You Don't Know Jack Quotes

Lynn Mills: Have you no religion? Have you no God?

Jack Kevorkian: Oh, I do, lady, I have a religion, his name is Bach. Johann Sebastian Bach. And at least my God isn't an invented one.

Dick Thompson: [Jack Kevorkian takes the stand, Thompson is the prosecutor] Can we all presume just for the hell of it that we are really in a courtroom, okay? That there is a judge and a jury and real witnesses?

Jack Kevorkian: No, I will not presume. I refuse to presume.

Dick Thompson: Can we presume that this is a real trial here?

Jack Kevorkian: No, we can't. Because there's no law here. Am I wrong?

Dick Thompson: You're wrong!

Jack Kevorkian: Prove it. Cite to me one common law case of assisted suicide. One.

Dick Thompson: I will ask the questions...

Jack Kevorkian: Go ahead. I'm listening. We're all waiting.

Geoffery Fieger: The court of appeals' ruling just came in and they ruled in our favor. They said that the law was so poorly worded that it could not be upheld.

Jack Kevorkian: Oh. Well, I'm glad to hear there's still some smart people in power left.

Geoffery Fieger: That was the good news. They also ruled that there's no constitutional right to commit suicide...

Jack Kevorkian: I take back what I just said.

Geoffery Fieger: ...and that aiding in one falls under an old common-law definition of murder.

Jack Kevorkian: Common law? What the hell is that?

Jack Kevorkian: It's emotionalism. You know, when heart transplants first started... there was the same prevalent feeling, I mean, even among doctors... that it was wrong, it was contrary to God's will, contrary to nature. Isn't it ghoulish to rip a person's chest open and take out a heart? Or a bypass operation? Ether is the same thing. You have ether, been around for centuries, it wasn't used. Not till 1846. It was discovered in 1543... and before that, everybody was being operated on while they were awake. Surgeons were cutting them open while they were awake. Did you know that, Geoff?

Geoffery Fieger: No.

Jack Kevorkian: On, yes. And you know why it was banned? Because of religious dogma. Because of the foolish notion... that there's a God Almighty who wills us to suffer.

Judge Cooper: You invited yourself here to make a final stand.

Judge Cooper: You invited yourself to the wrong forum.

Judge Cooper: Our nation tolerates differences of opinions, because we have a civilized and non-violent way of resolving our conflicts.

Judge Cooper: We have the means and methods to protest laws with which we disagree.

Judge Cooper: You can criticize the law, lecture about the law, speak to the media or petition voters.

Judge Cooper: But you must always stay within the limits provided by the law. You may not break the law, or take the law into your own hands.

Judge Cooper: No one's unmindful of the controversy and emotion that exists over end-of-life issues and pain control.

Judge Cooper: I assume the debate will continue in a calm and reasoned forum long after this trial and your activities have faded from the public memory.

Judge Cooper: But this trial was not about that controversy.

Judge Cooper: This trial was about you, sir.

Judge Cooper: You've ignored and challenged the legislature and the supreme court.

Judge Cooper: Moreover, you've defied your own medical profession.

Judge Cooper: This trial was about lawlessness, about your disregard for a society that exists and flourishes because of the strength of our legal system.

Judge Cooper: No one is above the law.

Judge Cooper: You had the audacity to go on national television, show the world what you did, and dare the legal system to stop you.

Judge Cooper: You publicly and repeatedly announced your intentions to disregard the laws of Michigan.

Judge Cooper: Because of this, I am imposing the maximum sentence of 10 to 25 years.

Judge Cooper: You may now, sir, consider yourself stopped.