There's a lot of active radical thought today but not much action.

My anti-authoritarian instincts let me directly to criminal defense work.

The only way not to be afraid is to join with other people who are also afraid.

I feel for young people today. When I came out of law school, yes, we were broke, we had kids, we had problems. But it was straightforward. I didn't have to say, "My God, I am $80,000 in debt, I have to get a job, I have to pay it back, my life is ruined otherwise." We were able to go forward and work toward building something new, and that's what we did. Today many lawyers are unable to feel free to be advocates.

You've got to learn to handle the press because god knows the government does all the time.

I would never defend a cop - though I did on a few private cases, when cops were acting not as cops but as private citizens.

I didn't know Harlem existed. I didn't know there was such a place, because I grew up in white Queens, where five miles is 100 miles. So I went to the school and, being a smart cookie - as they called us in those days - I had a million questions. How did this place exist? How come I didn't know about it? Why are people living like this? Do they want to live like this?