Top quotes by Clarence Darrow

The best that we can do is to be kindly and helpful toward our friends and fellow passengers who are clinging to the same speck of dirt while we are drifting side by side to our common doom. Votes: 26

I do not believe in god because I do not believe in Mother Goose. Votes: 25

In spite of all the yearnings of men, no one can produce a single fact or reason to support the belief in God and in personal immortality. Votes: 18

I do not consider it an insult, but rather a compliment to be called an agnostic. I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure - that is all that agnosticism means. Votes: 18

The origin of the absurd idea of immortal life is easy to discover; it is kept alive by hope and fear, by childish faith, and by cowardice. Votes: 15

Whenever I hear people discussing birth control, I always remember that I was fifth. Votes: 15

I don't believe in God because I don't believe in Mother Goose. Votes: 14

Working people have alot of bad habits, but the worst of these is work. Votes: 12

Chase after the truth like all hell and you'll free yourself, even though you never touch its coat tails. Votes: 12

You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom. Votes: 11

True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else. Votes: 10

The first half of our lives are ruined by our parents and the second half by our children. Votes: 10

I have suffered from being misunderstood, but I would have suffered a hell of a lot more if I had been understood. Votes: 10

With all their faults, trade unions have done more for humanity than any other organization of men that ever existed. They have done more for decency, for honesty, for education, for the betterment of the race, for the developing of character in men, than any other association of men. Votes: 10

Someday I hope to write a book where the royalties will pay for the copies I give away. Votes: 10

Do you, good people, believe that Adam and Eve were created in the Garden of Eden and that they were forbidden to eat from the tree of knowledge? I do. The church has always been afraid of that tree. It still is afraid of knowledge. Some of you say religion makes people happy. So does laughing gas. So does whiskey. I believe in the brain of man. Votes: 9

Different strokes for different folks. Votes: 9

I am a friend of the working man, and I would rather be his friend, than be one. Votes: 8

Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt. Votes: 8

Probably the undertaker thinks less of death than almost any other man. He is so accustomed to it that his mind must involuntarily turn from its horror to a contemplation of how much he makes out of the burial. Votes: 7

The pursuit of truth will set you free; even if you never catch up with it. Votes: 7

The law does not pretend to punish everything that is dishonest. That would seriously interfere with business. Votes: 6

I am an agnostic; I do not pretend to know what many ignorant men are sure of. Votes: 6

My constitution was destroyed long ago; now I am living under the bylaws. Votes: 6

Justice has nothing to do with what goes on in a courtroom; Justice is what comes out of a courtroom Votes: 6

Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live. Votes: 5

There is no such thing as justice - in or out of court. Votes: 4

Some false representations contravene the law; some do not. ... The sensibilities of no two men are the same. Some would refuse to sell property without carefully explaining all about its merits and defects, and putting themselves in the purchasers' place and inquiring if he himself would buy under the circumstances. But such men never would be prosperous merchants. Votes: 3

The audience that storms the box-office of the theater to gain entrance to a sensational show is small and sleepy compared with the throng that crashes the courthouse door when something concerning real life and death is to be laid bare to the public. Votes: 3

Physical deformity, calls forth our charity. But the infinite misfortune of moral deformity calls forth nothing but hatred and vengeance. Votes: 2

Some of you say religion makes people happy. So does laughing gas. Votes: 0

No man is a good citizen, a good neighbor, a good friend, or a good man just because he obeys the law. The intrinsic worth is determined mainly by the intrinsic make-up. Votes: 0

Thirteen states with a population less than that of New York State alone can prevent repeal [of prohibition] until Halley's comet returns. One might as well talk about a summer vacation on Mars. Votes: 0

Liberty is the most jealous and exacting mistress that can beguile the brain and soul of man. From him who will not give her all, she will have nothing. She knows that his pretended love serves but to betray. But when once the fierce heat of her quenchless, lustrous eyes have burned into the victim's heart, he will know no other smile but hers. Votes: 0

History repeats itself. That's one of the things wrong with history. Votes: 0

The objector and the rebel who raises his voice against what he believes to be the injustice of the present and the wrongs of the past is the one who hunches the world along. Votes: 0

