Prison Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old prison quotes, prison sayings, and prison proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

A prison does not only lock its inmates inside, it keeps all others out. Her strongest prison is of her own construction. Margaret Atwood
To live in prison is to live without mirrors. To live without mirrors is to live without the self. Margaret Atwood
Even behind prison walls I can see the heavy clouds and the blue sky over the horizon. Nelson Mandela
Prison walls are meant not only to keep convicts in, but to keep the would be investigator out. Jessica Mitford
All during that prison time I really lived by prayer. Be in prayer always, we're told, and back then I was. Diet Eman
Prison is essentially a shortage of space made up for by a surplus of time; to an inmate, both are palpable. Joseph Brodsky
If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking is freedom. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Prison has a universal fascination. It's a real life horror story because, given the right set of circumstances, anyone could find themselves behind bars. Wentworth Miller
It is in prison that one becomes a real revolutionary. Vladimir Lenin
Going to prison is like dying with your eyes open. Bernard Kerik
Building prisons to fight crime is like building cemeteries to fight disease. Jack Levin
Depression is a prison where you are both the suffering prisoner and the cruel jailer. Dorothy Rowe
Prison's not a nice place to be. Those people are not in there for singing in the choir. Larry Todd
To be in prison so long, it's difficult to remember exactly what you did to get there. Jack Henry Abbott
Prisons do not disappear problems, they disappear human beings. Angela Davis
That is how prison is tearing me up inside. It hurts every day. Every day takes me further from my life. Jack Henry Abbott
Prisons are universities of crime, maintained by the state. Peter Kropotkin
The best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he never knows he's in prison. Fyodor Dostoevsky
For the whole world, without a native home, Is nothing but a prison of larger room. Abraham Cowley
Truth is we all do things and in some cases are worthy of being hanged up, sometimes you're just unlucky, sometimes it's for your own good..ultimately even the innocent can go to prison. Frankie Owens
The primary function of the prison is to fulfill the needs of the courts and education is only part of this aim. Hilary Beauchamp
Formalised lesson plans as practised in mainstream often made little sense in the prison environment and replicating any mainstream-type curriculum was impossible. Hilary Beauchamp
Students in prison are reluctant participants--they all want to be somewhere else. Nobody really wants to be in prison or in a prison classroom. Hilary Beauchamp
Higher education in prison is a relatively modest intervention. Rebecca Ginsburg
College-in-prison is not an intervention that will put the system right, and this volume is not offered in that spirit. Rebecca Ginsburg
People in jail are human beings too, let's not forget that, they do have feelings and they do feel remorse for their actions. John Simons
This is the main problem, no one can be honest in prison, and you have to toe the party line. John Simons
Humanity is not high on the agenda in prisons, even though they are dealing with human beings all the time. John Simons
There is more unrest in society than ever before and the poor bastards who are at the end of the food chain in this situation are the lifers in our prison system. John Simons
Being behind the prison walls does not mean that your life is over; it is a new beginning. Corvalis G. Hodges