Inherit the Wind: The Powerful Courtroom Drama in which Two Men Wage the Legal War of the Century

“All motion is relative. Maybe it's you who've moved away by standing still.”

“It's the loneliest feeling in the world-to find yourself standing up when everybody else is sitting down. To have everybody look at you and say, 'What's the matter with him?' I know. I know what it feels like. Walking down an empty street, listening to the sound of your own footsteps. Shutters closed, blinds drawn, doors locked against you. And you aren't sure whether you're walking toward something, or if you're just walking away.”

“Progress has never been a bargain. You have to pay for it. Sometimes I think there's a man who sits behind a counter and says, "All right, you can have a telephone but you lose privacy and the charm of distance. Madam, you may vote but at a price. You lose the right to retreat behind the powder puff or your petticoat. Mister, you may conquer the air but the birds will lose their wonder and the clouds will smell of gasoline.Henry Drummond, a character in Inherit the Wind”

“An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral. And the advance of man's knowledge is a greater miracle than all the sticks turned to snakes or the parting of the waters.”

“I don't swear just for the hell of it. Language is a poor enough means of communication. I think we should use all the words we've got. Besides, there are damn few words that anybody understands.Henry Drummond, a character in Inherit the Wind”

“All motion is relative. Perhaps it is you who have moved away-by standing still”

“When you lose the power to laugh, you lose your power to think straight.”

“The man who has everything figured out is probably a fool. College examinations notwithstanding, it takes a very smart fella to say "I don't know the answer!”

“Don't have any opinions. They're bad for business.”

“A giant once lived in that body. But Matt Brady got lost. Because he was looking for God too high up and too far away.”

“The man who has everything figured out is probably a fool.”

“When you loose your power to laugh, you loose your power to think straight.”

“Is it possible to be overzealous, to destroy that which you hope to save-so that nothing is left but emptiness.”

“Buy a Bible!Your guide to eternal life!”

“You don't suppose this kind of thing is ever finished, do you? Tomorrow it'll be something else-and another fella will have to stand up. And you've helped give him the guts to do it!”

“Cynical? Thats my fascination. I do hateful things, for which people love me, And lovable things for which they hate me. I am a friend of enemies, the enemy of friends; I am admired for my detestability. I am both Poles and the Equator, with no Temperate Zones between.”

“Why? Because I refuse to erase a man's lifetime? I tell you Brady had the same right as Cates: the right to be wrong!”

“He weighs the volume in his hand; this one has been the center of the whirlwind. Then DRUMMOND notices the Bible on the JUDGE's bench. He picks up the Bible in his other hand; he looks from one volume to the other, balancing them thoughtfully, as if his hands were scales. He half-smiles, half-shrugs. Then DRUMMOND slaps the two books together and jams them in his brief case, side by side. Slowly, he climbs to the street level and crosses the empty square.”

“He that troubleth his own house...shall inherit the wind.”

“It frightens me to imagine the state of learning in this world if everyone had your driving curiosity.”

“We must look hopeful.”

“Hot dog? Bible? Now that poses a problem! Which is hungrier-my stomach or my soul?”

“I am A man, not a sponge! If god wished a sponge to think, A SPONGE WOULD THINK!”

“If my own brother challenged the faith of millions, I would oppose him.”

“Show me a shouter, and I'll show you an also-ran. A might-have-been, an almost-was.”

“If the enemy sends it's Goliath into battle, it magnifies our cause.”