To think is to differ. Votes: 0

To be an effective criminal defense counsel, an attorney must be prepared to be demanding, outrageous, irreverent, blasphemous, a rogue, a renegade, and a hated, isolated, and lonely person - few love a spokesman for the despised and the damned. Votes: 0

Never forget, almost every case has been won or lost when the jury is sworn. Votes: 0

Lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for. Votes: 0

I cannot tell and I shall never know how many words of mine might have given birth to cruelty in place of love and kindness and charity. Votes: 0

The difference between the child and the man lies chiefly in the unlimited confidence and buoyancy of youth. Votes: 0

The world is made up for the most part of morons and natural tyrants, sure of themselves, strong in their own opinions, never doubting anything. Votes: 0

I had a vivid imagination. Not only could I put myself in the other person's place, but I could not avoid doing so. My sympathies always went out to the weak, the suffering, and the poor. Realizing their sorrows I tried to relieve them in order that I myself might be relieved. Votes: 0

No other offense has ever been visited with such severe penalties as seeking to help the oppressed. Votes: 0

Each child should be more intelligent than his parents. Votes: 0

Every government on earth is the personification of violence and force, and yet the doctine of non-resistance is as old as human thought - even more than this, the instinct is as old as life upon the earth. Votes: 0

I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure. Votes: 0

Calvin Coolidge was the greatest man who ever came out of Plymouth Corner, Vermont. Votes: 0

The purpose of life is to live it. Votes: 0

I am always suspicious of righteous indignation. Nothing is more cruel than righteous indignation. Votes: 0

This is life and all there is of life; to play the game, to play the cards we get; play them uncomplainingly and play them to the end. the playing of the game is the foregetting of self and play it bravely to the end Votes: 0

I am an Agnostic because I am not afraid to think. I am not afraid of any god in the universe who would send me or any other man or woman to hell. If there were such a being, he would not be a god; he would be a devil. Votes: 0

There are a lot of myths which make the human race cruel and barbarous and unkind. Good and Evil, Sin and Crime, Free Will and the like delusions made to excuse God for damning men and to excuse men for crucifying each other. Votes: 0

One of the bravest, grandest champions of human liberty the world has ever seen.{Darrow on the great Robert Ingersoll} Votes: 0

I have always felt that doubt was the beginning of wisdom, and the fear of God was the end of wisdom. Votes: 0

The fear of God is not the beginning of wisdom. The fear of God is the death of wisdom. Skepticism and doubt lead to study and investigation, and investigation is the beginning of wisdom. Votes: 0

I don't like spinach, and I'm glad I don't, because if I liked it I'd eat it, and I just hate it. Votes: 0

As long as the world shall last there will be wrongs, and if no man objected and no man rebelled, those wrongs would last forever. Votes: 0

The only real lawyers are trial lawyers, and trial lawyers try cases to juries. Votes: 0

A jury is more apt to be unbiased and independent than a court, but they very seldom stand up against strong public clamor. Judges naturally believe the defendant is guilty. Votes: 0

With all their faults, trade-unions have done more for humanity than any other organization of men that ever existed. Votes: 0

I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure - that is all that agnosticism means. Votes: 0

I never wanted to see anybody die, but there are a few obituary notices I have read with pleasure. Votes: 0

Justice has nothing to do with what goes on in a courtroom; Justice is what comes out of a courtroom. Votes: 0

Depressions may bring people closer to the church but so do funerals. Votes: 0

History repeats itself, and that's one of the things that's wrong with history. Votes: 0

Even if you do learn to speak correct English, whom are you going to speak it to? Votes: 0

Laws should be like clothes. They should be made to fit the people they serve. Votes: 0

You can only be free if I am free. Votes: 0

When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President. I'm beginning to believe it. Votes: 0

I am pleading for the future; I am pleading for a time when hatred and cruelty will not control the hearts of men. When we can learn by, reason and judgment and understanding and faith that all life is worth saving, and that mercy is the highest attribute of man. Votes: 0

