--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Censorship laws are blunt instruments…" description: "\"Censorship laws are blunt instruments, not sharp scalpels. Once enacted, they are easily misapplied to merely unpopular or only marginally dangerous sp..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/alan-dershowitz-2194_blunt_censorship-laws-are-blunt-instruments-no_3122201.png" --- # Censorship laws are blunt instruments, not sharp scalpels… ![“Censorship laws are blunt instruments, not sharp scalpels. Once enacted, they are easily misapplied to merely unpopular or only marginally dangerous speech.” quote by Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/alan-dershowitz-2194_blunt_censorship-laws-are-blunt-instruments-no_3122201.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/alan-dershowitz-2194_blunt_censorship-laws-are-blunt-instruments-no_3122201.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/alan-dershowitz-2194_blunt_censorship-laws-are-blunt-instruments-no_3122201.png) > “Censorship laws are blunt instruments, not sharp scalpels. Once enacted, they are easily misapplied to merely unpopular or only marginally dangerous speech.” [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Censorship laws are broad and imprecise, leading to misuse against harmless speech, which threatens free expression. **In simple terms:** Broad laws can silence harmless speech. Key Takeaway Advocate precise, narrow regulations. Themes law free speech government Mood cautious thoughtful Type legal analytical When to use this quote - court cases - online platforms - public protests - policy drafting Key Concepts censorship legal precision Questions to Reflect On - What safeguards prevent overreach? - How to distinguish harmful from unpopular speech? A Different Perspective Balancing safety and liberty is complex. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blunt/) [Censorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/censorship/) [Censorship Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/censorship-laws-2240219/) [Dangerous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dangerous/) [Dangerous Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dangerous-speech-5485799/) [Freedom of speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom-of-speech/) [Instruments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instruments/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws/) [Laws Blunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws-blunt-5485800/) [Scalpels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scalpels/) [Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speech/) ## Related quotes > [I suppose that writers should, in a way, feel flattered by the censorship laws. They show a primitive fear and dread at the fearful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mortimer/i-suppose-that-writers-should-in-a-way-feel-flattered-by-the/) [John Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mortimer/) > [Yes, the deficit doctors have their scalpels out all right, but they're not poised over the budget. That's as fat as ever and getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/yes-the-deficit-doctors-have-their-scalpels-out-all-right-but-they-re/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The railway was part scalpel, part movie camera, slicing the city open, parading its inner workings at fifty frames per second. It was on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sington/the-railway-was-part-scalpel-part-movie-camera-slicing-the-city-open/) [Philip Sington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sington/) > [ Listening to Benny \[Goodman\] talk about the clarinet was like listening to a surgeon get hung up on a scalpel. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/artie-shaw/listening-to-benny-goodman-talk-about-the-clarinet-was-like-listening/) [Artie Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/artie-shaw/) > [I love the process of cutting everything out with a scalpel yourself: I don't want to have my stencils drawn up in Illustrator, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-eine/i-love-the-process-of-cutting-everything-out-with-a-scalpel-yourself/) [Ben Eine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-eine/) > [The voice was gentle, like a scalpel petting the short hairs of your throat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernor-vinge/the-voice-was-gentle-like-a-scalpel-petting-the-short-hairs-of-your/) [Vernor Vinge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vernor-vinge/) > [I could teach an eighth-grader in twenty minutes how to brief a case. 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It serves as an antidote to theism, a cure for sentimental piety, a scalpel for… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-batchelor/mindfulness-is-not-concerned-with-anything-transcendent-or-divine-it/) [Stephen Batchelor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-batchelor/) > [If you take the time to study how to be a doctor and how to use your scalpel and your medicine, then there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/if-you-take-the-time-to-study-how-to-be-a-doctor-and-how-to-use-your/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [Theater acting is an operation with a scalpel, movie acting is an operation with a laser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-caine/theater-acting-is-an-operation-with-a-scalpel-movie-acting-is-an/) [Michael Caine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-caine/) > [In golf, driving is a game of free-swinging muscle control, while putting is something like performing eye surgery and using a bread knife for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-bolt/in-golf-driving-is-a-game-of-free-swinging-muscle-control-while/) [Tommy Bolt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-bolt/) ## More by Alan Dershowitz > [I am a peace supporting Jew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/i-am-a-peace-supporting-jew/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [There is no perfect justice, just as there is no absolute in ethics. But there is perfect injustice, and we know it