Alan Dershowitz Quotes & Sayings

Such technological tools ... are helping us now in the hot war against terrorists who would bomb this theater if they had the capacity to do so. — Alan Dershowitz

I think we're seeing privacy diminish, not by laws ... but by young people who don't seem to value their privacy. — Alan Dershowitz

I was critical of race-based affirmative action early on in my career and I've changed my mind. And I've publicly acknowledged that I was wrong. — Alan Dershowitz

Real heroes are those who face death for a principle - say, to save the lives of others - without any promise of reward. — Alan Dershowitz

A criminal trial is never about seeking justice for the victim. If it were, there could be only one verdict: guilty. — Alan Dershowitz

Most liberal democracies don't try to figure out what the truth is. — Alan Dershowitz

Twenty five percent of Israeli citizens are not even Jewish. Anybody can become an Israeli citizen if you qualify. Religion is not a criterion for citizenship. — Alan Dershowitz

Well, first of all, no professor should be able to say, I refuse to defend my position. I refuse to debate my position. — Alan Dershowitz

Hypocrisy is not a way of getting back to the moral high ground. Pretending you're moral, saying your moral is not the same as acting morally. — Alan Dershowitz

Every celebrity case I've been involved in - I've been involved in a great many - the one thing you can be sure of is they don't get the same justice as everybody else. It could be worse, it could be better, it's never the same. — Alan Dershowitz

Students throughout the totalitarian world risk life and limb for freedom of expression, many American college students are demanding that big brother restrict their freedom of speech on campus. This demand for enhanced censorship is not emanating only from the usual corner - the know-nothing fundamentalist right - it is coming from the radical, and increasingly not-so-radical left as well. — Alan Dershowitz

To ask about the 'source' of rights or morals assumes an erreous conclusion. To ask about the source of morals is to assume that such a source exists. As if it existed outside of human constructed systems. The 'source' is the human ability to learn from experience and to entrench rights in our laws and in our consciousness. Our rights come from our long history of wrongs. — Alan Dershowitz

This is not about celebrity justice, this is about the rights of the children. — Alan Dershowitz

If America has the right to target Osama bin Laden, or terrorists, of course Israel has the right to defend itself from terrorism. — Alan Dershowitz

I think mistakes are the essence of science and law. It's impossible to conceive of either scientific progress or legal progress without understanding the important role of being wrong and of mistakes. — Alan Dershowitz

Any human being has private thoughts. — Alan Dershowitz

The Internet knows no national borders. — Alan Dershowitz

If we move away from the American tradition of lawyers defending those with whom they vehemently disagree
as we temporarily did during the McCarthy period
we weaken our commitment to the rule of law ... So beware of an approach which limits advocacy to that which is approved by the standards of political correctness. — Alan Dershowitz

There are two kinds of terrorism. Rational terrorism such as Palestinian terrorism and apocalyptic terrorism like Sept. 11. You have to distinguish between the two. — Alan Dershowitz

In representing criminal defendants especially guilty ones it is often necessary to take the offensive against the government: to put the government on trial for its misconduct. In law, as in sports, the best defense is often a good offense. The courtroom oath to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth is applicable only to witnesses ... because the American justice system is built on a foundation of not telling the whole entire truth. — Alan Dershowitz

Imagine a legal system in which lawyers were equated with the clients they defended and were condemned for representing controversial or despised clients. — Alan Dershowitz

Yes, believers and non-believers and skeptics can all live together and get along. But there cannot be an imperialistic imposition of religion by the state or by the church. All people must be equal
believers, skeptics, disbelievers, atheists, and those who chose religion. Unless we are all deemed equal, and unless the morality of disbelief is deemed the equivalent of the morality of belief, we will simply be tolerated, and that is not the American way. — Alan Dershowitz

I am deeply concerned that, without peace and a two-state solution, the Jewish and democratic nature of Israel is in danger. That's why I have opposed Israel's settlement policy since 1973, and that's why I have favored a two-state solution since 1967. — Alan Dershowitz

It's never acceptable to target civilians. It violates the Geneva Accords, it violates the international law of war and it violates all principles of morality. — Alan Dershowitz

In my neighborhood, everyone had an opinion on the local cantor. You didn't go to a synagogue to listen to the rabbi's sermon. You went to listen to the cantor. It was like a concert. — Alan Dershowitz

Accusations fit on Greenwald really sounds like he's against all surveillance unless you can find a guy with the Al Qaeda card, wearing an Al Qaeda baseball cap, an Al Qaeda uniform. — Alan Dershowitz

No country in the history of the world has ever contributed more to humankind and accomplished more for its people in so brief a period of time as Israel has done since its relatively recent rebirth in 1948. — Alan Dershowitz

A good lawyer knows how to shut up when he's won his case. — Alan Dershowitz

I've always worked. — Alan Dershowitz

I've had such a satisfying life professionally and personally. I hope my tombstone says, 'Never boring.' — Alan Dershowitz

You're absolutely right: Bob Grant is a racist, Bob Grant is a bigot, he's a despicable talk show host and I agree with that. — Alan Dershowitz

