--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I haven't committed a crime. What I did…" description: "\"I haven't committed a crime. What I did was fail to comply with the law.\" — David Dinkins" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e2/david-dinkins-19755_committed_i-haven-t-committed-a-crime-what-i-did-w_1615539.jpg" --- # I haven't committed a crime. What I did was fail to comply… ![“I haven't committed a crime. What I did was fail to comply with the law.” quote by David Dinkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e2/david-dinkins-19755_committed_i-haven-t-committed-a-crime-what-i-did-w_1615539.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e2/david-dinkins-19755_committed_i-haven-t-committed-a-crime-what-i-did-w_1615539.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e2/david-dinkins-19755_committed_i-haven-t-committed-a-crime-what-i-did-w_1615539.jpg) > “I haven't committed a crime. What I did was fail to comply with the law.” [David Dinkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-dinkins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He acknowledges breaking the law without committing a criminal act, highlighting legal nuance. **In simple terms:** He broke a rule but not a crime. Key Takeaway Recognize legal obligations. Themes law ethics responsibility Mood reflective serious Type political ethical When to use this quote - business contracts - public policy - personal conduct Key Concepts civil law intent compliance Questions to Reflect On - Do you differentiate between legal and moral violations? - How does intent affect culpability? A Different Perspective Legal definitions can be ambiguous. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) ## Related quotes > [I didnt commit a crime. What I did was fail to comply with the law.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farzeen-shah/i-didnt-commit-a-crime-what-i-did-was-fail-to-comply-with-the-law/) Farzeen Shah > [I don't think I have committed a crime outside the domain of the US.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/i-don-t-think-i-have-committed-a-crime-outside-the-domain-of-the-us/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [I committed the first crime by creating men as mortals. After that, what more could you do, you the murderers? Come on; they already…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/i-committed-the-first-crime-by-creating-men-as-mortals-after-that/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [You have to remember, that insane people can do some horrors themselves. I had committed no crime, though. I hadn't shot anybody. Yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/you-have-to-remember-that-insane-people-can-do-some-horrors/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [“My colleague Roy Hazelwood, who taught the basic profiling course for several years before retiring from the Bureau in 1993, used to divide the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-e-douglas/my-colleague-roy-hazelwood-who-taught-the-basic-profiling-course-for/) [John E. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-e-douglas/) > [“There is no shame in being the object of a crime. You did not choose to be the object. (111)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jm-coetzee/there-is-no-shame-in-being-the-object-of-a-crime-you-did-not-choose/) [JM Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jm-coetzee/) > [I obeyed, but my crime was that I did not look obedient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tehmina-durrani/i-obeyed-but-my-crime-was-that-i-did-not-look-obedient/) [Tehmina Durrani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tehmina-durrani/) > [I did fail, say what you will, for Jo wouldn't love me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/i-did-fail-say-what-you-will-for-jo-wouldn-t-love-me/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [I did not fail two thousand times. I merely found two thousand ways not to make a lightbulb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/i-did-not-fail-two-thousand-times-i-merely-found-two-thousand-ways/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [Tiananmen did not fail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-lu/tiananmen-did-not-fail/) [Li Lu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-lu/) > [ He did not fail in love, but he lost the joy of it \[...\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/he-did-not-fail-in-love-but-he-lost-the-joy-of-it/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [“Face it, if crime did not pay there would be very few criminals”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laughton-lewis-burdock/face-it-if-crime-did-not-pay-there-would-be-very-few-criminals/) Laughton Lewis Burdock > [Each case - each story - is interesting in itself. 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You can be a street sweeper, if you want. Just be the best blasted street sweeper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-dinkins/you-can-be-anything-you-want-to-be-you-can-be-a-street-sweeper-if-you/) [David Dinkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-dinkins/) > [I went to Israel when the missiles were falling there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-dinkins/i-went-to-israel-when-the-missiles-were-falling-there/) [David Dinkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-dinkins/) > [Some of us claim that New York City is the capital of the country, indeed the capital of the world. Now, that may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-dinkins/some-of-us-claim-that-new-york-city-is-the-capital-of-the-country/) [David Dinkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-dinkins/) > [Today, certain people file for bankruptcy, businesses and individuals, and it no longer has the stigma it once had. Now it's almost considered wise,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-dinkins/today-certain-people-file-for-bankruptcy-businesses-and-individuals/) [David Dinkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-dinkins/) > [But I make the observation that no one of us would do things exactly alike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-dinkins/but-i-make-the-observation-that-no-one-of-us-would-do-things-exactly/) [David Dinkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-dinkins/) > [. . .little has changed in our New York neighborhoods except the faces, the names, and the languages spoken. The same decent values of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-dinkins/little-has-changed-in-our-new-york-neighborhoods-except-the-faces-the/) [David Dinkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-dinkins/) > [In 1975 I was among a group of blacks who formed the Black Americans in Support of Israel Committee.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-dinkins/in-1975-i-was-among-a-group-of-blacks-who-formed-the-black-americans/) [David Dinkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-dinkins/) > [Race relations can be an appropriate issue... but only if you want to craft solutions, and not catalogue complaints. 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