Quotessence
Home / Books / Just Mercy

Just Mercy

Book by Bryan Stevenson · 3 quotes · Justice, Mercy, Brokenness

Filter quotes by topic

AllJusticeMercyBrokennessRacismBryan StevensonCapital PunishmentCompassionHumanityJust MercyRacial EquityDeath PenaltyForgivenessHealingHopeMggAfrican AmericansBlacksDeathGraceIncarceration

Just Mercy Quotes

“Proximity has taught me some basic and humbling truths, including this vital lesson: Each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done. My work with the poor and the incarcerated has persuaded me that the opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice. Finally, I've come to believe that the true measure of our commitment to justice, the character of our society, our commitment to the rule of law, fairness, and equality cannot be measured by how we treat the rich, the powerful, the privileged, and the respected among us. The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned. We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated. An absence of compassion can corrupt the decency of a community, a state, a nation. Fear and anger can make us vindictive and abusive, unjust and unfair, until we all suffer from the absence of mercy and we condemn ourselves as much as we victimize others. The closer we get to mass incarceration and extreme levels of punishment, the more I believe it's necessary to recognize that we all need mercy, we all need justice, and - perhaps - we all need some measure of unmerited grace.”

JusticeGraceLessonsForgivenessMercyEqualityTruthsIncarceration
Book:Just Mercy
Create image

“When I first went to death row in December 1983, America was in the early stages of a radical transformation that would turn us into an unprecedentedly harsh and punitive nation and result in mass imprisonment that has no historical parallel. Today we have the highest rate of incarceration in the world. The prison population has increased from 300,000 people in the early 1970s to 2.3 million people today. There are nearly six million people on probation or on parole. One in every fifteen people born in the United States in 2001 is expected to go to jail or prison; one in every three black male babies born in this century is expected to be incarcerated.”

AmericaCapital PunishmentIncarcerationDeath RowPrisonsPunitive Measures
Book:Just Mercy
Create image

“I believe that there are four institutions in American history that have shaped our approach to race and justice but remain poorly understood. The first, of course, is slavery. This was followed by the reign of terror that shaped the lives of people of color following the collapse of Reconstruction until World War II. ....The third institution, "Jim Crow," is the legalized racial segregation and suppression of basic rights that defined the American apartheid era. ....The fourth institution is mass incarceration.”

JusticeRacismSlaveryJustice SystemReconstructionIncarcerationJim CrowMass IncarcerationInstitutional Racism
Book:Just Mercy
Create image