"[[Rubin Carter|Rubin "Hurricane" Carter]] a top contender for the middleweight title, at the height of his boxing career in the mid-1960s, was wrongly accused of a horrific crime he did not commit: triple homicide. He went on trial, and a biased, bogus verdict followed: three life sentences. It was a dizzying fall from the heights of success and fame. Carter reported to prison in an expensive, tailored suit, wearing a $5,000 diamond ring and a gold watch. And so, waiting in line to be entered into the general inmate population, he asked to speak to someone in charge. Looking the warden in the eye, **Carter proceeded to inform him and the guards that he was not giving up the last thing he controlled: himself. In his remarkable declaration, he told them, in so many words, “I know you had nothing to do with the injustice that brought me to this jail, so I’m willing to stay here until I get out. But I will not, under any circumstances, be treated like a prisoner—because I am not and never will be powerless.**” ([Location 343](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IX49OS4&location=343)) --- **Tags** -- [[quotes]], [[self-reflection]], [[self-control]], [[personal-values]], [[rebellion]], [[resilience]], [[adversity]], [[obstacle-is-the-way]], **Source** -- [[202409180132 - B - The Obstacle is the Way]]