I found this site while looking for a quote about killing all the lawyers first. (from Henry IV)
For example, one legal firm states:
"The first thing we do," said the character in Shakespeare's Henry VI, is "kill all the lawyers." Contrary to popular belief, the proposal was not designed to restore sanity to commercial life. Rather, it was intended to eliminate those who might stand in the way of a contemplated revolution -- thus underscoring the important role that lawyers can play in society.
(from Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky LLP Firm Profile)
Or
As the famous remark by the plotter of treachery in Shakespeare's King Henry VI shows - "The first thing we must do is kill all the lawyers," - the surest way to chaos and tyranny even then was to remove the guardians of independent thinking.(from THINKING LIKE A LAWYER)
I was completely taken aback that these lawyers actually believe that Shakespeare's characters really meant it that way. The web-site goes on to discuss this warped point of view.
1 comment:
I always liked the Eagles' line, "Old Billy was right. Let's kill all the lawyers, let's kill them tonight."
I happen to know a lot of really nice lawyers...the problem is they're...well...lawyers.
I think you're right. 'Billy' wasn't trying to tell us that lawyers were the only thing keeping us from killing animals with spears and using their blood to draw on cave walls. But then if Billy had suggested killing all the doctors tonight, I might try to reinterpret it too =).
Post a Comment