Quotable Quotes: Clarence Darrow
by Miki Saxon
Recent global events made me think of Clarence Darrow, not for his defense of evolution, but for something else he said, “As long as the world shall last there will be wrongs, and if no man objected and no man rebelled, those wrongs would last forever.”
A powerful concept and one that has been true since humans started walking upright.
So I decided to check out some of his other comments and see how applicable they still were.
Darrow was no lover or ideology, especially when it was religiously-based; he saw doubt as a driving force of change and believed it needed to be actively shared to survive, “Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt.”
I found this comment particularly apropos after reading today that the Oxford Dictionary gave its stamp of approval to OMG and LOL, “Even if you do learn to speak correct English, whom are you going to speak it to?” Good question.
People flock to hear Tony Hsieh explain why he built a happy culture; I wonder if he ever quotes Darrow, “If you lose the power to laugh, you lose the power to think.”
Darrow was a lawyer and acted with passion, because he believed in the importance of truth, “The pursuit of truth will set you free; even if you never catch up with it.”
Wise words and a good concept to add to your life credo.
However, in spite of his ideals and profession, he was pragmatic, if not downright cynical, about the world in which he lived, “The law does not pretend to punish everything that is dishonest. That would seriously interfere with business.”
Finally, here’s one for all the managers who claim they want their people to ‘think outside the box’ and be more creative, but react negatively if they disagree with the ‘accepted wisdom’, “To think is to differ.”
Have a great Sunday!
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