The efforts of the medical profession in the US to control:...its...job it proposes to monopolize. It has been carrying on a vigorous campaign all over the country against new methods and schools of healing because it wants the business...I have watched this medical profession for a long time and it bears watching. Votes: 0

It is indeed strange that with all the knowledge we have gained in the past hundred years we preserve and practice the methods of an ancient and barbarous world in our dealing with crime. So long as this is observed and exercised there can be no change except to heap more cruelties and more wretchedness upon those who are the victims of our foolish system. Votes: 0

It must always be remembered that all laws are naturally and inevitably evolved by the strongest force in a community, and in the last analysis made for the protection of the dominant class. Votes: 0

A criminal is someone without the capital to incorporate Votes: 0

I am not afraid of any god in the universe who would send me or any other man or woman to hell. If there were such a being, he would not be a god; he would be a devil. Votes: 0

The most human thing we can do is comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Votes: 0

An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral. Votes: 0

We are born and we die; and between these two most important events in our lives more or less time elapses which we have to waste somehow or other. In the end it does not seem to matter much whether we have done so in making money, or practicing law, or reading or playing, or in any other way, as long as we felt we were deriving a maximum of happiness out of our doings. Votes: 0

It’s not bad people I fear so much as good people. When a person is sure that he is good, he is nearly hopeless; he gets cruel- he believes in punishment. Votes: 0

Inside every lawyer is the wreck of a poet. Votes: 0

The man who fights for his fellow-man is a better man than the one who fights for himself. Votes: 0

I have lived my life, and I have fought my battles, not against the weak and the poor - anybody can do that - but against power, against injustice, against oppression, and I have asked no odds from them, and I never shall. Votes: 0

You can't get to a pleasant place to be at unless you use pleasant methods to get there. When you are dealing with a human society the means is fully as important as the end. Votes: 0

The purpose of life is living. Men and women should get the most they can out of their lives. Votes: 0

When we fully understand the brevity of life, its fleeting joys and unavoidable pains; when we accept the facts that all men and women are approaching an inevitable doom: the consciousness of it should make us more kindly and considerate of each other. This feeling should make men and women use their best efforts to help their fellow travelers on the road, to make the path brighter and easier as we journey on. It should bring a closer kinship, a better understanding, and a deeper sympathy for the wayfarers who must live a common life and die a common death. Votes: 0

I am sure of very little, and I shouldn't be surprised if those things were wrong. Votes: 0

In this dilemma they evolved the theory of natural rights. If 'natural rights' means anything it means that the individual rights are to be determined by the conduct of Nature. But Nature knows nothing about rights in the sense of human conception. Votes: 0

Instead of yielding to idle conversation it might profit one to cultivate silence and contemplation. Votes: 0

To say that the universe was here last year, or millions of years ago, does not explain its origin. This is still a mystery. As to the question of the origin of things, man can only wonder and doubt and guess. Votes: 0

If you lose the power to laugh, you lose the power to think. Votes: 0

The trouble with law is lawyers. Votes: 0

Eugene V. Debs has always been one of my heroes. Votes: 0

If a man is happy in America, it is considered he is doing something wrong. Votes: 0

Education was in danger from the source that always hampered it—religious fanaticism. Votes: 0

Laws should be like clothes. They should be made to fit the people they are meant to serve. Votes: 0

Can any rational person believe that the Bible is anything but a human document? Votes: 0

Religion is the belief in future life and in God. I don't believe in either. Votes: 0

Every one knows that the heavenly bodies move in certain paths in relation to each other with seeming consistency and regularity which we call [physical] law. ... No one attributes freewill or motive to the material world. Is the conduct of man or the other animals any more subject to whim or choice than the action of the planets? ... We know that man's every act is induced by motives that led or urged him here or there; that the sequence of cause and effect runs through the whole universe, and is nowhere more compelling than with man. Votes: 0

Ancestors do not mean so much. The rebel who succeeds generally makes it easier for the posterity that follows him; so these descendants are usually contented and smug and soft. Rebels are made from life, not ancestors. Votes: 0

