Let the punishments of criminals be useful. A hanged man is good for nothing, and a man condemned to public works still serves the country, and is a living lesson.
It’s at the back of a lot of crimes. The desire to assert one’s personality.
Wherever there is a settled society, religion is necessary; the laws cover manifest crimes, and religion covers secret crimes.
When a man wants to murder a tiger he calls it sport: when the tiger wants to murder him he calls it ferocity. The distinction between Crime and Justice is no greater.
When a doctor does go wrong he is the first of criminals.
We think with horror now of the days when we burnt witches. I believe the day will come when we will shudder to think that we ever hanged criminals.
Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil.
To be caught happy in a world of misery was for an honest man the most despicable of crimes.
There are always reasons for murdering a man. On the contrary, it is impossible to justify his living. That’s why crime always finds lawyers, and innocence only rarely.
The secret of a great success for which you are at a loss to account is a crime that has never been found out, because it was properly executed.[Also known as: Behind every great fortune lies a great crime.]
The psychology of character is interesting. One cannot be interested in crime without being interested in psychology. It is not the mere act of killing, it is what lies behind it that appeals to the expert.
The great criminal (as you may remember my remarking to you once) is always supremely simple.
