

“The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.”
― Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
― Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

“I was blessed with another trait I inherited from my mother, her ability to forget the pain in life. I remember the thing that caused the trauma, but I don't hold onto the trauma. I never let the memory of something painful prevent me from trying something new. If you think too much about the ass kicking your mom gave you or the ass kicking that life gave you, you’ll stop pushing the boundaries and breaking the rules. It’s better to take it, spend some time crying, then wake up the next day and move on. You’ll have a few bruises and they’ll remind you of what happened and that’s ok. But after a while, the bruises fade and they fade for a reason. Because now, it’s time to get up to some shit again.”
― Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood
― Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood

“You can’t understand most of the important things from a distance, Bryan. You have to get close,”
― Just Mercy: a story of justice and redemption
― Just Mercy: a story of justice and redemption

“People love to say, “Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” What they don’t say is, “And it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.” That’s the part of the analogy that’s missing.”
― Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood
― Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood

“Discipline 'makes' individuals; it is the specific technique of a power that regards individuals both as objects and as instruments of its exercise. It is not a triumphant power...it is a modest, suspicious power, which functions as a calculated, but permanent economy.”
― Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison
― Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison
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