--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All these institutions [prisons] seemed…" description: "\"“All these institutions [prisons] seemed purposely invented for the production of depravity and vice, condensed to such a degree that no other conditio..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f71/leo-tolstoy-55_depravity_all-these-institutions-prisons-seemed-pu_254289.jpg" --- # All these institutions \[prisons\] seemed purposely invented… ![“All these institutions [prisons] seemed purposely invented for the production of depravity and vice, condensed to such a degree that no other conditions could produce it, and for the spreading of this condensed depravity and vice broadcast among the whole population.” quote by Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f71/leo-tolstoy-55_depravity_all-these-institutions-prisons-seemed-pu_254289.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f71/leo-tolstoy-55_depravity_all-these-institutions-prisons-seemed-pu_254289.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f71/leo-tolstoy-55_depravity_all-these-institutions-prisons-seemed-pu_254289.jpg) > ““All these institutions \[prisons\] seemed purposely invented for the production of depravity and vice, condensed to such a degree that no other conditions could produce it, and for the spreading of this condensed depravity and vice broadcast among the whole population.”” [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## 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 criticizes prisons as engineered to generate and spread moral corruption throughout society. **In simple terms:** Prisons are portrayed as factories of vice that infect the public. Key Takeaway Recognize how institutions can amplify social . Themes justice institutional critique morality societal impact Mood critical reflective Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - prison reform debates - policy analysis - social justice activism - criminal justice education Key Concepts penology social engineering corruption Questions to Reflect On - What mechanisms turn institutions into sources of vice? - How can societies redesign prisons to reduce harm? A Different Perspective The claim may overgeneralize and ignore prisons' role in public safety and rehabilitation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Condensed Depravity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/condensed-depravity-2521804/) [Depravity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depravity/) [Depravity Vice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depravity-vice-2521806/) [Incarceration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incarceration/) [Institutions Prisons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institutions-prisons-2521805/) [Prison-camps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prison-camps/) [Prisons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prisons/) [Prisons Purposely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prisons-purposely-2521803/) [Production Depravity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/production-depravity-2521807/) [Vice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vice/) ## Related quotes > [“Three thousand six hundred and fifty-three days. The three extra days were for leap years.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-solzhenitsyn/three-thousand-six-hundred-and-fifty-three-days-the-three-extra-days/) [Alexander Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-solzhenitsyn/) > [“You don't have to be very bright to carry a handbarrow. So the squad leader gave such work to people who'd been in positions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-solzhenitsyn/you-don-t-have-to-be-very-bright-to-carry-a-handbarrow-so-the-squad/) [Alexander Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-solzhenitsyn/) > [“That bowl of soup—it was dearer than freedom, dearer than life itself, past, present, and future.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-solzhenitsyn/that-bowl-of-soup-it-was-dearer-than-freedom-dearer-than-life-itself/) [Alexander Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-solzhenitsyn/) > [“Freedom meant one thing to him—home. But they wouldn't let him go home.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-solzhenitsyn/freedom-meant-one-thing-to-him-home-but-they-wouldn-t-let-him-go-home/) [Alexander Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-solzhenitsyn/) > [“Shukhov gazed at the ceiling in silence. Now he didn't know whether he wanted freedom or not. At first he'd longed for it. Every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-solzhenitsyn/shukhov-gazed-at-the-ceiling-in-silence-now-he-didn-t-know-whether-he/) [Alexander Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-solzhenitsyn/) > [“Here a man can live. All right, it's a 'special' camp. So what? Does it bother you to wear a number? They don't weigh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-solzhenitsyn/here-a-man-can-live-all-right-it-s-a-special-camp-so-what-does-it/) [Alexander Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-solzhenitsyn/) > [“Shukhov had figured it all out. If he didn't sign he'd be shot. If he signed he'd still get a chance to live. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-solzhenitsyn/shukhov-had-figured-it-all-out-if-he-didn-t-sign-he-d-be-shot-if-he/) [Alexander Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-solzhenitsyn/) > [“You put your back into the work. For unless you could manage to provide yourself with the means of warming up, you and everyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-solzhenitsyn/you-put-your-back-into-the-work-for-unless-you-could-manage-to/) [Alexander Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-solzhenitsyn/) > [“A couple of ounces ruled your life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-solzhenitsyn/a-couple-of-ounces-ruled-your-life/) [Alexander Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-solzhenitsyn/) ## More by Leo Tolstoy > [These joys were so trifling as to be as imperceptible as grains of gold among the sand, and in moments of depression she saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/these-joys-were-so-trifling-as-to-be-as-imperceptible-as-grains-of/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The only significance of life consists in helping to establish the kingdom of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-only-significance-of-life-consists-in-helping-to-establish-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Energy rests upon love; and come as it will, there's no forcing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/energy-rests-upon-love-and-come-as-it-will-there-s-no-forcing-it/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“If you only knew what those society women are, and women in general! My father is right. Selfish, vain, stupid, trivial in everything—that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/if-you-only-knew-what-those-society-women-are-and-women-in-general-my/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To speak of it would be giving importance to that which has none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-speak-of-it-would-be-giving-importance-to-that-which-has-none/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Once we're thrown off our habitual paths, we think all is lost, but it's only here that the new and the good begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/once-we-re-thrown-off-our-habitual-paths-we-think-all-is-lost-but-it/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“He knew she was there by the rapture and the terror that seized on his heart. She was standing talking to a lady at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-knew-she-was-there-by-the-rapture-and-the-terror-that-seized-on/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Rest, nature, books, music...such is my idea of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/rest-nature-books-music-such-is-my-idea-of-happiness/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“He was not to blame for being born with an irrepressible charachter and a mind some how constrained.