Quotes by Clarence Darrow

"Even if you do learn to speak correct English, whom are you going to speak it to?"

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

"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 am an agnostic I do not pretend to know what many ignorant men are sure of."

"Lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for."

"The first half of our lives are ruined by our parents and the second half by our children."

"The pursuit of truth will set you free even if you never catch up with it."

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

"To think is to differ."

"Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt."

"If you lose the power to laugh, you lose the power to think."

"When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I'm beginning to believe it."

"The trouble with law is lawyers."

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

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

"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."

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

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

"There is no such thing as justice - in or out of court."

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

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

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure."

"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."

"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."

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

"True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else."

"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."

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

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

"Some of you say religion makes people happy. So does laughing gas."

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

"The only real lawyers are trial lawyers, and trial lawyers try cases to juries."

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