted in M. L. King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham City Jail" (16 Apr 1963).

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 13:55:08 +0000

The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881) Russian novelist
(Attributed)

Sometimes cited to Dostoyevsky's The House of the Dead (1862) [tr. Garnett (1957)], which is a semi-autobiographical work about a Siberian prison camp, but the quotation cannot be found there.

See also Buck, Johnson.

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 8, Guards! Guards! [Lord Vetinari] (1989)

Dave — Fri, 14 Oct 2005 12:13:05 +0000

Never build a dungeon you wouldn’t be happy to spend the night in yourself. The world would be a happier place if more people remembered that.

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author
Discworld No. 8, Guards! Guards! [Lord Vetinari] (1989)

Said while imprisoned in the dungeon. A few scenes later, he adds, to himself, Never build a dungeon you couldn’t get out of, while escaping.

Thoreau, Henry David -- Essay (1849-05), “Resistance to Civil Government [On the Duty of Civil Disobedience],” Æsthetic Papers, No. 1, Article 10

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) American philosopher and writer
Essay (1849-05), “Resistance to Civil Government [On the Duty of Civil Disobedience],” Æsthetic Papers, No. 1, Article 10

Based on an 1848 lecture at the Concord Lyceum.