A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer.
—Robert Frost (1874–1963) American Poet
Good laws make it easier to do right and harder to do wrong.
—William Ewart Gladstone (1809–98) English Liberal Statesman, Prime Minister
Written laws are like spiders’ webs; they will catch, it is true, the weak and poor, but would be torn in pieces by the rich and powerful.
—Anacharsis (fl. 6th century BCE) Scythian Prince
A priest sees people at their best, a lawyer at their worst, but a doctor sees them as they really are.
—Common Proverb
Lawyers enjoy a little mystery, you know. Why, if everybody came forward and told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth straight out, we should all retire to the workhouse.
—Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957) British Novelist, Playwright, Essayist, Translator, Poet
Laws and customs may be creative of vice; and should be therefore perpetually under process of observation and correction: but laws and customs cannot be creative of virtue: they may encourage and help to preserve it; but they cannot originate it.
—Harriet Martineau (1802–76) English Sociologist, Economist, Essayist, Philosopher
Every law is an infraction of liberty.
—Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) British Philosopher, Economist
Petty laws breed great crimes.
—Ouida (Maria Louise Rame) (1839–1908) English Children’s Books Writer, Novelist, Short Story Writer, Essayist
Self-defense is the clearest of all laws, and for this reason: lawyers didn’t make it.
—Douglas William Jerrold (1803–57) English Writer, Dramatist, Wit
The laws and the stage, both are a form of exhibitionism.
—Orson Welles (1915–85) American Film Director, Actor
I have enforced the law against killing certain animals and many others, but the greatest progress of righteousness among men comes from the exhortation in favor of non-injury to life and abstention from killing living beings.
—Ashoka (c.304–c.232 BCE) Emperor of India
We may not all break the Ten Commandments, but we are certainly all capable of it. Within us lurks the breaker of all laws, ready to spring out at the first real opportunity.
—Isadora Duncan (1877–1927) American Dancer, Choreographer
The trouble with law is lawyers.
—Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) American Civil Liberties Lawyer
A lawyer’s opinion is worth nothing unless paid for.
—Common Proverb
I know of no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their strict execution.
—Ulysses S. Grant (1822–85) American Civil War General, Head of State
When the severity of the law is to be softened, let pity, not bribes, be the motive.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
In the habits of legal men every accusation appears insufficient if they do not exaggerate it even to calumny. It is thus that justice itself loses its sanctity and its respect among men.
—Alphonse de Lamartine (1790–1869) French Poet, Politician, Historian
This is a court of law young man, not a court of justice.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841–1935) American Jurist, Author
Courts of law, and all the paraphernalia and folly of law cannot be found in a rational state of society.
—Robert Owen (1771–1858) British Social Reformer, Philosopher
Lawyers are the only persons in whom ignorance of the law is not punished.
—Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) British Philosopher, Economist
The best laws cannot make a constitution work in spite of morals; morals can turn the worst laws to advantage. That is a commonplace truth, but one to which my studies are always bringing me back. It is the central point in my conception. I see it at the end of all my reflections.
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–59) French Historian, Political Scientist
Laws are the sovereigns of sovereigns.
—Louis XIV of France (1638–1715) King of France
It is impossible for us to break the law. We can only break ourselves against the law.
—Cecil B. DeMille (1881–1959) American Film Producer, Film Director, Screenwriter, Actor
Divorce is a game played by lawyers.
—Cary Grant (1904–86) British-American Film Actor
Lawyer, n. One skilled in circumvention of the law.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
Time is money, especially when you are talking to a lawyer or buying a commercial.
—Frank Lane (1896–1981) American Sportsperson, Businessperson
I was never ruined but twice; once when I lost a lawsuit and once when I won one.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
Laws are like sausages. It is better not to see them being made.
—Otto von Bismarck (1815–98) German Chancellor, Prime Minister
To some lawyers, all facts are created equal.
—Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) American Judge
The law is only one of several imperfect and more or less external ways of defending what is better in life against what is worse. By itself, the law can never create anything better. Establishing respect for the law does not automatically ensure a better life for that, after all, is a job for people and not for laws and institutions.
—Vaclav Havel (1936–2011) Czech Dramatist, Statesman
When men are pure, laws are useless; when men are corrupt, laws are broken.
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81) British Head of State
The power of the lawyer is in the uncertainty of the law.
—Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) British Philosopher, Economist
The laws of probability, so true in general, so fallacious in particular.
—Edward Gibbon (1737–94) English Historian, Politician
Amongst the learned the lawyers claim first place, the most self-satisfied class of people, as they roll their rock of Sisyphus and string together six hundred laws in the same breath, no matter whether relevant or not, piling up opinion on opinion and gloss on gloss to make their profession seem the most difficult of all. Anything which causes trouble has special merit in their eyes.
—Desiderius Erasmus (c.1469–1536) Dutch Humanist, Scholar
As to lawyers, their profession is supported by the indiscriminate defense of right and wrong.
—Junius Unidentified English Writer
It is difficult to make our material condition better by the best law, but it is easy enough to ruin it by bad laws.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Explorer