Prisons are built with stones of Law, brothels with bricks of Religion. (William Blake)
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Institutions can be corrupt despite being founded on moral principles
Examples
Prisons are built with stones of Law, brothels with bricks of Religion
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “Prisons are built with stones of Law, brothels with bricks of Religion. (William Blake)” mean?
Institutions can be corrupt despite being founded on moral principles
Is “Prisons are built with stones of Law, brothels with bricks of Religion. (William Blake)” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.