Christopher Darden Quotations

I chose to go to law school because I thought that someday, somehow I'd make a difference.

The events of the day inspired me to become a lawyer.

It's too late for that - trying to second guess it. It's over. I'm worried about how to get the kids through school and still write and practice law and take power of attorney.

That's an interesting question. I would say that in general Americans know very little about the law. It's one of those things that most of us take for granted.

The law has no compassion. And justice is administered without compassion.

I did not think that I was angry, but clearly anger was reflected in my writing. I did not think that I had been affected emotionally, but it was clear from my writing that I was still very emotional about the trial some six months after it ended.

I think that the mere fact that I'm doing it ought to inspire someone. In junior high school the counselor suggested that I focus on wood shop and metal shop.

I no longer teach law. But when I did I advised my students that they should never accept a case if it meant that by doing so you couldn't sleep at night.

That's the thing about us lawyers - if at all possible, we will consume each other.

I think it hurt my performance because I stopped being me. That won't ever happen again.

In fact, some reviewers have said that as they got into the story they forgot that the protagonist is a black woman. They were moved by the story - by the people as a whole - and not by the little things.

Writing is hard work, but a lot of fun, too. It allows me to live out some of my fantasies.

I can't tell you how hard I worked the last year. In fact, I worked so hard that I know I can't maintain that same work level in 2001, so I've got to quit something.

I just did something on a show on UPN called "Girlfriends" that will be on television in February. I am actually a much better actor today than I was in 1996, believe it or not.

In some ways I'm still recovering from the trial. My health is not as good as it ought to be. I've gone back to practicing law and it seems to have taken a toll for whatever reason.

It did not prepare me for writing or "Power of Attorney." However, what it did is that it forced me out of the DA's office. I stopped getting that county check.

I began writing in the 4th grade. As a matter of fact, I produced a play for the entire school. It was about Leif Ericson and the discovery of America.

I suppose that one of the reasons I wrote "In Contempt" was because of the money. After the trial I came to realize that there were things that I needed to do if I was to protect myself and my family, so there were some selfish reasons for it.

I'm real bent on dialogue. I'm just a little bit crazy and when you put that along with 20 years as a criminal lawyer, it's pretty easy to come up with some interesting plots.

It would have been easier to have a male protagonist, but I didn't want people to assume that Nikki Hill was me in her entirety because a lot of people just don't like me and I don't think they would be interested in reading about me, even in the fictional context.

I think that as I continue to write, my writing I hope will become more controversial and more provocative.

It's much like writing a screenplay with someone else and that's how we view it, I think.

I am a struggling writer. A middle-aged man with two little kids and I'm just trying to earn a living. So buy this book - or my kids will have to go to foster care.

I don't know how the editors are going to take it or how it may be received. But to some extent I'm hoping that with the next book, when people pick it up and read it, it will scare the pants off of them.

Something's going to happen that's going to make us all pay attention at the type of sentences some people are serving and the conditions in which they are served.

No one is above the law, not the police, not the rich,

My creative juices really don't stall. I like to write in a very straightforward, conversational way, but of course it has to be colorful as well.

My grandparents and parents urged me to go to school and do well in school so that at the end of the day I'd have options, choices.

I am back in the courtroom as a defense attorney. In fact, my first court appearance in a felony case as a defense lawyer was in front of guess who?

There are no rules for celebrities. Being a celebrity means getting what you want. But on June 12, he doesn't get what he wants.

My wife says she won't give me a divorce, so I can't quit her. So I will probably cut back on my law practice. As for relaxation, what's that?

We are the voices of calm and reason.

The pressure on the trial lawyers is tremendous, and some people don't handle the pressure well. They really shouldn't handle difficult cases.

Whenever I travel around the country, somebody always walks up to me and says, 'Mr. Darden, I've always wanted to meet you to tell you that you were wrong about O.J. Simpson. It was the Mafia ... It was anybody but O.J. Simpson,'

Is it your opinion Dr. Reichardt that Nicole Brown deserved to have had her throat cut?

Sometimes I have trouble articulating some things or describing things in a way that I think is necessary. But I never run out of ideas.

This case is a circus and they've made it that way (pointing to the defense team). If they're going to refer me to the state bar, I'll refer them to the U.S. attorney.

It is true that Fuhrman is a racist. And it is also true that he (Simpson) killed these two people. And we proved that he killed the two people. The evidence is there, you just have to find your way through the smoke.

It's like Mr. Johnnie (defense attorney Cochran) said, 'Race is a part of everything,' ... My race apparently preceded everything I have done. There was Christopher Darden. But first there was an African-American man who happened to be named Christopher Darden.

The next book will be entitled "Brother-in-Law." I won't go into the facts of the book except that it's going to have a much, much larger plot.

They want you to throw your common sense out the window.

Its much like writing a screenplay with someone else and thats how we view it, I think.

All I can really say is it's bloodier than hell. In this one I'm going to be much more direct and honest in my description of the actual killings and the crime scene.

I dont know how the editors are going to take it or how it may be received. But to some extent Im hoping that with the next book, when people pick it up and read it, it will scare the pants off of them.

I think my perspective is unique, and I want to make sure that perspective is memorialized and preserved.

A lot of the evidence and some of the events you see in LA Justice are loosely based on real-life cases.

The main thing is that you have a good editor - one that believes in you and who will give you the feedback that you need to produce a good book.

You can't send a message to Fuhrman or anyone else.

You can't be a writer without being very sensitive. And I think that many of us are overly sensitive when it comes to dealing with our publishers.

This is all about control, the beating and the humiliation. That's how you control people.

And he's using a knife to settle a score. He stabs this woman and she's right there, one on one.