There is a soul of truth in error; there is a soul of good in evil. Votes: 0

Nothing is so loved by tyrants as obedient subjects. Votes: 0

All men have an emotion to kill; when they strongly dislike someone they involuntarily wish he was dead. I have never killed anyone, but I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction. Votes: 0

None meet life honestly and few heroically. Votes: 0

Do I need to argue to Your Honor that cruelty only breeds cruelty? That hatred only causes hatred; that if there is any way to soften this human heart which is hard enough at its best, if there is any way to kill evil and hatred and all that goes with it, it is not through evil and hatred and cruelty; it is through charity, and love, and understanding? Votes: 0

We're all killers at heart . . . . I have never taken anybody's life, but I have often read obituary notices with considerable satisfaction. Votes: 0

Punishment as punishment is not admissible unless the offender has had the free will to select his course. Votes: 0

I had grown tired of standing in the lean and lonely front line facing the greatest enemy that ever confronted man -- public opinion. Votes: 0

The ablest lawyers are always associated with the biggest fees. Votes: 0

I feel as I always have, that the earth is the home and the only home of man, and I am convinced that whatever he is to get out of his existence he must get while he is here. Votes: 0

If there is a soul, what is it, and where did it come from, and where does it go? Can anyone who is guided by his reason possibly imagine a soul independent of a body, or the place of its residence, or the character of it, or anything concerning it? If man is justified in any belief or disbelief on any subject, he is warranted in the disbelief in a soul. Not one scrap of evidence exists to prove any such impossible thing. Votes: 0

Lawyers are natural politicians. Votes: 0

Many writers claim that nearly all crime is caused by economic conditions, or in other words that poverty is practically the whole cause of crime. Endless statistics have been gathered on this subject which seem to show conclusively that property crimes are largely the result of the unequal distribution of wealth. But crime of any class cannot be safely ascribed to a single cause. Life is too complex, heredity is too variant and imperfect, too many separate things contribute to human behavior, to make it possible to trace all actions to a single cause. Votes: 0

An agnostic is a doubter. The word is generally applied to those who doubt the verity of accepted religious creeds of faiths. Votes: 0

Most jury trials are contests between the rich and poor. Votes: 0

When every event was a miracle, when there was no order or system or law, there was no occasion for studying any subject, or being interested in anything excepting a religion which took care of the soul. As man doubted the primitive conceptions about religion, and no longer accepted the literal, miraculous teachings of ancient books, he set himself to understand nature. Votes: 0

A prison is confining to the body, but whether it affects the mind, depends entirely upon the mind. Votes: 0

Laws have come down to us from old customs and folk-ways based on primitive ideas of man's origin, capacity and responsibility. Votes: 0

Justice must take account of infinite circumstances which a human being cannot understand. Votes: 0

It is just as often a great misfortune to be the child of the rich as it is to be the child of the poor. Wealth has its misfortunes. Too much, too great opportunity and advantage given to a child has its misfortunes. Votes: 0

In life one cannot eat his cake and have it, too; he must make his choice and then do the best he can to be content to go the way his judgment leads. Votes: 0

I knew that it is out of the question to have honest, economical government while a few are inordinately rich and the great mass of men are poor. In fact, it is to be doubted if anything really worthwhile can be done until there is a fairer distribution of wealth. Votes: 0

Great wealth often curses all who touch it. Votes: 0

Everyone is the heir to all that has gone before; his structure and emotional life is fixed, and no two children of nature have the same heredity. I believe everyone should and must live out what is in him. So no two lives can be the same. Votes: 0

We are turning our prisons into living tombs, inhabited by doomed men living in everlasting blank despair. Votes: 0

Do you think you can cure the hatreds and the maladjustments of the world by hanging them? You simply show your ignorance and your hate when you say it. You may here and there cure hatred with love and understanding, but you can only add fuel to the flames by cruelty and hate. Votes: 0

Criminal cases receive the attention of the press. The cruel and disagreeable things of life are more apt to get the newspaper space than the pleasant ones. It must be that most people enjoy hearing of and reading about the troubles of others. Perhaps men unconsciously feel that they rise in the general level as others go down. Votes: 0

