“The power of just mercy is that it belongs to the undeserving. It’s when mercy is least expected that it’s most potent—strong enough to break the cycle of victimization and victimhood, retribution and suffering. It has the power to heal the psychic harm and injuries that lead to aggression and violence, abuse of power, mass incarceration.”
― Just Mercy
― Just Mercy
“It makes you wonder. All the brilliant things we might have done with our lives if only we suspected we knew how.”
― Bel Canto
― Bel Canto
“We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated. An absence of compassion can corrupt the decency of a community, a state, a nation. Fear and anger can make us vindictive and abusive, unjust and unfair, until we all suffer from the absence of mercy and we condemn ourselves as much as we victimize others. The closer we get to mass incarceration and extreme levels of punishment, the more I believe it's necessary to recognize that we all need mercy, we all need justice, and-perhaps-we all need some measure of unmerited grace.”
― Just Mercy
― Just Mercy
“I can't even say I made my own mistakes. Really - one has to ask oneself - what dignity is there in that?”
― The Remains of the Day
― The Remains of the Day
“The death penalty is not about whether people deserve to die for the crimes they commit. The real question of capital punishment in this country is, Do we deserve to kill?”
― Just Mercy
― Just Mercy
Jocelyn’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Jocelyn’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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