Better To Let The Guilty Walk

"Better To Let The Guilty Walk"*

*Frederick II, the eighteenth-century king of Prussia,
fancied himself an enlightened monarch, and in some
respects he was. On one occasion he is supposed to
have interested himself in conditions in the Berlin
prison and was escorted through it so that he might
speak to the prisoners. One after the other, the
prisoners fell to their knees before him, bewailing
their lot and, predictably, protesting their utter
innocence of all charges that had been brought against them.

Only one prisoner remained silent, and finally
Frederick's curiosity was aroused.

"You," he called. "You there."

The prisoner looked up. "Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Why are you here?"

"Armed robbery, Your Majesty."

"And are you guilty?"

"Entirely guilty, Your Majesty. I richly deserve my punishment."

At this Frederick rapped his cane sharply on the
ground and said, "Warden, release this guilty
wretch at once. I will not have him here in jail
where by example he will corrupt all the splendid
innocent people who occupy it."

Source: Isaac Asimov

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"Judgment Day"* *(Why Bill Gates Chose WA)

A curious fellow died one day and found himself
waiting in the long line of judgment. As he stood
there he noticed that some souls were allowed to
march right through the pearly gates into heaven.

Others, though, were led over to Satan who threw
them into the burning pit. But every so often, instead
of hurling a poor soul into the fire, Satan would toss
a soul off to one side into a small pile.

After watching Satan do this several times, the fellow's
curiosity got the best of him. So he strolled over and
asked Satan what he was doing.

"Excuse me, Prince of Darkness," he said. "I'm waiting
in line for judgment, but I couldn't help wondering, why
are you tossing those people aside instead of flinging
them into the fires of hell with the others?"

"Ah, those..." Satan said with a groan. "They're all from
Seattle, they're too wet to burn."
Received on Wed Dec 3 01:03:19 2008