Human action is governed largely by instinct and emotion. Votes: 0

Everything serious that he says is a joke and everything humorous that he says is dead serious. Votes: 0

Those who enjoy the emotion of hating are much like the groups who sate their thirst for blood by hunting and hounding to death helpless animals as an outlet for their emotions. Votes: 0

Liberty is the most jealous and exacting mistress that can beguile the soul and brain of man. Votes: 0

The fact that there is a general belief in a future life is no evidence of its truth Votes: 0

The law is a horrible business. Votes: 0

Scopes isn’t on trial; civilization is on trial. Votes: 0

Life is a never-ending school, and the really important lessons all tend to teach humanity our proper relation to the environment where we must live. Votes: 0

The lowest standards of ethics of which a right-thinking man can possibly conceive is taught to the common soldier whose trade is to shoot his fellow men. In youth he may have learned the command, 'Thou shalt not kill,' but the ruler takes the boy just as he enters manhood and teaches him that his highest duty is to shoot a bullet through his neighbor's heart - and this, unmoved by passion or feeling or hatred, and without the least regard to right or wrong, but simply because his ruler gives the word. Votes: 0

Every thought of pity is like the balm of Gilead to our souls. Votes: 0

The ability and inclination to use physical strength is no indication of bravery or tenacity to life. The greatest cowards are often the greatest bullies. Nothing is cheaper and more common than physical bravery. Votes: 0

Every instinct that is found in any man is in all men. The strength of the emotion may not be so overpowering, the barriers against possession not so insurmountable, the urge to accomplish the desire less keen. With some, inhibitions and urges may be neutralized by other tendencies. But with every being the primal emotions are there. All men have an emotion to kill; when they strongly dislike some one they involuntarily wish he was dead. I have never killed any one, but I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction. Votes: 0

Everybody is a potential murderer. I've never killed anyone, but I frequently get satisfaction reading the obituary notices. Votes: 0

...finally men were saved only through God's son dying for them, and that unless human beings believed this silly, impossible and wicked story they were doomed to hell? Can anyone with intelligence really believe that a child born today should be doomed because the snake tempted Eve and Eve tempted Adam? To believe that is not God-worship; it is devil-worship. Votes: 0

I am simply an agnostic. I haven't yet had time or opportunity to explore the universe, and I don't know what I might run on to in some nook or corner. Votes: 0

If today you can take a thing like evolution and make it a crime to teach it in the public school, tomorrow you can make it a crime to teach it in the private school . . . At the next session you may ban books and newspapers. Soon you may set Catholic against Protestant and Protestant against Protestant, and try to foist your own religion upon the minds of men. Votes: 0

If a man really has charge of his destiny at all, he should have something to say about getting born; and I only came through by a hair's-breadth. What had I to do with this momentous first step? In the language of the lawyer, I was not even a party of the second part. Votes: 0

The Constitution is a delusion and a snare if the weakest and humblest man in the land cannot be defended in his right to speak and his right to think as much as the strongest in the land. Votes: 0

In order to have enough freedom, it is necessary to have too much. Votes: 0

The truth is that brains have little to do with either the making or accumulating of money. Votes: 0

The truth is, no man is white and no man is black. We are all freckled. Votes: 0

The really intelligent are as abnormal as the defective. The great masses of men are rather mediocre, and those above and below are exceptions. Votes: 0

The consideration and kindness shown by unfortunates to each other are surprising to those who have no experience with this class of men. Often to find real sympathy you must go to those who know what misery means. Votes: 0

Wars always bring about a conservative reaction. They overwhelm and destroy patient and careful efforts to improve the condition of man. Votes: 0

Autobiography is never entirely true. No one can get the right perspective on himself. Every fact is colored by imagination and dream. Votes: 0

There are two things that kill a genius: a fatal disease and contentment. Votes: 0

The truth is always modern and there never comes a time when it is safe to give it voice. Votes: 0

I go to a better tailor than any of you and pay more for my clothes. The only difference is that you probably don't sleep in yours. Votes: 0

No nation can be really great that is held together by Gatling guns, and no true loyalty can be induced and kept through fear. Votes: 0

