--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Punishment is not prevention. History…" description: "\"Punishment is not prevention. History offers cold comfort to those who think grievance and despair can be subdued by force.\" — Robert Kennedy" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f6/robert-kennedy-2083_cold_punishment-is-not-prevention-history-off_232244.jpg" --- # Punishment is not prevention. History offers cold comfort… ![“Punishment is not prevention. History offers cold comfort to those who think grievance and despair can be subdued by force.” quote by Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f6/robert-kennedy-2083_cold_punishment-is-not-prevention-history-off_232244.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f6/robert-kennedy-2083_cold_punishment-is-not-prevention-history-off_232244.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f6/robert-kennedy-2083_cold_punishment-is-not-prevention-history-off_232244.jpg) > “Punishment is not prevention. History offers cold comfort to those who think grievance and despair can be subdued by force.” [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Punishment does not stop future wrongdoing; history shows that force often fails to quell deep grievances. **In simple terms:** Force alone can't prevent future harm. Key Takeaway Seek restorative justice. Themes justice violence history policy Mood somber thoughtful Type political ethical When to use this quote - law reform - community mediation - education - peacebuilding Key Concepts restitution deterrence social healing Questions to Reflect On - Can punishment ever be truly preventative? - What alternatives address root causes? A Different Perspective Punishment may be necessary for accountability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) [Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfort/) [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/force/) [Grievance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grievance/) [Grievance Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grievance-despair-2348969/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Offers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/offers/) [Prevention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prevention/) [Punishment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punishment/) [Punishment Prevention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punishment-prevention-1823257/) [Think Grievance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-grievance-2348968/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [The object of punishment is, prevention from evil; it never can be made impulsive to good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/the-object-of-punishment-is-prevention-from-evil-it-never-can-be-made/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [One of the problems of our society is that we spend too much time thinking about punishment and not enough about prevention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-hattersley/one-of-the-problems-of-our-society-is-that-we-spend-too-much-time/) [Roy Hattersley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-hattersley/) > [The object of punishment is prevention from evil; it can never be made impulsive to good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/the-object-of-punishment-is-prevention-from-evil-it-can-never-be-made/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [I delight in offending people. I think the grievance brigade, victimhood, the idea that hurt feelings are some kind of special currency - I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milo-yiannopoulos/i-delight-in-offending-people-i-think-the-grievance-brigade/) [Milo Yiannopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milo-yiannopoulos/) > [Let me make it clear that the Youth Employment Opportunities Act of 1961 is not primarily concerned with delinquency prevention. Rather, it is designed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/let-me-make-it-clear-that-the-youth-employment-opportunities-act-of/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [Nearly 60 years ago, the international community made a commitment to put an end to the crime of genocide by ratifying the United Nations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alcee-hastings/nearly-60-years-ago-the-international-community-made-a-commitment-to/) [Alcee Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alcee-hastings/) > [I deplore the horrible crime of child-murder...We want prevention, not merely punishment. We must reach the root of the evil, and destroy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-b-anthony/i-deplore-the-horrible-crime-of-child-murder-we-want-prevention-not/) [Susan B. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-b-anthony/) > [I received compassion from the people I deserved it least from when I least deserved it, and that helped change me. When you take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-picciolini/i-received-compassion-from-the-people-i-deserved-it-least-from-when-i/) [Christian Picciolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-picciolini/) > [“I love the magic of a hot bath, how time pauses and every grievance melts away.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/i-love-the-magic-of-a-hot-bath-how-time-pauses-and-every-grievance/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [The politics of grievance is pervasive. It's spreading. And when you have an economy that has been ripped to shreds like this, and when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/the-politics-of-grievance-is-pervasive-it-s-spreading-and-when-you/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [the greater the bureaucratization of public life, the greater will be the attraction of violence. In a fully developed bureaucracy there is nobody left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-greater-the-bureaucratization-of-public-life-the-greater-will-be/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Every decision I make is a choice between a grievance and a miracle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/every-decision-i-make-is-a-choice-between-a-grievance-and-a-miracle/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [When the 2008 victory of Barack Obama and the defeat of grumpy old John McCain began looking, um, inevitable, I started fielding inquiries about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-perlstein/when-the-2008-victory-of-barack-obama-and-the-defeat-of-grumpy-old/) [Rick Perlstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-perlstein/) > [“Murray said, 'I don't trust anybody's nostalgia but my own. Nostalgia is a product of dissatisfaction and rage. It´s a settling of grievances between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/murray-said-i-don-t-trust-anybody-s-nostalgia-but-my-own-nostalgia-is/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [There are historical analogs, which are not exact, of course, but are close enough to be worrisome. This is a whiff of early Nazi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-are-historical-analogs-which-are-not-exact-of-course-but-are/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) ## More by Robert Kennedy > [Wars of any magnitude release powerful social and economic forces which can change the whole face of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/wars-of-any-magnitude-release-powerful-social-and-economic-forces/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [If freedom makes social progress possible, so social progress strengthens and enlarges freedom. The two are inseparable partners in the great adventure of humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/if-freedom-makes-social-progress-possible-so-social-progress/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [Goethe tells us in his greatest poem that Faust lost the liberty of his soul when he said to the passing moment, 'Stay, thou…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/goethe-tells-us-in-his-greatest-poem-that-faust-lost-the-liberty-of/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [The intolerant man will not rely on persuasion, or on the worth of the idea. He would deny to others the very freedom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/the-intolerant-man-will-not-rely-on-persuasion-or-on-the-worth-of-the/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/let-us-dedicate-ourselves-to-what-the-greeks-wrote-so-many-years-ago/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [President Kennedy's election was such an enlargement. It expanded religious freedom to include the highest office in the land. President Kennedy's administration was such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/president-kennedy-s-election-was-such-an-enlargement-it-expanded/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [Men and women with freed minds may often be mistaken, but they are seldom fooled. They may be influenced, but they cannot be intimidated.