--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Lawyers, before any other group, must…" description: "\"Lawyers, before any other group, must continue to point out how the system is really working-how it actually affects real people. They must constantly ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fda/william-j-brennan-15212_bears_lawyers-before-any-other-group-must-cont_2508749.jpg" --- # Lawyers, before any other group, must continue to point… ![“Lawyers, before any other group, must continue to point out how the system is really working-how it actually affects real people. They must constantly demonstrate to courts and legislatures alike the tragic results of legal nonintervention. They must highlight how legal doctrines no longer bear…” quote by William J. Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fda/william-j-brennan-15212_bears_lawyers-before-any-other-group-must-cont_2508749.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fda/william-j-brennan-15212_bears_lawyers-before-any-other-group-must-cont_2508749.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fda/william-j-brennan-15212_bears_lawyers-before-any-other-group-must-cont_2508749.jpg) > “Lawyers, before any other group, must continue to point out how the system is really working-how it actually affects real people. They must constantly demonstrate to courts and legislatures alike the tragic results of legal nonintervention. They must highlight how legal doctrines no longer bear any relation to reality, whether in landlord and tenant law, holder in due course law, or any other law. In sum, lawyers must bring real morality into the legal consciousness” [William J. Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-brennan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Lawyers must expose how legal rules diverge from real‑world impacts and push courts toward moral awareness. **In simple terms:** Lawyers should show law’s real effects and demand moral accountability. Key Takeaway Advocate for law that reflects lived reality. Themes justice morality legal reform public interest Mood reflective critical urgent Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - court cases - legislative hearings - policy drafting - public advocacy Key Concepts legal realism ethical advocacy systemic critique Questions to Reflect On - How can lawyers balance advocacy with objectivity? - What mechanisms ensure moral considerations shape law? A Different Perspective Legal change is slow and faces entrenched interests. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) [Court](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/court/) [Doctrine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doctrine/) [Ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) [Landlord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/landlord/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Lawyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lawyer/) [Lawyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lawyers/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Tragic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragic/) ## Related quotes > [“Law always chooses sides on the basis of enforcement power. Morality and legal niceties have little to do with it when the real question…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/law-always-chooses-sides-on-the-basis-of-enforcement-power-morality/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [Real morality is based on a single criterion: right action, appropriate action, in the present moment and present situation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/real-morality-is-based-on-a-single-criterion-right-action-appropriate/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [What's right for most people in most situations isn't right for everyone in every situation. Real morality lies in following one's own heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/embeth-davidtz/what-s-right-for-most-people-in-most-situations-isn-t-right-for/) [Embeth Davidtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/embeth-davidtz/) > [Real morality is possible when the sanctions for morality are also tangible and real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goparaju-ramachandra-rao/real-morality-is-possible-when-the-sanctions-for-morality-are-also-2/) [Goparaju Ramachandra Rao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goparaju-ramachandra-rao/) > [The standard that measures two things is something different from either. You are, in fact, comparing them both with some Real Morality, admitting that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/the-standard-that-measures-two-things-is-something-different-from/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Real morality is possible when the sanctions for morality are also tangible and real. Therefore, atheism shifts the basis of morality from faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goparaju-ramachandra-rao/real-morality-is-possible-when-the-sanctions-for-morality-are-also/) [Goparaju Ramachandra Rao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goparaju-ramachandra-rao/) > [The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/the-more-numerous-the-laws-the-more-corrupt-the-government/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [Legal ethics is a misnomer ... lawyers conducting themselves legally are not necessarily conducting themselves morally ."...and ..."The zero sum nature of the legal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thane-rosenbaum/legal-ethics-is-a-misnomer-lawyers-conducting-themselves-legally-are/) [Thane Rosenbaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thane-rosenbaum/) > [They don't produce anything. All they do is guide you through the labyrinth of the legal system that they created - and they keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-shoales/they-don-t-produce-anything-all-they-do-is-guide-you-through-the/) [Ian Shoales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-shoales/) > [Anything which causes trouble has special merit in their eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desiderius-erasmus/anything-which-causes-trouble-has-special-merit-in-their-eyes/) [Desiderius Erasmus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desiderius-erasmus/) > [America with 4% of the world's population has 50% of the worlds lawyers … tort lawyers love to point out that 1% of