Stephen Breyer Quotes

Lawyers are the only persons in whom ignorance of the law is not punished.

As a child, I wanted to be a lawyer because I thought lawyers and the law were wonderful. But they are more wonderful, I think, than I had thought.

I think lawyers have a fidelity to the system itself that's always got to be with them, and indeed, most of the defense lawyers I know observe that.

No brilliance is needed in the law. Nothing but common sense, and relatively clean finger nails.

Serving jury duty is a fascinating little slice of life, with its motley crew of personalities.

Americans have grown a great deal more realistic about lawyers and the law. I think that's all for the good. A lot of people will say to you these days, 'If you are looking for justice, don't go to a courtroom.' That's just a more realistic perspective on what happens in the legal process.

The experience of being a prosecutor gives us a sort of proctologists view of our society.

A lawyer's either a social engineer or he's a parasite on society.

The law is the public conscience.

Necessity knows no law; I know some attorneys of the same.

I do not believe in lawyers, in that mode of attacking or defending a man, because you descend to meet the judge on his own ground, and, in cases of the highest importance, it is of no consequence whether a man breaks a human law or not. Let lawyers decide trivial cases.

Lawyers have their duties as citizens, but they also have special duties as lawyers. Their obligations go far deeper than earning a living as specialists in corporation or tax law. They have a continuing responsibility to uphold the fundamental principles of justice from which the law cannot depart.

Public trials are very unsupervised and extremely swift and speak to the most primordial parts of us.

I like to bitch and moan about lawyers, but they often have actually good points.

In 'Maatr,' we do not justify taking the law into our hands. That's not the right thing to do. We are not promoting that.

The Max Clifford case shows that when the police and prosecutors quietly hold their nerve they can succeed, whatever the public profile or popularity of the accused.

It's really important to me that the public have confidence in their criminal justice system. We don't operate very well if the public doesn't trust us.

I always saw law as a performance, just like being on a stage.

Private courts, Gloomy as coffins, and unsightly lanes Thrilled by some female vendor's scream, belike The very shrillest of all London cries, May then entangle our impatient steps; Conducted through those labyrinths, unawares, To privileged regions and inviolate, Where from their airy lodges studious lawyers Look out on waters, walks, and gardens green.

Let the force of arms give place to law and justice.

The sad truth is that truth is almost irrelevant in a court of law.

The Law is the true embodiment of everything that's excellent; it has no kind of fault or flaw and I, my Lords, embody the Law.

That is one of the Law's purposes, of course: to test the qualities of those who choose to employ it.

Every object and purpose of justice is effectually answered, and every supposed inconvenience is effectually rebutted by the law as it stands.

Courage is the most important attribute of a lawyer.