Alan Dershowitz quotes - page 5

Well, many insane people and seriously mentally ill people seem very reasonable. (Alan Dershowitz)
There is a paranoid streak in American life. Radio talk show hosts tend to foment that paranoid streak in American life. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
The struggle for morality never stays won. It's always in process. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
I charge my wealthy clients a lot and put 10 per cent in a fund which I use to pay the expenses of my poorer clients. When the government gangs up on the poor schnook in the street, someone has to stand up for him. View quote
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. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
Great research universities must insist on independence from government and on the exercise of academic freedom. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
It's every lawyer's dream to help shape the law, not just react to it. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
A good lawyer knows how to shut up when he's won his case. View quote
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. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
In the Pentagon Papers case, the government asserted in the Supreme Court that the publication of the material was a threat to national security. It turned out it was not a threat to U.S. security. But even if it had been, that doesn't mean that it couldn't be published. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
Most liberal democracies don't try to figure out what the truth is. (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. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
I think that lawyers are terrible at admitting that they're wrong. And not just admitting it - also realizing it. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
I think we're seeing privacy diminish, not by laws... but by young people who don't seem to value their privacy. View quote
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. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
We have to fulfill what the real meaning of the Second Amendment is: reasonable access to guns for self-protection and for hunting. And there's no room in America for these semiautomatic, automatic and other kinds of weapons that are simply designed to cause mass havoc. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
I've had such a satisfying life professionally and personally. I hope my tombstone says, 'Never boring.' View quote
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. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
Ed Koch will never 'rest in peace.' That was not his way. He was always nervously squirming, while making others squirm as well. Comfort was not his goal. He understood that to be a proud and assertive Jew meant never being able to leave a sigh of relief and say, 'It's over, we are at peace, we can now put down our guard and relax.' View quote
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. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
Ideas don't desert you; ideas aren't treasonous to you, but people can be. (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. View quote
Alan Dershowitz
You know, it's ironic to me that Christians want to keep the Ten Commandments in our schools, because Christianity has abrogated four of the Ten Commandments. For example, the Sabbath day according to the Ten Commandments is Saturday, not Sunday. And the reason is because God rested, not because Jesus was resurrected. View quote
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. View quote
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. View quote
Alan Dershowitz