Alan Dershowitz Quotes

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

The defendant wants to hide the truth because he's generally guilty. The defense attorney's job is to make sure the jury does not arrive at that truth.

The law is agnostic about truth. It's very skeptical of ultimate truth. That's why freedom of speech permits lies to be told.

Hypocrisy is not a way of getting back to the moral high ground. Pretending you're moral, saying your moral is not the same as acting morally.

In the real world in which we live, you always have to choose between evils. And in choosing between evils, you have to have moral criteria for how to make those choices.

There are many levels of truth.

It simply cannot be disputed that for decades the Palestinian leadership was more interested in there not being a Jewish state than in there being a Palestinian state.

I was critical of race-based affirmative action early on in my career and I've changed my mind. And I've publicly acknowledged that I was wrong.

There is a paranoid streak in American life. Radio talk show hosts tend to foment that paranoid streak in American life.

Asymmetrical warfare is a euphemism for terrorism, just like collateral damage is a euphemism for killing innocent civilians.

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.

The threat or fear of violence should not become an excuse or justification for restricting freedom of speech.

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.

I know Obama, I like Obama, I voted for Obama.

Candor and accountability in a democracy is very important. Hypocrisy has no place.

Rights are not self-evident. They're not unalienable. They are subject to modification just like anything else.

Being offended by freedom of speech should never be regarded as a justification for violence.

I am a man of principle. I will stick by my principles. I will tell the truth no matter where the chips fall.

If America has the right to target Osama bin Laden, or terrorists, of course Israel has the right to defend itself from terrorism.

The law is agnostic about truth.

You're absolutely right: Bob Grant is a racist, Bob Grant is a bigot, he's a despicable talk show host and I agree with that.

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.

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.

I think that lawyers are terrible at admitting that they're wrong. And not just admitting it - also realizing it.

The court of last resort is no longer the Supreme Court. It's 'Nightline.'

The judge also has a truth he wants to hide: He often hasn't been completely candid in describing the facts or the law.

I have always considered "Pascal's Wager" a questionable bet to place. Any God worth "believing in" would surely prefer an honest agnostic to a calculating hypocrite.

The best answer to bad speech is good speech

Censorship laws are blunt instruments, not sharp scalpels. Once enacted, they are easily misapplied to merely unpopular or only marginally dangerous speech.

I think most defense attorneys honestly believe the principle that says, 'Better 10 guilty go free than even one possibly innocent person be convicted.

I will continue to fight for justice, fairness, and constitutional rights until my dying breath.

It is difficult to offend a New Yorker.

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.

Question authority; but, raise your hand first.

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

In our criminal justice system, we say it's better for 10 guilty people to go free than for even one innocent person to be wrongly convicted.

I don't believe in firing professors. They have academic freedom.

I've thought hard about my psychological connections and I think I've managed to separate out the psychological from the legal, moral, and political.

Great research universities must insist on independence from government and on the exercise of academic freedom.

Ideas don't desert you; ideas aren't treasonous to you, but people can be.

Any human being has private thoughts.

The Internet knows no national borders.

There are two kinds of terrorism. Rational terrorism such as Palestinian terrorism and apocalyptic terrorism like Sept. 11. You have to distinguish between the two.

I learn from experience.

I understand that it's good tactics to categorize me as a close-minded, unobjective extremist, but nobody that respects me has those views.

I love to play. I love, opera, hiking and museums. The one thing I don't do is sit. I have a tremendous amount of energy.

Most liberal democracies don't try to figure out what the truth is.

I think extremists within the base may very well move the Democratic party away from its pro-Israel position.

I was a Jewish rabbinical student for 12 years, and studied the Bible all the time.

I never place limits on the potential success of my students. If they're going into acting, they're going to win the Oscar... If they're going into law, they're going to be chief justice.