John Mortimer: Quotes about the world

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

“I found criminal clients easy and matrimonial clients hard. Matrimonial clients hate each other so much and use their children to hurt each other in beastly ways. Murderers have usually killed the one person in the world that was bugging them and they're usually quite peaceful and agreeable.”

John Mortimer

As quoted in "Rumpole creator Mortimer dies at 85" by Sam Marsden and Chris Moncrieff, The Independent (16 January 2009) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/rumpole-creator-mortimer-dies-at-85-1391378.html

Hate , Children , World , Peace

“We wondered why we ever thought there was, during the Cold War, any serious danger of Russia conquering the world when they couldn't even deliver the scenery for The Tempest.”

John Mortimer

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

War , World

“The "medium is the message" is one of the world's silliest remarks. The message is the message, and it doesn't matter whether you send it by e-mail, a note in a bottle or on a picture postcard. The book, or the poem, or the play is what counts and it doesn't matter if it's written with a pen on a long sheet of ruled paper, as I am writing now, or on the most highly developed word processor. No machine can help with the rhythms of your prose, even if it can spell better than you can.”

John Mortimer

Source: Where There's a Will: Thoughts on the Good Life (2003), Ch. 28 : Inventions and the Decline of Language

Books , World , Help

“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