"Even then, though, I cared about people, not theories. I had no wish to spin individual cases into some grandiose, ideologically driven legal theory. I no longer believed in utopian solutions, or the cynical politicians who used them to sucker voters, claiming to care about the poor while actually exploiting them. Not only was I sure that such solutions were doomed to failure, but I also feared that once they failed, the resulting disillusionment would make matters even worse. Yet it was taken for granted in the seventies that the purveyors of these elaborate nostrums were doing the right thing, and anyone who dared to challenge their effectiveness was hooted down. That prospect intimidated me, especially when it came to racial matters."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Justices of the Supreme Court of the United StatesLawyers from the United StatesMemoirists from the United StatesCatholics from the United StatesAfrican Americans
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Page 115
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Clarence_Thomas
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Clarence Thomas
120 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Clarence Thomas β
Related Quotes
"I could only choose between being an outcast and being dishonest."
"An education is meaningless unless it equips students to have a better life."
"I was seized with a guilt that I knew would never leave me, and I knew I didn't deserve to be free of it. I hadn't quβ¦"
"Then, as always, I felt morally obligated to advocate our official position, even when it conflicted with my personalβ¦"
"These guys are sitting there watching the destruction of our race while arguing about Ronald Reagan"
"Ronald Reagan isn't the problem. Former president Jimmy Carter was not the problem. The lack of black leadership is tβ¦"
"This is not an opportunity to talk about difficult matters privately or in a closed environment. This is a circus. Itβ¦"
"[I disagree] that there is a racial paternalism exception to the principle of equal protection. I believe that there β¦"
"To define each of us by our race is nothing short of a denial of our humanity."
"I could feel the golden handcuffs of a comfortable but unfulfilling life snapping shut on my wrists."