Jack Henry Abbott
Jack Henry Abbott was an American criminal and author. He was released from prison in 1981 after gaining praise for his writing and being lauded by a number of high-profile literary critics, including author Norman Mailer. Six weeks after his release, however, he fatally knifed a man during an altercation, was convicted of manslaughter and returned to prison, where he committed suicide in 2002.
Excerpted from Wikipedia.
“One morning I woke up and was plunged into psychological shock. I had forgotten I was free.”
Jack Henry Abbott
“I cannot be critical of an infant whose only possible source of nourishment can be found in the dugs of a wolf.”
Jack Henry Abbott
“I would never say, to justify a lapse in principle, "I am only human"--as though that were some kind of justification for weakness, moral weakness. Flesh and blood is much, much stronger than fools believe.”
Jack Henry Abbott
“Everyone in prison has an ideal of violence, murder. Beneath all relationships between prisoners is the ever-present fact of murder. It ultimately defines our relationship among ourselves.”
Jack Henry Abbott
“The only time they appear human is when you have a knife at their throats. The instant you remove it, they fall back into animality. Obscenity.”
Jack Henry Abbott