nutshell
Well-Known Member
Here is a passage I came across from "A Man for All Seasons" that I love and wanted to share:
Arrest him!
-For what?
-He's dangerous!
-Libel. He's a spy!
-That man's bad!
-There's no law against that.
-God's law!
-Then God can arrest him.
-While you talk, he's gone!
Go he should, if he were the Devil,
until he broke the law.
-Now you give the Devil benefit of law!
-Yes, what would you do?
Cut a road through the law
to get after the Devil?
Yes. I'd cut down every law in England
to do that.
And when the last law was down,
and the Devil turned on you...
...where would you hide, Roper,
the laws all being flat?
This country is planted with laws
from coast to coast...
...Man's laws, not God's,
and if you cut them down...
...and you're just the man to do it...
...do you really think you could stand
upright in the wind that would blow then?
Yes.
I give the Devil benefit of law
for my own safety's sake.
Arrest him!
-For what?
-He's dangerous!
-Libel. He's a spy!
-That man's bad!
-There's no law against that.
-God's law!
-Then God can arrest him.
-While you talk, he's gone!
Go he should, if he were the Devil,
until he broke the law.
-Now you give the Devil benefit of law!
-Yes, what would you do?
Cut a road through the law
to get after the Devil?
Yes. I'd cut down every law in England
to do that.
And when the last law was down,
and the Devil turned on you...
...where would you hide, Roper,
the laws all being flat?
This country is planted with laws
from coast to coast...
...Man's laws, not God's,
and if you cut them down...
...and you're just the man to do it...
...do you really think you could stand
upright in the wind that would blow then?
Yes.
I give the Devil benefit of law
for my own safety's sake.
