--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All prisons that have existed in our…" description: "\"All prisons that have existed in our society to date put people away as no human being should ever be put away.\" — Barbara Deming" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/973/barbara-deming-14719_humans_all-prisons-that-have-existed-in-our-soc_1054374.jpg" --- # All prisons that have existed in our society to date put… ![“All prisons that have existed in our society to date put people away as no human being should ever be put away.” quote by Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/973/barbara-deming-14719_humans_all-prisons-that-have-existed-in-our-soc_1054374.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/973/barbara-deming-14719_humans_all-prisons-that-have-existed-in-our-soc_1054374.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/973/barbara-deming-14719_humans_all-prisons-that-have-existed-in-our-soc_1054374.jpg) > “All prisons that have existed in our society to date put people away as no human being should ever be put away.” [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote argues that imprisonment is a fundamentally unjust practice that violates human dignity and should be abolished. **In simple terms:** Imprisonment is unjust and violates human dignity. Key Takeaway Advocate for alternatives to incarceration. Themes human rights justice criminal reform Mood critical hopeful Type political philosophical When to use this quote - advocacy - policy reform - community support - legal education Key Concepts abolitionism restorative justice Questions to Reflect On - How can societies protect safety without prisons? - What alternatives truly ensure accountability? A Different Perspective Abolition may overlook public safety concerns. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Our society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-society/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Prison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prison/) [Prisons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prisons/) ## Related quotes > [“A planet might deteriorate even if human beings existed upon it, if the society were itself abnormal and did not understand the importance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/a-planet-might-deteriorate-even-if-human-beings-existed-upon-it-if/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [It takes nothing away from a human to be kind to an animal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/it-takes-nothing-away-from-a-human-to-be-kind-to-an-animal/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Me, as a human, I never want to take away another human being's choices or lifestyles or anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lydon/me-as-a-human-i-never-want-to-take-away-another-human-being-s-choices/) [John Lydon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lydon/) > [There's a lot of baseball players who give their best effort all of the time. But one kind of gets away from them. You're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-acuna-jr/there-s-a-lot-of-baseball-players-who-give-their-best-effort-all-of/) [Ronald Acuna Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-acuna-jr/) > [In our society, we move people out of government. It's all operated by machines, meaning – not the people, just the products: the farming,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/in-our-society-we-move-people-out-of-government-it-s-all-operated-by/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [And I see the - you know, when I go to the juvenile detention centers and prisons, I see people who can't read now.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-dean-myers/and-i-see-the-you-know-when-i-go-to-the-juvenile-detention-centers/) [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) > [“...the court, as now constituted, would be meaningless without the jail which gives it its power. But if there is anything I have learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/the-court-as-now-constituted-would-be-meaningless-without-the-jail/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [After the revolution, let us hope, prisons simply would not exist - if by prisons we mean places that could be experienced by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/after-the-revolution-let-us-hope-prisons-simply-would-not-exist-if-by/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [There are worse prisons than words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/there-are-worse-prisons-than-words/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [There's no straight line between closing the mental institutions and filling the prisons but there is some sort of relationship. And it's hard to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-moskos/there-s-no-straight-line-between-closing-the-mental-institutions-and/) [Peter Moskos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-moskos/) > [Obama and the Democrats were so critical of what Bush did, the interrogations, the secret prisons, Guantanamo and all of that, and even the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/obama-and-the-democrats-were-so-critical-of-what-bush-did-the/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [Challenging schools to treat their students as customers with a choice, instead of inmates serving time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-warlick/challenging-schools-to-treat-their-students-as-customers-with-a/) [David Warlick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-warlick/) > [We need to have more second chance programs. I'm glad that we're ending private prisons in the federal system; I want to see them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/we-need-to-have-more-second-chance-programs-i-m-glad-that-we-re/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [You can look at the West Bank. Cities are like prisons. They can be closed quickly by the Israeli forces, and everything stops in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hassan-nasrallah/you-can-look-at-the-west-bank-cities-are-like-prisons-they-can-be/) [Hassan Nasrallah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hassan-nasrallah/) > [The federal prison population increased by almost 800 percent between 1980 and 2013, often at a far faster rate than the Bureau of Prisons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-yates/the-federal-prison-population-increased-by-almost-800-percent-between/) [Sally Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-yates/) ## More