Cesare Beccaria

"It is better to prevent crimes than to punish them."

"The purpose of punishment is not to torment a sensible being, nor to undo a crime already committed."

"Certainty of punishment, even if mild, is more effective than severity."

"Laws are the conditions under which men, naturally independent, unite to form society."

"Happy is the nation without a history."

"The greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of justice and legislation."

"Freedom is a gift not given by nature but granted by the law."

"When the severity of punishment is increased, the desire to commit crime is not necessarily decreased."

"Every punishment which does not arise from absolute necessity is tyrannical."

"The most certain method of rendering men obedient is to make them happy."

"It is better that a hundred guilty men should escape than one innocent should suffer."

"Mankind will continue to grow and progress only as we learn to cooperate with one another."

"The true measure of a man is how he treats those with no power to help him."

"Knowledge is power, but only when it is shared with others."

"In every human breast there is a spark of the divine fire."

"The habit of tolerating injustice is the habit of tolerating slavery."

"Society is a union of individuals, not of families."

"The worst crime is not theft but indifference to injustice."

"To judge a man, do not ask what he does, but why he does it."

"Laws should be written in plain language so all can understand them."

"The purpose of all government must be the happiness of the governed."

"Cruelty disguises itself under the mask of justice."

"The most certain way to reform men is through enlightenment."

"Fear is the origin of all superstition."

"True courage is not the absence of fear, but action despite it."

"The secret to success is to make others more powerful than yourself."

"In the darkness of ignorance, laws become instruments of oppression."

"A nation that fails to educate its citizens will fail to thrive."

"The strength of a society lies in its commitment to justice."

"Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the wisdom to resolve it."