Quotes from John Grisham

In the U.S. there are over two million people locked up, and it takes one million employees and $80 billion in tax dollars to take care of them.

Do you read them? Faulkner, Hemingway, Fitzgerald? Only if I have to. I try to avoid old dead white men.

My dad's filthy rich, and even though we're Irish Catholic I'm an only child. I've got more money than you do so I'll work for free. No charge. A free law clerk for three weeks. I'll do all the research, typing, answering the phone. I'll even carry your briefcase and make the coffee. I was afraid you'd want to be a a law partner. No I'm a woman, and I'm in the South. I know my place.

Good God, Keith. Yes, I've talked to Him too and I'm still waiting on his Guidance...

You're old. You're senile. You're too calm about this. Something must be wrong…" "Wonderful. I'll pull out my hair and chase butterflies around the room.

He'd had his career, his triumphs. Success had brought him nothing but misery; he couldn't handle it. Success had thrown him in the gutter

You count the years until you get a varsity jersey, then you're a hero, an idol, a cocky bastard because in this town you can do no wrong. You win and win and you're the king of your own little world, then poof, it's gone. You play your last game and everybody cries. You can't believe it's over. Then another team comes right behind you and you're forgotten.

It wouldn't pay to get fresh with a missionary.

Most men cannot write good sex.

If you're not nervous, son, then something is wrong.

Lucien had taught him that fear was good; fear was an ally; that every lawyer was afraid when he stood before a new jury and presented his case. It was okay to be afraid – just don't show it.

Look at me, he said, glancing down at his legs. A wretched old man in a red monkey suit. A convicted murderer about to be gassed like an animal. And look at you. A fine young man with a beautiful education and a bright future. Where in the world did I go wrong? What happened to me? I've spent my life hating people, and look what I have to show for it. You, you don't hate anybody. And look where you're headed. We have the same blood. Why am I here?

I'm here to tell you, separate was never equal.

Appalachia was Appalachia, regardless of boundaries someone had set an eternity ago. A land of breathtaking beauty, of steep hills and rolling mountains

If the cops can't convict with evidence, they use the media to convict with suspicion.

suppose that in America everything, including education and corrections, is fair game for profiteers.

Black lung is a legal term for a preventable, occupational lung disease. It is more formally known as coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP), and is caused by prolonged exposure to coal dust. Once coal dust is inhaled into the body it cannot be removed or discharged. It progressively builds up in the lungs and can lead to inflammation, fibrosis, even necrosis. There are two forms of the disease: "simple CWP" and "complicated CWP" (or progressive massive fibrosis).

He counts votes before he decides what to have for breakfast.

You're beautiful," he said. "When was the last time I told you that you are beautiful?" "About two hours ago." "Two hours! How thoughtless of me!" "Don't let it happen again." He

Some of our clients have not been saints, but no lawyer can dictate morals to his client.

These are mistakes, not regrets. Regrets are over and done with and a waste of time to rehash. Mistakes, though, are bad moves in the past that might affect the future.

You're thinking somebody came over here, in the middle of a Category 4 hurricane, caught Nelson in the den, whacked him in the head, dragged his body outside, tried to clean up the blood, and then ran off? Seriously?

What would his friends think? The Honorable Hatlee Beech, federal judge, writing prose like a faggot, extorting money out of innocent people.

My children know nothing of Christmas. They have so little, and want so little, it makes me feel guilty for the mindless materialism of our culture.