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The fear of God is not the beginning of wisdom. The fear of God is the death of wisdom. Skepticism and doubt lead to study and investigation, and investigation is the beginning of wisdom.

Clarence Darrow

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Clarence Darrow
Age: 80 †
Born: 1857
Born: April 18
Died: 1938
Died: March 13
Lawyer
Writer
Clarence Seward Darrow
Clarence S. Darrow
Investigation
Lead
Beginning
Study
Doubt
Wisdom
Fear
Death
Skepticism

More quotes by Clarence Darrow

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Nothing is so loved by tyrants as obedient subjects.
Clarence Darrow
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The most human thing we can do is comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.
Clarence Darrow
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Most lawyers only tell you about the cases they win. I can tell you about some I lose. A lawyer who wins all his cases does not have many.
Clarence Darrow
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Do you, good people, believe that Adam and Eve were created in the Garden of Eden and that they were forbidden to eat from the tree of knowledge? I do. The church has always been afraid of that tree. It still is afraid of knowledge. Some of you say religion makes people happy. So does laughing gas. So does whiskey. I believe in the brain of man.
Clarence Darrow
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An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral.
Clarence Darrow
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No nation can be really great that is held together by Gatling guns, and no true loyalty can be induced and kept through fear.
Clarence Darrow
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I am a friend of the working man, and I would rather be his friend, than be one.
Clarence Darrow
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Can any rational person believe that the Bible is anything but a human document?
Clarence Darrow
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I do not consider it an insult, but rather a compliment to be called an agnostic. I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure - that is all that agnosticism means.
Clarence Darrow
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The efforts of the medical profession in the US to control:...its...job it proposes to monopolize. It has been carrying on a vigorous campaign all over the country against new methods and schools of healing because it wants the business...I have watched this medical profession for a long time and it bears watching.
Clarence Darrow
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Thirteen states with a population less than that of New York State alone can prevent repeal [of prohibition] until Halley's comet returns. One might as well talk about a summer vacation on Mars.
Clarence Darrow
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In life one cannot eat his cake and have it, too he must make his choice and then do the best he can to be content to go the way his judgment leads.
Clarence Darrow
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You can't get to a pleasant place to be at unless you use pleasant methods to get there. When you are dealing with a human society the means is fully as important as the end.
Clarence Darrow
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Education was in danger from the source that always hampered it—religious fanaticism.
Clarence Darrow
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Human action is governed largely by instinct and emotion.
Clarence Darrow
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Laws have come down to us from old customs and folk-ways based on primitive ideas of man's origin, capacity and responsibility.
Clarence Darrow
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Cheating, having 'hoes,' none of that is cute. To be honest, it's really immature. I don't see how people take pride in breaking someone's heart. The law does not pretend to punish everything that is dishonest. That would seriously interfere with business.
Clarence Darrow
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I had a vivid imagination. Not only could I put myself in the other person's place, but I could not avoid doing so. My sympathies always went out to the weak, the suffering, and the poor. Realizing their sorrows I tried to relieve them in order that I myself might be relieved.
Clarence Darrow
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Anyone can spot a lie, unless he is in need of that lie.
Clarence Darrow
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Lawyers are natural politicians.
Clarence Darrow