No iconoclast can possibly escape the severest criticism. Votes: 0

We know life is futile. A man who considers that his life is of very wonderful importance is awfully close to a padded cell. Votes: 0

One believes in the truthfulness of a man because of his long experience with the man, and because the man has always told a consistent story. But no man has told so consistent a story as nature. Votes: 0

It may never come, but I fancy than no man who has sympathy for the human race does not wish that sometime those who labor should have the whole product of their toil. Probably it will never come, but I wish that the time might come when men who work in the industries would own the industries. Votes: 0

People in this world are not often logical. Votes: 0

The best way to understand somebody else is to put yourself in his place. Votes: 0

Common experience shows how much rarer is moral courage than physical bravery. A thousand men will march to the mouth of the cannon where one man will dare espouse an unpopular cause . . . True courage and manhood come from the consciousness of the right attitude toward the world, the faith in one's purpose, and the sufficiency of one's own approval as a justification for one's own acts. Votes: 0

In the great flood of human life that is spawned upon the earth, it is not often that a man is born. Votes: 0

Freedom comes from human beings, rather than from laws and institutions. Votes: 0

The purpose of man is like the purpose of a pollywog - to wiggle along as far as he can without dying; or, to hang to life until death takes him. Votes: 0

To know all is to understand all, and this leaves no room for judgement and condemnation. Votes: 0

Can any rational person believe that the Bible is anything but a human document? We now know pretty well where the various books came from, and about when they were written. We know that they were written by human beings who had no knowledge of science, little knowledge of life, and were influenced by the barbarous morality of primitive times, and were grossly ignorant of most things that men know today. Votes: 0

It is bigotry for public schools to teach only one theory of origins. Votes: 0

Most lawyers only tell you about the cases they win. I can tell you about some I lose. A lawyer who wins all his cases does not have many. Votes: 0

Men have always been obliged to fight to preserve liberty. Constitutions and laws do not safeguard liberty. It can be preserved only by a tolerant people, and this means eternal conflict. Votes: 0

There is no such crime as a crime of thought; there are only crimes of action. Votes: 0

Sympathy is the child of imagination Votes: 0

Some false representations contravene the law; some do not. The law does not pretend to punish everything that is dishonest. That would seriously interfere with business, and, besides, could not be done. The line between honesty and dishonesty is a narrow, shifting one and usually lets those get by that are the most subtle and already have more than they can use. Votes: 0

Cheating, having 'hoes,' none of that is cute. To be honest, it's really immature. I don't see how people take pride in breaking someone's heart. The law does not pretend to punish everything that is dishonest. That would seriously interfere with business. Votes: 0

It is not for the world to judge, but to crown them all alike. Each and all lived out their own being, did their work in their own way, and carried a reluctant, stupid humanity to greater possibilities and grander heights. Votes: 0

I am an agnostic as to the question of God. Votes: 0

If there is to be any permanent improvement in man and any better social order, it must come mainly from the education and humanizing of man. Votes: 0

One cannot live through a long stretch of years without forming some philosophy of life. Votes: 0

The nation that would to-day disarm its soldiers and turn its people to the paths of peace would accomplish more to its building up than by all the war taxes wrong from its hostile and unwilling serfs Votes: 0

Religion is based on the insistence that over and above all is a purpose and a guiding hand that is beneficent and kind, and would not leave a hair unnumbered or let a sparrow fall unnoticed to the ground. Those who cherish such hallucinations forget that the all-loving power is inflicting tuberculosis, cancer, famine, and pestilence on the trusting, simple sons of men. Votes: 0

Hoover, if elected, will do one thing that is almost incomprehensible to the human mind: he will make a great man out of Coolidge. Votes: 0

Any one who thinks is an agnostic about something, otherwise he must believe that he is possessed of all knowledge. And the proper place for such a person is in the madhouse or the home for the feeble-minded. Votes: 0

The time will come when all people will view with horror light way in which society and its courts of law now take human life; and when that time comes, the way will be clear to device some better method of dealing with poverty and ignorance and their frequent byproducts, which we call crime. Votes: 0

Anyone can spot a lie, unless he is in need of that lie. Votes: 0