I have been defending Israel's right to exist, and to defend itself against terrorism, for many years-on college campuses, in television appearances and in debate. — Alan Dershowitz

I never do anything for money; I get paid a lot of money as a by-product. — Alan Dershowitz

I think that lawyers are terrible at admitting that they're wrong. And not just admitting it; also realizing it. Most lawyers are very successful, and they think that because they're making money and people think well of them, they must be doing everything right. — Alan Dershowitz

It simply cannot be disputed that for decades the Palestinian leadership was more interested in there not being a Jewish state than in there being a Palestinian state. — Alan Dershowitz

I'm not a single-issue person, but I spend so much time on Israel because it is so unfairly condemned around the world. — Alan Dershowitz

Doing something because God has said to do it does not make a person moral: it merely tells us that person is a prudential believer, akin to the person who obeys the command of an all-powerful secular king. — Alan Dershowitz

On television and in the movies, crimes are always solved. Nothing is left uncertain. By the end, the viewer knows whodunit. In real life, on the other hand, many murders remain unsolved, and even some that are 'solved' to the satisfaction of the police and prosecutors lack sufficient evidence to result in a conviction. — Alan Dershowitz

The Israeli military plays more than a critical role in defending the citizens of the Jewish state. It also plays an important social, scientific and psychological role in preparing its young citizens for the challenging task of being Israelis in a difficult world. — Alan Dershowitz

It's much better to have rules that we can actually live within. And absolute prohibitions, generally, are not the kind of rules that countries would live within. — Alan Dershowitz

Our First Amendment expresses a far different calculus for regulating speech than for regulating nonexpressive conduct and that is as it should be. The right to swing your fist should end at the tip of my nose, but your right to express your ideas should not necessarily end at the lobes of my ears. — Alan Dershowitz

The best answer to bad speech is good speech — Alan Dershowitz

Laws are important precisely because in a democracy they reflect the attitudes and aspirations of those they govern. — Alan Dershowitz

It is difficult to offend a New Yorker. — Alan Dershowitz

Every lawsuit results from somebody doing something wrong. If everybody did right, we wouldn't need laws. — Alan Dershowitz

Being offended by freedom of speech should never be regarded as a justification for violence. — Alan Dershowitz

The pervasiveness of guns in our society is destroying America. — Alan Dershowitz

Question authority; but, raise your hand first. — Alan Dershowitz

I never had an existential moment when I asked myself what I was going to do. I always wanted to be a lawyer, and I knew exactly the kind of lawyer I wanted to be. — Alan Dershowitz

I think most defense attorneys honestly believe the principle that says, 'Better 10 guilty go free than even one possibly innocent person be convicted.' — Alan Dershowitz

The first rule for escaping prison in the United States is always having someone more important than yourself to incriminate. — Alan Dershowitz

I think we have to give religion its due. I think we have to respect those for whom religion is important, but equally respect those who can achieve good morality without religion. — Alan Dershowitz

I feel like my 50 years at Harvard were an interlude. I'm really a New Yorker. — Alan Dershowitz

All sides in a trial want to hide at least some of the truth. — Alan Dershowitz

There's simply nothing in there that would justify second degree murder. — Alan Dershowitz

I think there would be less torture with a warrant requirement than without one. — Alan Dershowitz

The threat of mutually assured destruction worked for the United States during the Cold War because it had proved its willingness to drop nuclear bombs on enemy cities at the end of World War II. It might work less well for Israel, because the Israeli Air Force has never deliberately targeted a large civilian population center, and its leaders have said its morality would not permit it do so. — Alan Dershowitz

I know Obama, I like Obama, I voted for Obama. — Alan Dershowitz

I'm a very tough guy, and I fight hard, and I don't give up. And that makes me friends and that makes me enemies, and I know that. — Alan Dershowitz

There is a paranoid streak in American life. Radio talk show hosts tend to foment that paranoid streak in American life. — Alan Dershowitz

Ideas don't desert you; ideas aren't treasonous to you, but people can be. — Alan Dershowitz

The plain message conveyed by the new administration is that George W Bush's America is a Christian nation, and that non-Christians are welcome into the tent so long as they agree to accept their status as a tolerated minority rather than as fully equal citizens. In effect, Bush is saying: "This is our home, and in our home we pray to Jesus as our savior. If you want to be a guest in our home, you must accept the way we pray." — Alan Dershowitz

In today's distorted world of 'human rights,' truth takes a back seat to ideology, and false claims - especially those that 'support' radical ideologies - persist even after they have been exposed. — Alan Dershowitz

I learn from experience. — Alan Dershowitz

Asymmetrical warfare is a euphemism for terrorism, just like collateral damage is a euphemism for killing innocent civilians. — Alan Dershowitz

In the real world in which we live, you always have to choose between evils. And in choosing between evils, you have to have moral criteria for how to make those choices. — Alan Dershowitz

A visit to Israel is always an experience in cognitive dissonance. The Israel you personally see and hear is so completely different from the Israel you read and hear about in the media. — Alan Dershowitz

I never place limits on the potential success of my students. If they're going into acting, they're going to win the Oscar ... If they're going into law, they're going to be chief justice. — Alan Dershowitz

