Quotes by Alan M. Dershowitz

“The defendant wants to hide the truth because hes generally guilty. The defense attorneys job is to make sure the jury does not arrive at that truth.”

“The judge also has a truth he wants to hide: He often hasnt been completely candid in describing the facts or the law.”

“Judges are the weakest link in our system of justice, and they are also the most protected.”

“A library is a place where you learn what teachers were afraid to teach you.”

“The prosecution wants to make sure the process by which the evidence was obtained is not truthfully presented, because, as often as not, that process will raise questions.”

“The best answer to bad speech is good speech”

“All sides in a trial want to hide at least some of the truth.”

“The court of last resort is no longer the Supreme Court. Its Nightline.”

“I would bet you there werent more than 20 or 30 people who read it.”

“We wouldnt even know where to look to find the law because there is no law.”

“We just have no idea what the answers are to those questions at this point in time.”

“We are changing the Fifth Amendment in a very dangerous way in the war on terrorism. We are now saying that it doesnt prevent us from coercing information it only prevents us from using that information in criminal trials. So it fits in very neatly to what I have done before.”

“Yes, believers and non-believers and skeptics can all live together and get along. But there cannot be an imperialistic imposition of religion by the state or by the church. All people must be equal--believers, skeptics, disbelievers, atheists, and those who chose religion. Unless we are all deemed equal, and unless the morality of disbelief is deemed the equivalent of the morality of belief, we will simply be tolerated, and that is not the American way.”

“Look, I dont know whether God exists. I dont know that. And I tell you one thing, I am not frightened of my beliefs. If there is a God who is threatening me with damnation because I dont believe in Him, so be it. Ive lived my life in conscience, and I will suffer damnation willingly in conscience against a tyrannical God who would damn me because, on the basis of the intelligence He gave me, I have come to a conclusion doubting His existence, and I will continue to be a skeptic all of my life.”

“Organized religion is always having to say youre sorry for misunderstanding Gods will in the past. That has been the history of organized religion.”

“I think we have to give religion its due. I think we have to respect those for whom religion is important, but equally respect those who can achieve good morality without religion.”

“When you give religiously inspired zealots weapons of mass destruction and you promise them that if they kill innocent people they will go to heaven, imagine what the consequences are.”

“I dont care if the Bible says it. Its wrong. Its wrong to divide people on the basis of sexual preference, of sexual orientation. Its wrong to say that women are unequal, if the Bible says so. Its wrong to say that Blacks are unequal even if the Hammite myth supports it or suggests it. The Bible is often wrong. It is often right. Of course, it is often brilliantly right.”

I have always considered Pascals Wager a questionable bet to place, since any God worth believing in would prefer an honest agnostic to a calculating hypocrite.

I am not frightened of my beliefs. If there is a God who is threatening me with damnation because I dont believe in Him, so be it. Ive lived my life in conscience, and I will suffer damnation willingly in conscience against a tyrannical God who would damn me because, on the basis of the intelligence He gave me, I have come to a conclusion doubting His existence, and I will continue to be a skeptic all of my life.