I am further of opinion that it would be better for us to have [no laws] at all than to have them in so prodigious numbers as we have. – Michel de Montaigne, translated

Only the man who has enough good in him to feel the justice of the penalty can be punished. – William Ernest Hocking

It is well-nigh obvious that those who are in favor of the death penalty have more affinities with murderers than those who oppose it. – Remy de Gourmont