Capital punishment Quote by Albert Camus
““But what then is capital punishment but the most premeditated of murders, to which no criminal's deed, however calculated it may be, can be compared? For there to be equivalence, the death penalty would have to punish a criminal who had warned his victim of the date at which he would inflict a horrible death on him and who, from that moment onward, had confined him at his mercy for months. Such a monster is not encountered in private life.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: Reflections on the Guillotine, 1957
Capital punishment is the ultimate premeditated killing, incomparable to any other crime.
In simple terms: Death penalty is a planned murder.
Key Takeaway
Question the morality of state execution.
Themes
justice
violence
ethics
Mood
critical
philosophical
Type
ethical
controversial
When to use this quote
- court sentencing
- public debate
- human rights advocacy
Key Concepts
State authority
sanctity of life
Questions to Reflect On
- Is state-sanctioned killing ever justified?
- What alternatives exist to protect society?
A Different Perspective
Some argue it deters crime, though evidence is contested.
![“The law which attempts a man's life [capital punishment] is impractical, unjust, inadmissible. It has never repressed crime--for a second crime is every day committed at the foot of the scaffold.” quote by Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b85/marquis-de-sade-1964_capital-punishment_the-law-which-attempts-a-man-s-life-capi_99486.jpg)
![“[T]here are some human rights that are so deep that we can't negotiate them away. I mean people do heinous, terrible things. But there are basic human rights I believe that every human being has. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the United Nations says it for me. And it says there are…” quote by Sister Helen Prejean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/5c4/sister-helen-prejean-94083_an-eye-for-an-eye_t-here-are-some-human-rights-that-are-so_222080.jpg)
