John Mortimer: Doing

John Mortimer was English barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author. Explore interesting quotes on doing.
John Mortimer: 40   quotes 0   likes

“If you can't sleep with your own wife wearing a false beard, what can you do?”

John Mortimer

Source: Where There's a Will: Thoughts on the Good Life (2003), Ch. 20 : Law or Justice

Sleep , Falseness

“Our system, which we call democracy, at least leaves us the right from time to time to get rid of those who wish to govern us. And, if it's nowhere near Utopia, it is probably the best of all imperfect systems. All I can do is to advise you to be very cautious of those who claim to represent you and order you about for your own good.”

John Mortimer

Source: Where There's a Will: Thoughts on the Good Life (2003), Ch. 29 : Avoiding Utopia

Democracy , Time

“Do we want blanks, asterisks and exclamation marks which people can fill in with their own imaginations, or are we prepared and strong enough to tolerate, even if we do not approve, the strong Anglo-Saxon, realistic and vivid language?”

John Mortimer

Defending record shop proprietor Christopher Seale against obscenity charges for displaying advertisements for Sex Pistols' LP Never Mind the Bollocks, Nottingham Magistrates Court (14 November 1977)

People , Imagination , Strong

“The doctor who makes a friend of his patients, the lawyer who defends death penalty cases in distant countries for no fee, the schoolteacher who opens a child's eyes to a new world of books and poetry — such people do nothing that can be measured in marketplaces. The greatest painters, composers and writers don't offer you choices, they present you with what only they can do, and you must take it or leave it. So when such subjects as the values of the marketplace are discussed, you will probably not have much to contribute. You can repeat a poem in your head and wait until the conversation is over. But if anyone starts talking about "level playing fields," get up and steal quietly from the room.”

John Mortimer

Source: Where There's a Will: Thoughts on the Good Life (2003), Ch. 19 : The Marketplace

Death , People , Books , World