Caryl Chessman

“Capital punishment is the legalized murder of a human being by the state.”

“A man on Death Row is a man who has been judged not only by his peers but by his God.”

“To the man in the condemned cell, the world is a stage and he is the leading actor in a tragedy.”

“My name is Caryl Chessman. I am in the death house at San Quentin. I have been here for eight years. I am under sentence of death. I am scheduled to die... for a crime I did not commit.”

“Now I am ready to die. And I will not be vanquished.”

“The gas chamber is a monument to man's inhumanity to man.”

“It is a strange and eerie feeling to be sitting on a throne of anguish.”

“Death is the only god that comes when you call.”

“I am not a monster. I am a human being.”

“My story has been too often told, and I say this without false modesty, by people who are not qualified to tell it.”

“Justice is a commodity that is bought and sold.”

“This is a civilized world. The goddamdest lie that was ever told.”

“The difference between a hero and a coward is one step sideways.”

“Fear is the most potent of all emotions. It is the prime mover.”

“I am an intelligent, sensitive man, and I have a cosmic sense of humor.”