Time for Favorite Quotations

Given all that's going on in the world, I found myself remembering a few of my favorite quotes. Consider this exchange, from "A Man For All Seasons," between Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield) and Will Roper (Corin Redgrave):

More: And go he should if he were the Devil himself until he broke the law.

Roper: So, now you give the Devil benefit of law!

More: Yes. What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?

Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that.

More: Oh? And when the last law was down and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast the coast, man's laws not God's, and if you cut them down--and you're just the man to do it--do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I give the Devil benefit of law for my own safety's sake.

Which puts me in mind of all the people who are willing to give up one liberty or another, all for the sake of a temporary peace of mind. (Let's not forget Franklin's quote about that, shall we?) Also of all those who don't care what law gets broken, just so's we catch the bad guy. Egads, people.

And speaking of laws....

I say that you cannot administer a wicked law impartially. You can only destroy, you can only punish. And I warn you that a wicked law--like cholera--destroys everyone it touches, its upholders as well as its defiers. Can't you understand that if you take a law like evolution and you make it a crime to teach it in the public schools, tomorrow you can make it a crime to teach it in the private schools. And tomorrow you may make it a crime to read about it. And soon you may ban books and newspapers. And then you may turn Catholic against Protestant, and Protestant against Protestant, and try and foist your own religion on the mind of man. If you can do one you can do the other, because fanaticism and ignorance is forever busy and needs feeding. And soon, your honor, with banners flying and with drums beating we'll be marching backward, backward through the glorious ages of that 16th century when bigots burned a man who dared bring enlightenment and intelligence to the human mind.

That's from "Inherit the Wind," spoken by Spencer Tracy as attorney for the defense Henry Drummond. All those wanting to pass more and more laws, nevermind enforcing those already on the books, should bear this in mind.

Finally, a real life quote from a real life hero, the closing paragraph to a speech he delivered, a message to all those who say we have to stop our war on terror:

Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

These, of course, are the words of Patrick Henry, spoken March 23, 1775, rallying people to another cause, another fight for freedom. Again, oddly appropriate.