- Inherit the Wind does not pretend to be journalism. It is theatre. It is not 1925. The stage directions set the time as "Not too long ago." It might have been yesterday. It could be tomorrow. -Authors' preface'
- You murder a wife, it isn't nearly as bad as murdering an old wives' tale. -Act I, Sc. 2
- The man who has everything figured out is probably a fool. -Act I, Sc. 2
- I am trying to establish, Your Honor, that Howard-or Colonel Brady-or Charles Darwin-or anyone else in this courtroom-or you, sir-has the right to think! -Act II, Sc. 2
- [O]ne of the peculiar imbecilities of our time is the grid of morality we have placed on human behavior: so that every act of man must be measured against an arbitrary latitude of right and longitude of wrong-in exact minutes, seconds, and degrees! -Act II, Sc. 2
- In a child's power to master the multiplication table there is more sanctity than in all your shouted "Amens!", "Holy, Holies!" and Hosannahs!" An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral. And the advance of man's knowledge is more of a miracle than any sticks turned to snakes, or the parting of waters! -Act II, Sc. 2
- Darwin moved us forward to a hilltop, where we could look back and see the way from which we came. But for this view, this insight, this knowledge, we must abandon our faith in the pleasant poetry of Genesis. -Act II, Sc. 2
- The Bible is a book. A good book. But it's not the only book. -Act II, Sc. 2
- What if a lesser human being-a Cates, or a Darwin-has the audacity to think that God might whisper to him? That an un-Brady thought might still be holy?-Act II, Sc. 2
- Bert, whenever you see something bright, shining, perfect-seeming. look behind the paint! And if it's a lie-show it up for what it really is! -Acts III, Sc. 1
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