Darrow Quotes & Sayings

My biggest regret is that I didn't teach my two children how to speak Spanish. — Henry Darrow

The ablest lawyers are always associated with the biggest fees. — Clarence Darrow

Instead of yielding to idle conversation it might profit one to cultivate silence and contemplation. — Clarence Darrow

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. — Clarence Darrow

The trouble with law is lawyers. — Clarence Darrow

None meet life honestly and few heroically. — Clarence Darrow

When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President. I'm beginning to believe it. — Clarence Darrow

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. — Clarence Darrow

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 — Clarence Darrow

Darrow, Lancer of House Augustus. Rise, there are duties for you to fill. Rise, there are honors for you to take. Rise for glory, for power, for conquest and dominion over lesser men. Rise, my son. Rise. — Pierce Brown

Ignorance and fanaticism is ever busy and needs feeding. Always it is feeding and gloating for more. — Clarence Darrow

We grew together, and now are grown. In her eyes, I see my heart. In her breath, I hear my soul. She is my land. She is my kin. My love. — Pierce Brown

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. — Clarence Darrow

Never forget, almost every case has been won or lost when the jury is sworn. — Clarence Darrow

Calvin Coolidge was the greatest man who ever came out of Plymouth Corner, Vermont. — Clarence Darrow

The first half of our lives are ruined by our parents and the second half by our children. — Clarence Darrow

For at the beginning of the twentieth century, the nation had been struggling to find its way. Terror had raged, a second civil war had threatened to split the nation into new feuding armies, and the inequities of industrial life had brutalized too many lives. Three men who were caught up in those traumatic times, shaped by them, found with their talents, energy, and ideals a way out of it, both for themselves and for the nation. Darrow, Billy, D.W. were all flawed - egotists, temperamental, and too often morally complacent. But as their careers and lives intersected in Los Angeles at the tail end of the first decade of the twentieth century, each in his own way helped to move America into the modern world. They were individuals willing to fight for their beliefs; and the legacy of their battles, their cultural and political brawls, remains part of our national consciousness. — Howard Blum

If a man is happy in America, it is considered he is doing something wrong. — Clarence Darrow

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. — Clarence Darrow

I am a friend of the working man, and I would rather be his friend, than be one. — Clarence Darrow

Can any rational person believe that the Bible is anything but a human document? — Clarence Darrow

Coolidge is a better example of evolution than either Bryan or Darrow, for he knows when not to talk, which is the biggest asset the monkey possesses over the human. — Will Rogers

As long as the world shall last there will be wrongs, and if no man objected and if no man rebelled, those wrongs would last forever. — Clarence Darrow

An agnostic is a doubter. The word is generally applied to those who doubt the verity of accepted religious creeds of faiths. — Clarence Darrow

Lord Darrow," she said, inclining her head. She couldn't help the crooked grin. "You look toasty." Darrow's plain face remained unmoved. Unimpressed. Well, then. Aelin watched Darrow, waiting - refusing to break his stare until he bowed. A dip of his head was all he offered. "A bit lower," she purred. Aedion's — Sarah J. Maas

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? — Clarence Darrow

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. — Clarence Darrow

The purpose of life is living. Men and women should get the most they can out of their lives. — Clarence Darrow

The error I found in the philosophy of Henry George was its cocksureness, its simplicity, and the small value that it placed upon the selfish motives of men. The doctrine was a hang-over from the seventeenth century in France, when the philosophers had given up the idea of God, but still thought that there must be some immovable basis for man's conduct and ideals. 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. — Clarence Darrow

In order to have enough freedom, it is necessary to have too much. — Clarence Darrow

We know life is futile. A man who considers that his life is of very wonderful importance is awfully close to a padded cell. — Clarence Darrow

Robert G. Ingersoll was a great man. a wonderful intellect, a great soul of matchless courage, one of the great men of the earth -- and yet we have no right to bow down to his memory simply because he was great. Great orators, great soldiers, great lawyers, often use their gifts for a most unholy cause. We meet to pay a tribute of love and respect to Robert G. Ingersoll because he used his matchless power for the good of man.

{Darrow's eulogy for Ingersoll at his funeral} — Clarence Darrow

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

A criminal is someone without the capital to incorporate — Clarence Darrow

Chase after the truth like all hell and you'll free yourself, even though you never touch its coat tails. — Clarence Darrow

Liberty is the most jealous and exacting mistress that can beguile the soul and brain of man. — Clarence Darrow

Something had broken inside her. No past or future, no sense of time, each day as endless as it was to a child. Linh had been right about her being a tourist of the war in the beginning, but with that detachment there had also been a kind of strength. As Darrow had said, there was a price to mastery. Now she was in limbo, neither an observer of the country, nor a part of it. For the first time since she was a child, she considered praying, but it seemed small and cowardly this late in the game. — Tatjana Soli

I never wanted to see anybody die, but there are a few obituary notices I have read with pleasure. — Clarence Darrow

No iconoclast can possibly escape the severest criticism. — Clarence Darrow

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. — Clarence Darrow

You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom. You can only be free if I am free. — Clarence Darrow

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. — Clarence Darrow

The truth is always modern and there never comes a time when it is safe to give it voice. — Clarence Darrow

You can only be free if I am free. — Clarence Darrow

In my experience, if you are a competent and informed early retiree who enjoys helping others, you will never want for ways to produce income, if necessary. The — Darrow Kirkpatrick

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. — Clarence Darrow

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. — Clarence Darrow

Whenever I hear people discussing birth control, I always remember that I was fifth. — Clarence Darrow