The defendant wants to hide the truth because he's generally guilty. The defense attorney's job is to make sure the jury does not arrive at that truth. — Alan Dershowitz

Israel and the Palestinians must resolve their own differences. The United States can play an important role as facilitator and guarantor. — Alan Dershowitz

Scientists search for truth. Philosophers search for morality. A criminal trial searches for only one result: proof beyond a reasonable doubt. — Alan Dershowitz

You can't think about terrorism without thinking about Palestinian terrorism. Palestinians began international terrorism. It started with them in 1968. They used it as the first resort, not the last resort. They invented it, they perfected it, they benefited from it and they taught the world how to use it and that it would be successful. — Alan Dershowitz

I read in the newspaper that the Catholic Church finally decided that it had been theologically improper to try to convert the Jews. Whoops! Sorry for all those inquisitions, crusades, and autos-da-fe. Previous popes were wrong - infallible, perhaps, but wrong. — Alan Dershowitz

Good character consists of recognizing the selfishness that inheres in each of us and trying to balance it against the altruism to which we should all aspire. It is a difficult balance to strike, but no definition of goodness can be complete without it. — Alan Dershowitz

I tell my students, if you ever become comfortable with your role as criminal defense lawyer, it's time to quit. It should be a constant source of discomfort, because you're dealing with incredible moral ambiguity, and you've been cast into a role which is not enviable. — Alan Dershowitz

The very concept of an Iranian university is an oxymoron. There are no free and open places of learning in that repressive theocracy. Dissenters are not given tenure; they are murdered, after first being tortured. Blasphemy, which is broadly defined, is punished. Gays are not only excluded from Iranian universities, but are imprisoned and killed. — Alan Dershowitz

Great research universities must insist on independence from government and on the exercise of academic freedom. — Alan Dershowitz

A state has the right to prohibit the killing of dogs and bears whether for film or for other purposes. — Alan Dershowitz

Juries are not computers. They are composed of human beings who evaluate evidence differently. — Alan Dershowitz

I was a Jewish rabbinical student for 12 years, and studied the Bible all the time. — Alan Dershowitz

What the United States has to do is send a clear message to Iran that they will not be able to develop nuclear weapons. Why endure the difficulty of sanctions if they are not going to be able to develop nuclear weapons anyway? — Alan Dershowitz

I love the Bible. — Alan Dershowitz

For most people, the question why be good - as distinguished from merely law abiding - is a simple one. Because God commands it, because the Bible requires it, because good people go to Heaven and bad people go to Hell. — Alan Dershowitz

Rights are not self-evident. They're not unalienable. They are subject to modification just like anything else. — Alan Dershowitz

When I was 14 or 15, a camp counselor told me I was smart. I had never been very good in school, but he told me once that I was smart but my mind operated a little differently. — Alan Dershowitz

The court of last resort is no longer the Supreme Court. It's 'Nightline.' — Alan Dershowitz

I love discomfort. I mean, my whole life is discomfort. One reason I can never retire is that the idea of just sitting on the beach totally comfortable is not a desideratum in my life. I like ambiguity, I like conflict, I like uncertainly. — Alan Dershowitz

We all learn in school that the judicial, legislative and executive branches of government must check and balance each other. But other non state institutions must participate in this important system of checks and balances as well. These checking institutions include the academy, the media, religious institutions and NGOs. — Alan Dershowitz

I generally don't select my chicken or my hamburgers based on the personal ideology of the person who is either flipping the hamburgers or making the money back at corporate headquarters. But if people want to do that, they're free to do it. — Alan Dershowitz

When I was growing up, my mother would always say, 'It will go on your permanent record.' There was no 'permanent record.' If there were a 'permanent record,' I'd never be able to be a lawyer. I was such a bum in elementary school and high school ... There is a permanent record today, and it's called the Internet. — Alan Dershowitz

It's wrong, and it's racist, and it's bigoted to say that guns are quintessentially American. — Alan Dershowitz

I believe that if Israel were to put an end to the settlements in the West Bank tomorrow, as it did in Gaza, there would still be reluctance on the part of the Palestinian Authority to recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish secular democracy. — Alan Dershowitz

It is the wall of separation between church and state ... that is largely responsible for religion thriving in this country, as compared to those European countries in which church and state have been united, resulting in opposition to the church by those who disapprove of the government. — Alan Dershowitz

The law is agnostic about truth. It's very skeptical of ultimate truth. That's why freedom of speech permits lies to be told. — Alan Dershowitz

I don't believe in firing professors. They have academic freedom. — Alan Dershowitz

I've thought hard about my psychological connections and I think I've managed to separate out the psychological from the legal, moral, and political. — Alan Dershowitz

I came from a poor family, so working and going to school at the same time was natural. It taught me multi-tasking, although we didn't call it that back then. I learned I could never be idle, I need to be doing many things at once. — Alan Dershowitz

I'm never satisfied unless I get the last word. — Alan Dershowitz

We don't have an Official Secrets Act in the United States, as other countries do. Under the First Amendment, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom of association are more important than protecting secrets. — Alan Dershowitz

Well, many insane people and seriously mentally ill people seem very reasonable. — Alan Dershowitz