America's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lamm/america-with-4-of-the-world-s-population-has-50-of-the-worlds-lawyers/) [Richard Lamm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lamm/) > [Whenever you wish to do anything against the law, Cicely, always consult a good solicitor first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/whenever-you-wish-to-do-anything-against-the-law-cicely-always/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Who owns Cross Creek? The red-birds, I think, more than I, for they will have their nests even in the face of delinquent mortgages..It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjorie-kinnan-rawlings/who-owns-cross-creek-the-red-birds-i-think-more-than-i-for-they-will/) [Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjorie-kinnan-rawlings/) > [Summer was made to give you a taste of what hell is like. Winter was made for landladies to charge high rents and keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/langston-hughes/summer-was-made-to-give-you-a-taste-of-what-hell-is-like-winter-was/) [Langston Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/langston-hughes/) > [I'm going to do whatever I have to do to help a New Yorker, whether it's a girl on the street or a tenant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-quinn/i-m-going-to-do-whatever-i-have-to-do-to-help-a-new-yorker-whether-it/) [Christine Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-quinn/) ## More by William J. Brennan > [If our free society is to endure, those who govern must recognize human dignity and accept the enforcement of constitutional limitations on their power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-brennan/if-our-free-society-is-to-endure-those-who-govern-must-recognize/) [William J. Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-brennan/) > [Capital punishment...treats members of the human race...as objects to be toyed with and discarded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-brennan/capital-punishment-treats-members-of-the-human-race-as-objects-to-be/) [William J. Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-brennan/) > [Debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust and wide-open and that...may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-brennan/debate-on-public-issues-should-be-uninhibited-robust-and-wide-open/) [William J. 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Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-brennan/) > [We cannot let colorblindness become myopia which masks the reality that many "created equal" have been treated within our lifetimes as inferior both by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-brennan/we-cannot-let-colorblindness-become-myopia-which-masks-the-reality/) [William J. Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-brennan/) > [After each perceived security crisis ended, the United States has remorsefully realized that the abrogation of civil liberties was unnecessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-brennan/after-each-perceived-security-crisis-ended-the-united-states-has/) [William J. Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-brennan/) > [The door of the Free Exercise Clause stands tightly closed against any government regulation of religious beliefs as such. Government may neither compel affirmation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-brennan/the-door-of-the-free-exercise-clause-stands-tightly-closed-against/) [William J. Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-brennan/) > [One area of law more than any other besmirches the constitutional vision of human dignity. . . . The barbaric death penalty violates our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-brennan/one-area-of-law-more-than-any-other-besmirches-the-constitutional/) [William J. Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-brennan/) > [“Thus, we consider this case against the background of a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-brennan/thus-we-consider-this-case-against-the-background-of-a-profound/) [William J. Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-brennan/) > [Whether to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to prurient interest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-brennan/whether-to-the-average-person-applying-contemporary-community/) [William J. Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-brennan/) > [Our amended Constitution is the lodestar for our aspirations. Like every text worth reading, it is not crystalline. The phrasing is broad and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-brennan/our-amended-constitution-is-the-lodestar-for-our-aspirations-like/) [William J. Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-brennan/) > [The public schools are supported entirely, in most communities, by public funds-funds exacted not only from parents, nor alone from those who hold particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-brennan/the-public-schools-are-supported-entirely-in-most-communities-by/) [William J. Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-brennan/) > [The genius of the Constitution rests not in any static meaning it might have had in a world that is dead and gone, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-brennan/the-genius-of-the-constitution-rests-not-in-any-static-meaning-it/) [William J. Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-brennan/) [Explore all 43 William J. 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One bears what was lovely in the past not as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/gratitude-transforms-the-torment-of-memory-of-good-things-now-gone/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [You've had a whole lot of experience, but everything is also radically new at each moment, and you have to bring a kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-houston/you-ve-had-a-whole-lot-of-experience-but-everything-is-also-radically/) [Jean Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-houston/) > [The rationale which accompanies that imposition of male authority euphemistically referred to as 'the battle of the sexes' bears a certain resemblance to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-millett/the-rationale-which-accompanies-that-imposition-of-male-authority/) [Kate Millett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-millett/) > [Pay no heed to the passing religious vogue. Go back to the grass roots. 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