Quote

Prison does strange things to men. Although its purpose is to break the free spirit of a man, in many cases it just adds fuel to the fire that has never been and will never be extinguished.

William Powell

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William Powell
Age: 91 †
Born: 1892
Born: July 29
Died: 1984
Died: January 1
Actor
Film Actor
Stage Actor
Television Actor
Pittsburg
Pennsylvania
William Horatio Powell
Free
Add
Spirit
Although
Doe
Prison
Many
Cases
Things
Strange
Never
Fire
Extinguished
Men
Break
Adds
Purpose
Fuel

More quotes by William Powell

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A government creates its own revolution. There can be no revolt without it.
William Powell
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It has got to the point in this country where men believe they are men, just because that is their birthright. If that is true, then, by the same logic, an animal held captive in a zoo is still a free wild beast.
William Powell
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A revolution was never fought, throughout history, for ideals. Revolutions were fought for much more concrete things: food, clothes, housing, and to relieve intolerable oppression. … I know of no one, outside of Patrick Henry, willing to die for an abstraction.
William Powell
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I would warn against holsters with devices for quick-draw. Devices always fail when you need them most.
William Powell
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I detest symbolic protest, as it is an outcry of weak, middle-of-the-road, liberal eunuchs. If an individual feels strongly enough about something to do something about it, then he shouldn't prostitute himself by doing something symbolic. He should get out and do something real.
William Powell
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Unity is the only way in which the people of this country can overthrow the fascists, communists, capitalists, and all the other assholes who claim running a representative government is so difficult. The emphasis has been taken from the Bill of Rights and placed on the type of interpretation of the Constitution that best suits the people in power.
William Powell
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Have you noticed that the people who actually make the laws, the people in power, never make laws for themselves?
William Powell
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A word of advice: If you get the choice between the upper and lower bunks in a cell, choose the lower. Prisons do not turn off their lights at night, and I spent a sleepless night, without a mattress, with a five-hundred-watt bulb shining directly into my eyes.
William Powell
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Why did God make so many dumb fools and Democrats?
William Powell
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It seems acceptable today to scream for revolution, without any concept of what will follow it. This is just what the forces at large want, for who will follow a man who doesn't know where he's going?
William Powell
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There is only one purpose in hand-to-hand combat, and that is to kill. Never face an enemy with the idea of knocking him out. The chances are extremely good that he will kill you.
William Powell
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Unfortunately, or perhaps it is fortunate that I have always been forced to stand on my acting ability. I haven't a personality such as Jack Gilbert's, for instance, that attracts women and makes them like me for myself. When I am on the screen I must make them forget me entirely and think only of my acting.
William Powell
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Cultivate solitude and quiet and a few sincere friends, rather than mob merriment, noise and thousands of nodding acquaintances.
William Powell
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The only laws a man can truly respect are the ones he makes for himself.
William Powell
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Every person, whether in wartime or not, should keep a pistol and rifle in his house at all times. If a person is not going to protect himself, and wishes the government to do it for him, how can he complain when the government decides to protect itself against him, and executes him?
William Powell
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I can fully appreciate the fury and anger that a person can feel when put through a humiliating experience by a cop, but I would recommend strongly that a person maintain his cool, and in no circumstances lose his temper. If you lose your temper, you are playing right into the cop's hands.
William Powell
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Dessert is probably the most important stage of the meal, since it will be the last thing your guests remember before they pass out all over the table.
William Powell
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Believe it or not, bananas do contain a small quantity of Musa Sapientum bananadine, which is a mild, short-lasting psychedelic.
William Powell
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If a man is to be a man, a free spirit unto himself, he must arm himself not only with weapons but with ideals and concepts he is willing to die for.
William Powell
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If I could come out in this book and advocate complete revolution and the violent overthrow of the United States of America, without being thrown in jail, I would not have written The Anarchist Cookbook, and there would be no need for it.
William Powell