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. — Clarence Darrow

Education was in danger from the source that always hampered it - religious fanaticism. — Clarence Darrow

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. — Clarence Darrow

To know all is to understand all, and this leaves no room for judgement and condemnation. — Clarence Darrow

Depressions may bring people closer to the church but so do funerals. — Clarence Darrow

In the great flood of human life that is spawned upon the earth, it is not often that a man is born. — Clarence Darrow

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. — Clarence Darrow

Religion is the belief in future life and in God. I don't believe in either. — Clarence Darrow

The fact that there is a general belief in a future life is no evidence of its truth — Clarence Darrow

Lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for. — Clarence Darrow

Our lives mean so much more than the frail bodies that carry them. — Pierce Brown

You do not follow me because I am the strongest. Pax is. You do not follow me because I am the brightest. Mustang is. You follow me because you do not know where you are going. I do. — Pierce Brown

Every thought of pity is like the balm of Gilead to our souls. — Clarence Darrow

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. — Clarence Darrow

The really intelligent are as abnormal as the defective. The great masses of men are rather mediocre, and those above and below are exceptions. — Clarence Darrow

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. — Clarence Darrow

You have made me give up the hair Father gave me, the eyes Mother left me, the Color I was born to, so I will keep the name they granted me, and you can make it work. — Pierce Brown

To think is to differ. — Clarence Darrow

No other offense has ever been visited with such severe penalties as seeking to help the oppressed. — Clarence Darrow

Most jury trials are contests between the rich and poor. — Clarence Darrow

To tell you the truth, it's a complex piece, so I can't really answer your question at present. — Paul Darrow

I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure. — Clarence Darrow

When they want a working man for anything excepting work they want him for conspiracy. — Clarence Darrow

The truth is, no man is white and no man is black. We are all freckled. — Clarence Darrow

Lawyers are natural politicians. — Clarence Darrow

Also, from a technical point of view, as you're standing in front of a microphone all day, it's quite a good idea that I should play a laid back sort of character because if he was too frenetic, I'd be exhausted by lunch! — Paul Darrow

It is bigotry for public schools to teach only one theory of origins. — Clarence Darrow

Henry Lloyd was with Darrow when they toured the mine. It was a dreadful experience, Lloyd said, "like a foretaste of the inferno."

"You might as well get used to it," Darrow told him. Heaven was reserved for Wall Street financiers. Infidels like themselves would be rooming with Satan. — John A. Farrell

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. — Clarence Darrow

It does not make much difference what kind of a law we make as long as the judges tell us what it means. — Clarence Darrow

But why show a devil you know his strength. It just makes me a threat to him. — Pierce Brown

A prison is confining to the body, but whether it affects the mind, depends entirely upon the mind. — Clarence Darrow

This is Darrow, Inadequately scrawled, with his young, old heart, And his drawl, and his infinite paradox And his sadness, and kindness, And his artist sense that drives him to shape his life To something harmonious, even against the schemes of God. — Edgar Lee Masters

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. — Clarence Darrow

Religious doctrines do not and clearly cannot be adopted as the criminal code of a state. — Clarence Darrow

This book comes from the reflections and experience of more than forty years spent in court. Aside from the practice of my profession, the topics I have treated are such as have always held my interest and inspired a taste for books that discuss the human machine with its manifestations and the causes of its varied activity. — Clarence Darrow

I love the challenge of show business. It keeps me on my toes. — Henry Darrow

My constitution was destroyed long ago; now I am living under the bylaws. — Clarence Darrow

Clarence Darrow, one of history's greatest lawyers, once noted "There is no such thing as justice, in or out of court." Perhaps because justice is a flawed concept that ultimately comes down to the decision of twelve people. People with their own experiences, prejudices, feelings about what defines right and wrong. Which is why, when the system fails us, we must go out and seek our own justice. — Emily Thorne

All my people sing of are memories. And so I will remember this death. It will burden me as it does not burden my fellow students
I must not let that change. I must not become like them. I'll remember that every sin, every death, every sacrifice, is for freedom. — Pierce Brown

There is no such crime as a crime of thought; there are only crimes of action. — Clarence Darrow

Sevro." I lean forward. "Your eyes ... "
He leans in close. "Do you like 'em?"
"Bloodydamn. Did you get Carved?"
"By the best in the business. Do you like 'em?"
"They're bloodydamn marvelous. Fit you like a glove."
He punches his hands together. "Glad you said that. Cuz they're yours."
I blanch. "What?"
"They're yours."
"My what?"
"Your eyes!"
"My eyes ... "
"Do you want the eyes back?" Sevro asks, suddenly worried. "I can give them back."
"No!" I say. "It's just I forgot how crazy you are."
"Oh." He laughs and slaps my shoulder. "Good. I thought it might be something serious. So I'm prime keeping them?"
"Finders keepers," I say with a shrug. — Pierce Brown

The pursuit of truth will set you free; even if you never catch up with it. — Clarence Darrow

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. — Clarence Darrow

History repeats itself. That's one of the things wrong with history. — Clarence Darrow

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. — Clarence Darrow

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. — Clarence Darrow

The only real lawyers are trial lawyers, and trial lawyers try cases to juries. — Clarence Darrow

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. — Clarence Darrow

No law was ever made by the people; they are made for the people — Clarence Darrow

No nation can be really great that is held together by Gatling guns, and no true loyalty can be induced and kept through fear. — Clarence Darrow

'I killed their pack leader,' Sevro says when I ask why the wolves follow him. He looks me up and down and flashes me an impish grin from beneath the wolf pelt. 'Don't worry, I wouldn't fit in your skin.' — Pierce Brown