Helen Prejean Quotes

people are more than the worst thing they have ever done in their lives

If we believe that murder is wrong and not admissible in our society, then it has to be wrong for everyone, not just individuals but governments as well.

Do they deserve to die?" but "Do we deserve to kill them?

I realize that I cannot stand by silently as my government executes its citizens. If I do not speak out and resist, I am an accomplice.

Government ... can't be trusted to control its own bureaucrats or collect taxes equitably or fill a pothole, much less decide which of its citizens to kill.

If you are going to do something for the poor, the abused, or the imprisoned, above all be faithful. People with broken lives often come from lives with broken promises.

The important thing is that when your come to understand something you act on it, no matter how small that act is. Eventually it will take you where you need to go.

There are spaces of sorrow only God can touch.

Lavish love on others receive it gratefully when it come to you. Cultivate friendship like a garden. It is the best love of all.

Mercy is "stronger and more God-like than vengeance".

When you try, God is there and you get the grace you need to get you through.

We are not the worst moments of our lives. Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking.

To err is human, to forgive is divine.

Remorse presupposes enough self-forgetfulness to feel the pain ofothers.

It would take me a long time to understand how systems inflict pain and hardship in people's lives and to learn that being kind in an unjust system is not enough.

People are more than the worst thing they have ever done in their lives.