Clarence Darrow (April 18, 1857 - March 13, 1938)
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.
At twenty a man is full of fight and hope. He wants to reform the world. When he is seventy he still wants to reform the world, but he knows he can't.
Can any rational person believe that the Bible is anything but a human document?
Chase after the truth like all hell and you’ll free yourself, even though you never touch its coat tails.
Depressions may bring people closer to the church but so do funerals.
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. I'm not worried about my soul.
Freedom comes from human beings, rather than from laws and institutions.
History repeats itself. That's one of the things wrong with history.
I am a friend of the working man, and I would rather be his friend than be one.
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.
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 a understanding and faith that all life is worth saving, and that mercy is the highest attribute of man.
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.
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.
I had grown tired of standing in the lean and lonely front line facing the greatest enemy that ever confronted man- public opinion.
I have never killed any one, but I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction.
I have suffered from being misunderstood, but I would have suffered a hell of a lot more if I had been understood.
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.
In the great flood of human life that is spawned upon the earth, it is not often that a man is born.
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but rather the one most adaptable to change.
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.
Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt.
Liberty is the most jealous and exacting mistress that can beguile the brain and soul of man.
No other offense has ever been visited with such severe penalties as seeking to help the oppressed.
Physical deformity, calls forth our charity. But the infinite misfortune of moral deformity calls forth nothing but hatred and vengeance.
Religion is the belief in future life and in God. I don't believe in either.
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.
The fact that there is a general belief in a future life is no evidence of its truth.
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.
The first half of our lives are ruined by our parents and the second half by our children.
The law does not pretend to punish everything that is dishonest. That would seriously interfere with business.
The truth is always modern and there never comes a time when it is safe to give it voice.
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.
There is no such crime as a crime of thought; there are only crimes of action.
There is no such thing as justice- in or out of court.
True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.
When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President. I'm beginning to believe it.
Whenever I hear people discussing birth control, I always remember that I was fifth.
With all their faults, trade-unions have done more for humanity than any other organization of men that ever existed.
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.
Categories: Clarence Darrow, Quotes of the day
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