when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/there-is-no-perfect-justice-just-as-there-is-no-absolute-in-ethics/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [A criminal trial is never about seeking justice for the victim. If it were, there could be only one verdict: guilty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/a-criminal-trial-is-never-about-seeking-justice-for-the-victim-if-it/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [If torture is going to be administered as a last resort in the ticking-bomb case, to save enormous numbers of lives, it ought to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/if-torture-is-going-to-be-administered-as-a-last-resort-in-the/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [The Second Amendment has no place in modern society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/the-second-amendment-has-no-place-in-modern-society/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [Our First Amendment expresses a far different calculus for regulating speech than for regulating nonexpressive conduct and that is as it should be. 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I always wanted to be a lawyer, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/i-never-had-an-existential-moment-when-i-asked-myself-what-i-was/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [The Internet knows no national borders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/the-internet-knows-no-national-borders/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [It's a new phenomenon in America that states can now sue the national government and become a kind of check and balance on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/it-s-a-new-phenomenon-in-america-that-states-can-now-sue-the-national/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [When it comes to partisan politics, everyone is a hypocrite. And all they care about is whether it hurts or helps them ... Is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/when-it-comes-to-partisan-politics-everyone-is-a-hypocrite-and-all/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [Everybody says they're opposed to torture. But everyone would do it personally if they knew it could save the life of a kidnapped child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/everybody-says-they-re-opposed-to-torture-but-everyone-would-do-it/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [I think mistakes are the essence of science and law. It's impossible to conceive of either scientific progress or legal progress without understanding the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/i-think-mistakes-are-the-essence-of-science-and-law-it-s-impossible/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [I never place limits on the potential success of my students. If they're going into acting, they're going to win the Oscar... 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"I think it was Alan Blunt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-horowitz/was-it-fate-was-it-destiny-i-think-it-was-alan-blunt/) [Anthony Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-horowitz/) > [Blunt force didn't knock out the drug epidemic. 21 million Americans are addicted to drugs or alcohol. And half of all federal inmates are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-botticelli/blunt-force-didn-t-knock-out-the-drug-epidemic-21-million-americans/) [Michael Botticelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-botticelli/) > [Christie led the way - with a bulldozer. The governor is blunt, brash, and self-consciously authentic, the antithesis to what turns off today's voters:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-fournier/christie-led-the-way-with-a-bulldozer-the-governor-is-blunt-brash-and/) [Ron Fournier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-fournier/) > [The finest edge is made with the blunt whetstone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lyly/the-finest-edge-is-made-with-the-blunt-whetstone/) [John Lyly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lyly/) > [I'm a blunt person, not mean-spirited. I come from a place of love, but I'm interested in being real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-mcmillan/i-m-a-blunt-person-not-mean-spirited-i-come-from-a-place-of-love-but/) [Tracy McMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-mcmillan/) > [Emily and I have some funny scenes where we quarrel and it gets quite heated, the mother-daughter relationship. You know, film mothers and daughters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacki-weaver/emily-and-i-have-some-funny-scenes-where-we-quarrel-and-it-gets-quite/) [Jacki Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacki-weaver/) > [Rumour is a pipe Blown by surmises, jealousies, conjectures And of so easy and so plain a stop That the blunt monster with uncounted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/rumour-is-a-pipe-blown-by-surmises-jealousies-conjectures-and-of-so/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt. Chase after money and security and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/fill-your-bowl-to-the-brim-and-it-will-spill-keep-sharpening-your/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Better stop short than fill to the brim. Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt. Amass a store of gold and jade,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/better-stop-short-than-fill-to-the-brim-oversharpen-the-blade-and-the/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [There is something discordant about a team of speechwriters and political operatives hammering away to create an image of the 'real, inner' candidate. And,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-greenfield/there-is-something-discordant-about-a-team-of-speechwriters-and/) [Jeff Greenfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-greenfield/) > [I'm too blunt and straightforward for politics, but I'm friends with all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nana-patekar/i-m-too-blunt-and-straightforward-for-politics-but-i-m-friends-with/) [Nana Patekar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nana-patekar/) > [I don't get along with many people, especially in studios. 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