Being offended by freedom of speech should never be regarded as a justification for violence.

— Alan Dershowitz

Bigotry against any group should be disqualifying for high office.

— Alan Dershowitz

Ed Koch will never 'rest in peace.' That was not his way. He was always nervously squirming, while making others squirm as well. Comfort was not his goal. He understood that to be a proud and assertive Jew meant never being able to leave a sigh of relief and say, 'It's over, we are at peace, we can now put down our guard and relax.'

— Alan Dershowitz

For something to be a crime there must be both an actus reus and mens rea — that is, a criminal act accompanied by a criminal state of mind.

— Alan Dershowitz

Freedom of speech means freedom for those who you despise, and freedom to express the most despicable views. It also means that the government cannot pick and choose which expressions to authorize and which to prevent.

— Alan Dershowitz

Good character consists of recognizing the selfishness that inheres in each of us and trying to balance it against the altruism to which we should all aspire. It is a difficult balance to strike, but no definition of goodness can be complete without it.

— Alan Dershowitz

Great research universities must insist on independence from government and on the exercise of academic freedom.

— Alan Dershowitz

I don't believe in firing professors. They have academic freedom.

— Alan Dershowitz

I think mistakes are the essence of science and law. It's impossible to conceive of either scientific progress or legal progress without understanding the important role of being wrong and of mistakes.

— Alan Dershowitz

It simply cannot be disputed that for decades the Palestinian leadership was more interested in there not being a Jewish state than in there being a Palestinian state.

— Alan Dershowitz