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/men-and-women-with-freed-minds-may-often-be-mistaken-but-they-are/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [Prejudice exists and probably will continue to 'but we have tried to make progress and we are making progress. We are not going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/prejudice-exists-and-probably-will-continue-to-but-we-have-tried-to/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/too-much-and-too-long-we-seem-to-have-surrendered-community/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [In the final analysis, poverty is a condition of helplessness - of inability to cope with the conditions of existence in our complex society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/in-the-final-analysis-poverty-is-a-condition-of-helplessness-of/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [We know that we cannot live together without rules which tell us what is right and what is wrong, what is permitted and what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/we-know-that-we-cannot-live-together-without-rules-which-tell-us-what/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [The travail of freedom and justice is not easy, but nothing serious and important in life is easy. The history of humanity has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/the-travail-of-freedom-and-justice-is-not-easy-but-nothing-serious/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [The Gross National Product measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/the-gross-national-product-measures-neither-our-wit-nor-our-courage/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [Our future may lie beyond our vision, but it is not completely beyond our control. It is the shaping impulse of America that neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/our-future-may-lie-beyond-our-vision-but-it-is-not-completely-beyond/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [Unions, by and large, are democratic organizations with freely chosen leaders and policies determined by the membership. They concern themselves with individual dignity not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/unions-by-and-large-are-democratic-organizations-with-freely-chosen/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) [Explore all 186 Robert Kennedy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) ## More Cold quotes > [Once ye made up yer mind to do somethin', 'tis better t'stumble o'er the small hillock of jump-ahead than t'bash yer head on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/once-ye-made-up-yer-mind-to-do-somethin-tis-better-t-stumble-o-er-the/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [From the bitter cold winter at Valley Forge, to the mountains of Afghanistan and the deserts of Iraq, our soldiers have courageously answered when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-ortiz/from-the-bitter-cold-winter-at-valley-forge-to-the-mountains-of/) [Solomon Ortiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-ortiz/) > [When I get a chance to play golf or go on a boat with good people, take the boat out and put some lobsters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-mac/when-i-get-a-chance-to-play-golf-or-go-on-a-boat-with-good-people/) [Bernie Mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-mac/) > [Of course Messi could handle a cold Tuesday night in Stoke. He'd be drinking tea and relaxing beforehand. Me? I'd probably be the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neymar/of-course-messi-could-handle-a-cold-tuesday-night-in-stoke-he-d-be/) [Neymar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neymar/) > [This cold weather has set all the young Folks to providing Bedfellows. I have signed two or three Licences every Day \[as a Fairfax…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mason/this-cold-weather-has-set-all-the-young-folks-to-providing-bedfellows/) [George Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mason/) > [When my main character in 'Heat' climbs the tower, the highest diving platform, hoping to resume competitive diving after an injury, I am there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cadnum/when-my-main-character-in-heat-climbs-the-tower-the-highest-diving/) [Michael Cadnum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cadnum/) > [You start playing when it's cold and you want to be playing when it's cold again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimy-williams/you-start-playing-when-it-s-cold-and-you-want-to-be-playing-when-it-s/) [Jimy Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimy-williams/) > [It would be a piece of ingenuousness to accuse the man of today of his lack of moral code. The accusation would leave him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/it-would-be-a-piece-of-ingenuousness-to-accuse-the-man-of-today-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [I would have touched it like a child But knew my finger could but have touched Cold stone and water. I grew wild, Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-would-have-touched-it-like-a-child-but-knew-my-finger-could-but/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [What's to become of the morally sound? Left out in the cold, I suppose. We must heal the sick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/what-s-to-become-of-the-morally-sound-left-out-in-the-cold-i-suppose/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [When I first started, all the reviews of Cold Chisel would say, 'This singer won't have a voice in six months.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-barnes/when-i-first-started-all-the-reviews-of-cold-chisel-would-say-this/) [Jimmy Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-barnes/) > [One of the problems trying to play an instrument outside in the cold is your fingers give up on you and you can't wear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-macdonald/one-of-the-problems-trying-to-play-an-instrument-outside-in-the-cold/) [Amy Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-macdonald/) > [God tempers the cold to the shorn sheep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-etienne-sainte-claire-deville/god-tempers-the-cold-to-the-shorn-sheep/) [Henri Etienne Sainte-Claire Deville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-etienne-sainte-claire-deville/) > [Those nights lying alone are not discontinuous with this cold hectic dawn. It is who I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-carson/those-nights-lying-alone-are-not-discontinuous-with-this-cold-hectic/) [Anne Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-carson/) [Browse all 5,381 Cold quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Punishment is not prevention. 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