Ransom

Ransom

Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.

Read more about Ransom.

Famous quotes containing the word ransom:

    “A real man doesn’t have to run from his mother, and may even have to face the reality that no great deed is going to be great enough for him to ransom himself completely, and he may always be in his mother’s debt. If he understands that . . . he won’t have to feel guilty, and he won’t have to please her completely. He can go ahead and be nice to her and let her be part of his life.”
    —Frank Pittman (20th century)

    “A boy not beautiful, nor good, nor clever,
    A black cloud full of storms too hot for keeping,
    A sword beneath his mother’s heart— yet never
    Woman bewept her babe as this is weeping.”
    —John Crowe Ransom (1888–1974)

    “The twentieth-century artist who uses symbols is alienated because the system of symbols is a private one. After you have dealt with the symbols you are still private, you are still lonely, because you are not sure anyone will understand it except yourself. The ransom of privacy is that you are alone.”
    —Louise Bourgeois (b. 1911)