Michel Foucault Quotes

There are some duties we owe even to those who have wronged us. There is, after all, a limit to retribution and punishment.

And how shall you punish those whose remorse is already greater than their misdeeds?

I don't believe in vengeance. Really, when all is said and done, I probably don't believe in punishment.

The grieving are surely owed our empathy, but capital punishment can neither right a wrong nor prevent another from happening.

Today we have to learn all over again that love for the sinner and love for the person who has been harmed are correctly balanced if I punish the sinner in the form that is possible and appropriate.

Justice should not admit a public's thirst for pure revenge.

I don't wish jail on nobody, not even my worst enemies.

I don't believe in an eye for an eye. I believe in two eyes for an eye.

The Christian - the biblical - concept of mercy toward wrongdoers only exists in relation to justice. Showing mercy, in relation to wrongdoing, means treating someone better than they deserve.

A judge who cannot punish, associates himself in the end with the criminal.

You will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than you will through acts of retribution.

Justice is not Healing. Healing cometh only by suffering and patience, and maketh no demand, not even for Justice. Justice worketh only within the bonds of things as they are... and therefore though Justice is itself good and desireth no further evil, it can but perpetuate the evil that was, and doth not prevent it from the bearing of fruit in sorrow.

I don't think vengeance is much good.

I am grateful that I live in a nation where most believe that one's punishment should fit their wrongdoing and that ours is a nation that judges an individual by both what he has done and how he has changed.

There is no forgiveness in nature.

In Scotland over many years we have cultivated through our justice system what I hope can be described as a 'culture of compassion.' On the other hand, there still exists in many parts of the U.S., if not nationally, an attitude towards the concept of justice which can only be described as a 'culture of vengeance.'

Instead of a man of peace and love, I have become a man of violence and revenge.

Just vengeance does not call for punishment.

To me, I think justice is part of forgiving, if it is well done with love.

People do make mistakes and I think they should be punished. But they should be forgiven and given the opportunity for a second chance. We are human beings.

To me, the joy you're going to get in a 'Punisher' story is watching him punish incredibly wicked people. Now, if you can add to that an emotional content, wonderful.

Public emergencies may require the hand of severity to fall heavily on those who are not personally guilty, but compassion prompts, and ever urges to milder methods.

Any story about revenge is ultimately a story about forgiveness, redemption, or the futility of revenge.

Punishment should have a redemptive quality to it.

The severest justice may not always be the best policy.