Gerry Spence
American lawyer and writer.
There are no rules that say lawyers cannot write or speak from their heart. Passion has never been formally outlawed, although it is a little-known experience among most lawyers and nearly all academicians.
When you are faced with prejudice, logic and justice are impotent. Still, we may have an obligation to argue directly into the face of the prejudice, even though there is no chance to win.
A new fascism promises security from the terror of crime. All that is required is that we take away the criminals’ rights – which, of course, are our own. Out of our desperation and fear we begin to feel a sense of security from the new totalitarian state.
When we come before the school board, most often we do not face those interested in the education of our children, but those interested in the maintenance of power. These contests are war. Any other paradigm is an illusion. It is not a mere contest, like athletes plunging down the hill on skis for the fastest time. It is not a dance in which the most graceful will be rewarded with a medal. This is war. Once we understand that the struggle is war, we can wage war and win.
The key to winning any war is to control the war. This does not mean I seek to control my opponent.
The less of one's life one must exchange for money, the more freedom one may enjoy.
While birds can fly, only humans can argue. Argument is the affirmation of our being. It is the principal instrument of human intercourse. Without argument the species would perish. As a subtle suggestion, it is the means by which we aid another. As a warning, it steers us from danger. As exposition, it teaches. As an expression of creativity, it is the gift of ourselves. As a protest, it struggles for justice. As a reasoned dialogue, it resolves disputes. As an assertion of self, it engenders respect. As an entreaty of love, it expresses our devotion. As a plea, it generates mercy. As charismatic oration it moves multitudes and changes history. We must argue — to help, to warn, to lead, to love, to create, to learn, to enjoy justice — to be.
The people of a nation are enslaved when, together, they are helpless to institute effective change, when the people serve the government more than the government serves them.
If I am real, if I am speaking from the heart zone, the right words will come. They will come a spoonful at a time, in the proper mixture.
The gift of self cannot be given to us. It is an incomparable gift that has already been given. We have possessed it from the beginning.
The function of the law is not to provide justice or to preserve freedom. The function of the law is to keep those who hold power, in power.
My intent is to tell the truth as I know it, realizing that what is true for me may be blasphemy for others.
We cannot, as a people, remain mute and free.
Words that do not create images should be discarded. Words that have no intrinsic emotional or visual content ought to be avoided. Words that are directed to the sterile intellectual head-place should be abandoned. Use simple words, words that create pictures and action and that generate feeling.
As we drive down the freeways, we see the new cars, but not the massive new-car loans that enslave their drivers to the banks.
I dream of a time when the people will retake their airways and use them to achieve a voice to rediscover democracy, and to see the divine potential of man.
Prejudice locks the mind. Nothing can enter. Nothing true can escape.
Power can win the body count but it cannot win this war. Because the enemy is not human. This is a war against a malicious spirit. Only fools attempt to defeat a spirit with guns and rockets and bombs.
When any system has for its goal the advancement of the system over the betterment of its individual members, such a system is embedded in slavery.
How much of our lives could we buy back if we cherished our lives instead of our trinkets?
Is there anyone I wouldn't take as a client? Well, I'd never represent a banker.