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-was-not-to-blame-for-being-born-with-an-irrepressible-charachter/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [I ask one thing only: I ask for the right to hope, to suffer as I do. But if even that cannot be, command…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-ask-one-thing-only-i-ask-for-the-right-to-hope-to-suffer-as-i-do/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The idea shared by many that life is a vale of tears is just as false as the idea shared by the great majority,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-idea-shared-by-many-that-life-is-a-vale-of-tears-is-just-as-false/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-say-that-a-work-of-art-is-good-but-incomprehensible-to-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [True life is lived when tiny changes occur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/true-life-is-lived-when-tiny-changes-occur/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) [Explore all 1,754 Leo Tolstoy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## More Depravity quotes > [We instantly believe everything we think. Isn't that insane? It's good for us to explore the depravity of our minds, so we know we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishna-das/we-instantly-believe-everything-we-think-isn-t-that-insane-it-s-good/) [Krishna Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishna-das/) > [Total depravity means the entire absence of holiness, not the highest intensity of sin. A totally depraved man is not as bad as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-greenough-thayer-shedd/total-depravity-means-the-entire-absence-of-holiness-not-the-highest/) [William Greenough Thayer Shedd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-greenough-thayer-shedd/) > [The blessed Religion revealed in the word of God will remain an eternal and awful monument to prove that the best Institution may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-blessed-religion-revealed-in-the-word-of-god-will-remain-an/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [“The shop was a monument to uninhibited human depravity, the kind that scars souls with permanent shadows. I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-adair/the-shop-was-a-monument-to-uninhibited-human-depravity-the-kind-that/) [Bobby Adair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-adair/) > [If I created a new depravity I would be a priestess, while my imitators would founder, after my reign, in abominable filth...Don't you think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachilde/if-i-created-a-new-depravity-i-would-be-a-priestess-while-my/) [Rachilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachilde/) > [It is of interest to note that most secular humanists continue to belabor the horrors of the Inquisition in order to establish the moral…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guenter-lewy/it-is-of-interest-to-note-that-most-secular-humanists-continue-to/) [Guenter Lewy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guenter-lewy/) > [It is when my umbrella turns inside out that I am convinced of the total depravity of inanimate things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-when-my-umbrella-turns-inside-out-that-i-am-convinced-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“When it comes to depravity, if you want to know, theirs and ours are no different.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/when-it-comes-to-depravity-if-you-want-to-know-theirs-and-ours-are-no/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [The portions of a woman which appeal to man's depravity Are constructed with considerable care.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-p-herbert/the-portions-of-a-woman-which-appeal-to-man-s-depravity-are/) [A. P. Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-p-herbert/) > [The depravity which sin has produced in human nature extends to the whole of it. There is no part of man's nature which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-denney/the-depravity-which-sin-has-produced-in-human-nature-extends-to-the/) [James Denney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-denney/) > [“The Articles of the Synod of Dort affirm that moral depravity is inflicted upon all the descendants of Adam at birth "by the just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-alexander-hodge/the-articles-of-the-synod-of-dort-affirm-that-moral-depravity-is/) [Archibald Alexander Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-alexander-hodge/) > [Someone who is perennially surprised that depravity exists, who continues to feel disillusioned (even incredulous) when confronted with evidence of what humans are capable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/someone-who-is-perennially-surprised-that-depravity-exists-who/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [It's not what people do that scares me. It's what they hide. It's the secrets that keep us from bonding and create distrust. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/it-s-not-what-people-do-that-scares-me-it-s-what-they-hide-it-s-the/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [But this is not difficult, O Athenians! to escape death; but it is much more difficult to avoid depravity, for it runs swifter than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/but-this-is-not-difficult-o-athenians-to-escape-death-but-it-is-much/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Knowledge, learning, talents are not necessarily connected with sound moral and political principles… And eminent abilities, accompanied with depravity of heart, render the possessor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-webster/knowledge-learning-talents-are-not-necessarily-connected-with-sound/) [Noah Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-webster/) [Browse all 185 Depravity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depravity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“All these institutions [prisons] seemed purposely invented for the production of depravity and vice, condensed to such a degree that no other conditions could produce it, and for the spreading of this condensed depravity and vice broadcast among the whole population.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Leo Tolstoy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/all-these-institutions-prisons-seemed-purposely-invented-for-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Depravity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/all-these-institutions-prisons-seemed-purposely-invented-for-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f71/leo-tolstoy-55_depravity_all-these-institutions-prisons-seemed-pu_254289.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f71/leo-tolstoy-55_depravity_all-these-institutions-prisons-seemed-pu_254289.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f71/leo-tolstoy-55_depravity_all-these-institutions-prisons-seemed-pu_254289.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“All these institutions [prisons] seemed purposely invented for the production of depravity and vice…” — Leo Tolstoy", "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": "Leo Tolstoy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“All these institutions [prisons] seemed purposely...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/all-these-institutions-prisons-seemed-purposely-invented-for-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/all-these-institutions-prisons-seemed-purposely-invented-for-the/#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 } } ] } ```