Execution kills instantly, life-imprisonment kills by degrees. Who is the more humane executioner, one who kills you in a few seconds or one who draws the life out of you incessantly, for years? The Bet (1889)
If I were asked to choose between execution and life in prison I would, of course, chose the latter. It’s better to live somehow than not at all. The Bet (1889)
The government is not God. It does not have the right to take away that which it can’t return even if it wants to.• Any result divided by infinity gives nothing. The Bet (1889)
Capital punishment kills immediately, whereas lifetime imprisonment does so slowly. Which executioner is more humane? The one who kills you in a few minutes, or the one who wrests your life from you in the course of many years? The Bet (1889)