--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The only way to prevent prostitution…" description: "\"The only way to prevent prostitution altogether would be to imprison one half of the human race.\" — Isabel Paterson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b1/isabel-paterson-11023_half_the-only-way-to-prevent-prostitution-alt_2185568.jpg" --- # The only way to prevent prostitution altogether would be… ![“The only way to prevent prostitution altogether would be to imprison one half of the human race.” quote by Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b1/isabel-paterson-11023_half_the-only-way-to-prevent-prostitution-alt_2185568.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b1/isabel-paterson-11023_half_the-only-way-to-prevent-prostitution-alt_2185568.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b1/isabel-paterson-11023_half_the-only-way-to-prevent-prostitution-alt_2185568.jpg) > “The only way to prevent prostitution altogether would be to imprison one half of the human race.” [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Eliminating prostitution would require imprisoning half the population, highlighting the impracticality of extreme moral legislation. **In simple terms:** Banning prostitution is impossible without massive oppression. Key Takeaway Consider unintended consequences of laws. Themes ethics law social policy Mood critical thought‑provoking Type philosophical policy When to use this quote - policy drafting - legal reform - public debate - activism - education programs Key Concepts civil liberties gender equality criminal justice Questions to Reflect On - Is there a humane alternative? - How can society address exploitation? A Different Perspective Such bans ignore complex social factors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Altogether Imprison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/altogether-imprison-4741000/) [Half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half/) [Human race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-race/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Imprison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imprison/) [Imprison Half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imprison-half-4741001/) [One half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-half/) [Prevent Prostitution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prevent-prostitution-4741002/) [Prostitution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prostitution/) [Prostitution Altogether](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prostitution-altogether-4740999/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [“Society always tries to enslave, imprison, and execute its greatest men, those who dare to stand apart and rise above.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-torode/society-always-tries-to-enslave-imprison-and-execute-its-greatest-men/) [Sam Torode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-torode/) > [How was she to tie herself to a man without permitting him to imprison her? And was there some means of acquiring things without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/how-was-she-to-tie-herself-to-a-man-without-permitting-him-to/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [Sometimes the prison of fear is so powerful theres no need to lock the cell doors. Your fear creates a willingness to self-imprison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-maraboli/sometimes-the-prison-of-fear-is-so-powerful-theres-no-need-to-lock/) [Steve Maraboli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-maraboli/) > [You cannot imprison an idea. You have to fight it with a better idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehbooba-mufti/you-cannot-imprison-an-idea-you-have-to-fight-it-with-a-better-idea/) [Mehbooba Mufti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehbooba-mufti/) > [“Don't let the unmet expectation to imprison your mind and ruin your life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euginia-herlihy/don-t-let-the-unmet-expectation-to-imprison-your-mind-and-ruin-your/) [Euginia Herlihy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euginia-herlihy/) > [Its better end something and start another than to imprison yourself in hoping for the impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laine/its-better-end-something-and-start-another-than-to-imprison-yourself/) [Laine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laine/) > [“Let my silence grow with noise as pregnant mothers grow with life. Let my silence permeate these walls as sunlight permeates a home. Let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/let-my-silence-grow-with-noise-as-pregnant-mothers-grow-with-life-let/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [“It may be bad for you, but government has no role in dictating our lives. People should be free to imprison themselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/it-may-be-bad-for-you-but-government-has-no-role-in-dictating-our/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [I wonder why it is that we so often imprison ourselves in the opinions of other people. There can be no punishment worse than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawna-markova/i-wonder-why-it-is-that-we-so-often-imprison-ourselves-in-the/) [Dawna Markova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawna-markova/) > [“Sometimes your mind can imprison your body and can put your body under some constraints. There is only one way for your body to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/sometimes-your-mind-can-imprison-your-body-and-can-put-your-body/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Nothing can be more abhorrent to democracy than to imprison a person or keep him in prison because he is unpopular. This is really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/nothing-can-be-more-abhorrent-to-democracy-than-to-imprison-a-person/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Our confession will either imprison us or set us free. Our confession is the result of our believing, and our believing is the result…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-hagin/our-confession-will-either-imprison-us-or-set-us-free-our-confession/) [Kenneth E. Hagin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-hagin/) > [What can my enemies do to me? My paradise is in my heart, it is with me wherever I go. To imprison me is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-taymiyyah/what-can-my-enemies-do-to-me-my-paradise-is-in-my-heart-it-is-with-me/) [Ibn Taymiyyah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-taymiyyah/) > [As politics is disconnected from its ethical and material moorings, it becomes easier to punish and imprison young people than to educate them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/as-politics-is-disconnected-from-its-ethical-and-material-moorings-it/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [I'll imprison you in my heart,A.