John Grisham Quotes

50 Sourced Quotes

I can't change overnight into a serious literary author. You can't compare apples to oranges. William Faulkner was a great literary genius. I am not.

John Grisham
And they drank heavily, partied with great enthusiasm, and relished the drug culture; they moved in and out and slept around, and this was okay because they defined their own morality. They were fighting for the Mexicans and the redwoods, dammit! They had to be good people!

John Grisham
You need some coffee, don't you?" "Yes, I've only had a gallon.

John Grisham
When witnesses concoct lies, they often miss the obvious.

John Grisham
I represented real people, poor people, who often couldn't afford to pay a lawyer, but still had problems. Directly across the street from my office were insurance companies, banks and big corporations. It was a very clear line between us, and I learned very quickly who my friends were.

John Grisham
It's amazing how lies grow. You start with a small one that seems easy to cover, then you get boxed in and tell another one. Then another. People believe you at first, then they act upon your lies, and you catch yourself wishing you'd simply told the truth.

John Grisham
The company later went broke, and of course all blame was directed at the lawyers. Not once did I hear any talk that maybe a trace of mismanagement could in any way have contributed to the bankruptcy.

John Grisham
He's my client, and he's counting on me. I'll take him, warts and all.

John Grisham
Privileged people don't march and protest; their world is safe and clean and governed by laws designed to keep them happy.

John Grisham
You advised him not to get a lawyer, giving as one of your reasons the opinion that lawyers are a pain in the ass. Gentlemen, the pain is here.

John Grisham
There are few things in life worse than a long-winded lawyer.

John Grisham
The theory was simple: If a man had enough sense to accumulate a bunch of cash, then he would certainly make a worthy U.S senator.

John Grisham
How could homosexuals possibly screw up the sanctity of marriage any worse than heterosexuals?

John Grisham
It was a ping-pong match. I was told that Crichton's agent started asking for the X million Grisham got plus a dollar. And these were cash deals, not options. Money on the table. And everyone involved made money. Now I can barely give film rights away. The business has completely changed and TV has become far more fun and creative.

John Grisham
My decision to become a lawyer was irrevocably sealed when I realized my father hated the legal profession.

John Grisham
All students enter law school with a certain amount of idealism and desire to serve the public, but after three years of brutal competition we care for nothing but the right job with the right firm where we can make partner in seven years and earn big bucks.

John Grisham
A battered wife is a married woman until she gets a divorce. Or until she kills the bastard.

John Grisham
He's a two-faced, cutthroat, dirt-dumb, chickenshit, slimy little bastard... with a bright future in politics.

John Grisham
She was pondering the option of law school, the great American baby-sitter for directionless postgrads.

John Grisham
I have spoken to many innocent prisoners and they all have the most amazing stories to tell. But I'm also well aware that you can't preach too much while working in popular culture.

John Grisham
We cuss them because we're not good enough for them. We hate them because they wouldn't look at us, couldn't be bothered to give us an interview. I guess there's a Trent & Brent in every city, in every field. I didn't make it and I don't belong, so I'll just go through life hating them.

John Grisham
It wasn't until I wrote The Chamber (1994) that I realised I could weave a novel round things such as the death penalty and some of the racial history of Mississippi. And that's still very much the consensus among white people in the deep South. Black people know better because they have seen so many wrongful convictions and executions.

John Grisham
The coffee arrives, and we backslide into what lawyers do best — talking about other lawyers.

John Grisham
I was on the verge of tears, so I turned and ran past the trailer and along the field road until I was safely out of their sight. Then I ducked into the cotton and waited for friendly voices. I sat on the hot ground, surrounded by stalks four feet tall, and I cried, something I really hated to do.

John Grisham
I was tired of secrets, tired of seeing things I was not supposed to see. And so I just cried.

John Grisham