by Barbara Deming > [Nonviolent tactics can move into action on our behalf men not naturally inclined to act for us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/nonviolent-tactics-can-move-into-action-on-our-behalf-men-not/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [Our own pulse beats in every stranger's throat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/our-own-pulse-beats-in-every-stranger-s-throat/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [To resort to power one need not be violent, and to speak to conscience one need not be meek. The most effective action both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/to-resort-to-power-one-need-not-be-violent-and-to-speak-to-conscience/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [I think the only choice that will enable us to hold to our vision. . . is one that abandons the concept of naming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/i-think-the-only-choice-that-will-enable-us-to-hold-to-our-vision-is/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [Nonviolent action does not have to get others to be nice. It can in effect force them to consult their consciences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/nonviolent-action-does-not-have-to-get-others-to-be-nice-it-can-in/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [Think first of the action that is right to take, think later about coping with one's fears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/think-first-of-the-action-that-is-right-to-take-think-later-about/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [Surely all of us are nerved by one another, catch courage from one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/surely-all-of-us-are-nerved-by-one-another-catch-courage-from-one/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [We cannot live without our lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/we-cannot-live-without-our-lives/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [Let me be really here, here in this place and this time where I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/let-me-be-really-here-here-in-this-place-and-this-time-where-i-am/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [The injunction that we should love our neighbors as ourselves means to us equally that we should love ourselves as we love our neighbors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/the-injunction-that-we-should-love-our-neighbors-as-ourselves-means/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [Vengeance is not the point: change is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/vengeance-is-not-the-point-change-is/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [A liberation movement that is nonviolent sets the oppressor free as well as the oppressed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/a-liberation-movement-that-is-nonviolent-sets-the-oppressor-free-as/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [People may find it more comfortable to listen to us if we equivocate, but in the long run only words that discomfort them are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/people-may-find-it-more-comfortable-to-listen-to-us-if-we-equivocate/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [Our task, of course, is to transmute the anger that is affliction into the anger that is determination to bring about change. I think,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/our-task-of-course-is-to-transmute-the-anger-that-is-affliction-into/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [The point is to change one's life. The point is not to give some vent to the emotions that have been destroying one; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/the-point-is-to-change-one-s-life-the-point-is-not-to-give-some-vent/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) [Explore all 45 Barbara Deming quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) ## More Humans quotes > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) Mak\_786 > [Humans are, as Sartre put it, 'condemned to be free'. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/humans-are-as-sartre-put-it-condemned-to-be-free-to-insist-that/) Kenan Malik > [Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-h-pink/human-beings-have-an-innate-inner-drive-to-be-autonomous-self/) [Daniel H. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-h-pink/) > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I think the next 50 years are going to present the human race with challenges that so far exceed the limitations of geopolitical boundaries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-quinto/i-think-the-next-50-years-are-going-to-present-the-human-race-with/) [Zachary Quinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-quinto/) > [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) [Browse all 32,126 Humans quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All prisons that have existed in our society to date put people away as no human being should ever be put away.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Barbara Deming" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/all-prisons-that-have-existed-in-our-society-to-date-put-people-away/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Humans" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/all-prisons-that-have-existed-in-our-society-to-date-put-people-away/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/973/barbara-deming-14719_humans_all-prisons-that-have-existed-in-our-soc_1054374.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/973/barbara-deming-14719_humans_all-prisons-that-have-existed-in-our-soc_1054374.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/973/barbara-deming-14719_humans_all-prisons-that-have-existed-in-our-soc_1054374.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“All prisons that have existed in our society to date put people away as no human being should ever be put…” — Barbara Deming", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Barbara Deming", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "All prisons that have existed in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/all-prisons-that-have-existed-in-our-society-to-date-put-people-away/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/all-prisons-that-have-existed-in-our-society-to-date-put-people-away/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```