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zarnab/i-ll-imprison-you-in-my-heart-a/) [Zarnab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zarnab/) ## More by Isabel Paterson > [“Newton was asked as a mathematician, not as a moralist. He replied 'Gentlemen, in applied mathematics, you must describe your unit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/newton-was-asked-as-a-mathematician-not-as-a-moralist-he-replied/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [But when the good people do know, as they certainly do, that three million persons (at the least estimate) were starved to death in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/but-when-the-good-people-do-know-as-they-certainly-do-that-three/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [“But in a free enterprise economy, increased production increases the number of jobs. It might be said that one job creates another, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/but-in-a-free-enterprise-economy-increased-production-increases-the/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [“If Charles F. Kettering or Thomas Alva Edison or Henry Ford had been put to work digging ditches under duress, one could calculate approximately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/if-charles-f-kettering-or-thomas-alva-edison-or-henry-ford-had-been/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Every politically controlled educational system will inculcate the doctrine of state supremacy sooner or later. . . . Once that doctrine has been accepted,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/every-politically-controlled-educational-system-will-inculcate-the/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Nothing increases the number of jobs so rapidly as labor-saving machinery, because it releases wants theretofore unknown, by permitting leisure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/nothing-increases-the-number-of-jobs-so-rapidly-as-labor-saving/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [If Americans should now turn back, submit again to slavery, it would be a betrayal so base the human race might better perish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/if-americans-should-now-turn-back-submit-again-to-slavery-it-would-be/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [“The intrinsic nature of the power authorized was so little realized that this was called "free education," the most absolute contradiction of facts by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/the-intrinsic-nature-of-the-power-authorized-was-so-little-realized/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Right now it is a terrible thing to be a rugged individualist; but we don't know what else to be except a feeble nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/right-now-it-is-a-terrible-thing-to-be-a-rugged-individualist-but-we/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [“Why did the humanitarian philosophy of eighteenth century Europe usher in the Reign of Terror? It did not happen by chance; it followed from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/why-did-the-humanitarian-philosophy-of-eighteenth-century-europe/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [There can be no greater stretch of arbitrary power than is required to seize children from their parents, teach them whatever the authorities decree…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/there-can-be-no-greater-stretch-of-arbitrary-power-than-is-required/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident, lapse, or omission. It is the result of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/most-of-the-harm-in-the-world-is-done-by-good-people-and-not-by/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident, lapse, or omission. It is the result of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/most-of-the-harm-in-the-world-is-done-by-good-people-and-not-by-2/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [The craving for power is in itself a sign of inferior abilities and unfitness for responsibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/the-craving-for-power-is-in-itself-a-sign-of-inferior-abilities-and/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Freedom is dangerous. Possibly crawling on all fours might be safer than standing upright, but we like the view better up there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/freedom-is-dangerous-possibly-crawling-on-all-fours-might-be-safer/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) [Explore all 62 Isabel Paterson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) ## More Half quotes > [When you listen to someone improvise, the notes that are played are only half the story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-laws/when-you-listen-to-someone-improvise-the-notes-that-are-played-are/) [Hubert Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-laws/) > [A lesser complaint: hair extensions. 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Worse yet, while the heroine bobs...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-movie-the-stars-above-the-ship-bear-no-correspondence-to-any/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [For the glory born of Goodness Never dies, And its flag is not half-masted In the skies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/for-the-glory-born-of-goodness-never-dies-and-its-flag-is-not-half/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-the-effect-of-her-being-on-those-around-her-was-incalculably/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [I with borrow'd silver shine, What you see is none of mine. 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