I’m a lawyer, as the words at the end of this column signal to the
eagle-eyed reader. I’m proud of my profession, of its capacity to craft
some semblance of justice for victims, and of its overriding goal of
order and equity. One of my favorite quotes is spoken by Thomas More in
“A Man For All Seasons” when he tries to explain to an incredulous man
named Roper why laws are necessary, even when they end up protecting the
guilty:
“When the last law was down, and the Devil turned ‘round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man’s laws not God’s. And if you cut them down, and you’re just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake.”
http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC/20160611/NEWS/160619938
“When the last law was down, and the Devil turned ‘round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man’s laws not God’s. And if you cut them down, and you’re just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake.”
http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC/20160611/NEWS/160619938
