Twelve Angry Men (play)

"8th Juror: Its very hard to keep personal prejudice out of a thing like this. And no matter where you run into it, prejudice obscures the truth. Well, I dont think any real damage has been done here. Because I dont really know what the truth is. No one ever will, I suppose. Nine of us now seem to feel that the defendant is innocent, but were just gambling on probabilities. We may be wrong. We may be trying to return a guilty man to the community. No one can really know. But we have a reasonable doubt, and this is the safeguard that has enormous value in our system. No jury can declare a man guilty unless its sure."

"3rd Juror: Ive sat on juries, and it always amazes me the way these lawyers can talk, and talk and talk, even when the case is as obvious as this one. I mean, did you ever hear so much talk about nothing? 2nd Juror: Well, I guess theyre entitled. 3rd Juror: Sure they are. Everybody deserves a fair trial. Thats the system. Listen, Im the last one to say anything against it, but Im telling you sometimes I think wed be better off if we took these tough kids and slapped em down before they make trouble, you know? Save us a lot of time and money."

"10th Juror: Were facing a danger here. Dont you know it? These people are multiplying. That kid on trial, his type, theyre multiplying five times as fast as we are. Thats the statistic. Five times. And they are - wild animals. Theyre against us, they hat us, they want to destroy us. Thats right. Dont look at me like that! Theres a danger. For Gods sake, were living in a dangerous time, and if we dont watch it, if we dont smack them down whenever we can, then they are gonna own us. Theyre gonna breed us out of existence. 6th Juror: Ah, shut up! 10th Juror: Now you goddamned geniuses had better listen to me. Theyre violent, theyre vicious, theyre ignorant, and they will cut us up. Thats their intent. To cut us up. Im warning you. This boy, this boy on trial here. Weve got him. Thats on at least.I say get him before his kind gets us. I dont give a damn about the law. Why should I? They dont."

"2nd Juror: Um - theres something Id like to say. I mean its been bothering me a little and as long as were stuck...Well, there was this whole business about the stab wound and how it was made, the downward angle of it, you know? 3rd Juror: Dont tell me were gonna start with that. They went over it and over it. 2nd Juror: I know they did, but I dont go along with it. The boy is five feet, seven inches tall. His father was six two. Thats a difference of seven inches. Its a very awkward thing to stab down into the chest of someone whos more than half a foot taller than you are."

"10th Juror: What are we sitting here for? 8th Juror: Maybe for no reason. I dont know. Look, this boys been kicked around all his life. You know-living in a slum his mother dead since he was nine. He spent a year and a half in an orphanage while his father served a jail term for forgery. Thats not a very good head start. Hes had a pretty terrible sixteen years. I think maybe we owe him a few words. Thats all."

"5th Juror: You still dont think theres any room for reasonable doubt? 7th Juror: No, I dont. 11th Juror: Pardon. Maybe you dont understand the term "reasonable doubt." 7th Juror: What dya mean, I dont understand it? Who the hell are you to talk to me like that? How dya like this guy? Im tellin ya theyre all alike. He comes over to this country running for his life and before he can even take a big breath hes telling us how to run the show. The arrogance of the guy! 5th Juror: You mean youre calling him arrogant because he wasnt born here? Well, Im calling you arrogant because you were. Hows that?"

"8th Juror: OK, eleven to one - "guilty." Now we know where we are. 10th Juror: Boy-oh-boy! Theres always one. 7th Juror: [after a pause] So, what do we do now? 8th Juror: Well, I guess we talk."

"3rd Juror: Now listen to me, you people. Ive seen all kinds of dishonesty in my day - but this little display takes the cake. You come in here with your sanctimonious talk about slum kids and injustice, and you make up some wild stories, and all of a sudden you start getting through to some of these old ladies in here. Well, youre not getting through to me. Ive had enough. Whats the matter with you people? Every one of you knows this kid is guilty. Hes got to burn. Were letting him slip through our fingers here. 8th Juror: Slip through our fingers? Are you his executioner? 3rd Juror: Im one of em. 8th Juror: Maybe youd like to pull the switch. 3rd Juror: For this kid? You bet Id like to pull the switch. 8th Juror: Im sorry for you. 3rd Juror: Dont start with me now. 8th Juror: Ever since we walked into this room youve been behaving like a self-appointed public avenger. 3rd Juror: Im telling you now! Shut up! 8th Juror: You want to see this boy die because you personally want it, not because of the facts. 3rd Juror: Shut up! 8th Juror: Youre a sadist! 3rd Juror: Shut up, you son of a bitch!"

"10th Juror: What do you want? 8th Juror: Nothing. I just want to talk. 7th Juror: Well, whats there to talk about? Eleven men here agree. Nobody had to think twice about it, except you. 10th Juror: I want to ask you something. Do you believe his story? 8th Juror: I dont know whether I believe it or not. Maybe I dont. 7th Juror: So whatd you vote "not guilty" for? 8th Juror: There were eleven votes for "guilty." Its not easy for me to raise my hand and send a boy off to die without talking about it first. 7th Juror: Who says its easy for me? 8th Juror: No one. 7th Juror: What, just because I voted fast? I think the guys guilty. You couldnt change my mind if you talked for a hundred years. 8th Juror: Im not trying to change your mind. Its just that were talking about somebodys life here. I mean, we cant decide in five minutes. Suppose were wrong?"

"11th Juror: I beg pardon, in discussing- 10th Juror: I beg pardon. What are you so damn polite about? 11th Juror: For the same reason youre not. Its the way I was brought up."