About this quote

From the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption, the line is spoken by prison warden Samuel Norton. It comes during a scene where Norton orders the burning of books in the prison yard and delivers the line with a cold, commanding tone. The blunt image of flames 'for miles' sticks in the mind because it turns a petty, cruel order into something theatrical and memorable. The line is remembered for how it reveals the warden's authoritarian cruelty in a single, vivid phrase.