Scott Turow Quotes

Powerful Scott Turow for Daily Growth

About Scott Turow

Scott Frederick Turow, born on April 21, 1949, in Chicago, Illinois, is an acclaimed American lawyer, novelist, and producer, best known for his compelling legal thrillers set primarily in the fictional Kinsey Millhone, Illinois. Raised in an intellectually stimulating environment by a family of educators, Turow developed a keen interest in reading and writing at an early age. He graduated from Harvard College with a degree in English Literature in 1970 and later earned his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1975. Turow's legal career began as an associate in a prominent Chicago law firm, but it was his writing that truly captured the world's attention. His debut novel, "Presumed Innocent" (1987), was an instant success and catapulted him into the limelight. The book, which features a morally complex protagonist grappling with allegations of his wife's murder, spent 36 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list. Following "Presumed Innocent," Turow wrote several more novels featuring Rusty Sabich, including "Innocent" (1990), "Pleading Guilty" (1993), and "Reversible Errors" (2000). His other notable works include the Kimbrotuh trilogy – "The Burden of Proof" (1998), "Personal Injuries" (2003), and "Identical" (2006) – and standalone novels like "The Laws of Motion" (1994) and "Guilty as Sin" (2017). In addition to his writing, Turow has been active in various philanthropic endeavors, including the founding of the Innocence Project, which works to exonerate wrongly convicted individuals through DNA testing. His work continues to captivate audiences worldwide, blending intricate legal narratives with complex characters and timely social issues.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"In a courtroom, each side brings its own reality."

In this quote by Scott Turow, he underscores the subjective nature of legal proceedings where conflicting versions of events exist, with both parties presenting their individual realities or interpretations to support their claims. This statement highlights the importance of persuasive argumentation and impartial judging in a courtroom setting, where truth is often difficult to determine objectively.


"The price of justice is sometimes injustice."

This quote suggests that achieving justice, especially within a flawed or imperfect system, may require compromises or actions that are, themselves, unjust. The statement emphasizes the complexities and contradictions inherent in the pursuit of justice, indicating that it's not always a straightforward process. It encourages critical thinking about the potential consequences of our actions towards justice and highlights the need for careful examination when navigating moral dilemmas.


"The truth about our lives is that we do not recognize the most important moments as they happen."

This quote by Scott Turow highlights the human tendency to overlook significant moments in our lives as they occur, only realizing their importance in retrospect. It suggests that the impactful experiences that shape us are often unrecognized during the time they take place, due to familiarity or the busyness of everyday life. The wisdom lies in understanding this phenomenon and making a conscious effort to appreciate and recognize these crucial moments when they occur, rather than only in hindsight.


"Life is what happens while you're making other plans."

This quote by Scott Turow emphasizes the unpredictability and fluidity of life, suggesting that despite our best-laid plans, unexpected events and circumstances often shape our experiences more profoundly than our intended path. It encourages individuals to remain adaptable, open, and resilient in the face of life's twists and turns, as it is these very occurrences that can lead to growth, learning, and perhaps even greater fulfillment.


"Truth, it seemed to Rusty, was a matter of perspective, and like beauty, in the eye of the beholder."

This quote suggests that truth is subjective and depends on one's perspective or point of view. It implies that what one person perceives as truth may not align with another's perception, much like how beauty can be interpreted differently by different individuals. This idea emphasizes the importance of empathy, understanding, and open-mindedness in navigating complex truths and fostering productive discussions or arguments.


I read little nonfiction, but I have no boundaries about the fiction I relish. The only unfailing criterion is that I can hitch my heart to the imagined world and read on.

- Scott Turow

Fiction, Read, Criterion, No Boundaries

I tend to start with a kernel, a vague concept, and just begin to write things down - notes about a character, lines of dialogue, descriptive passages about a place. One idea fires another. I do that for about a year. By then there's a story, and I'll go on to a complete first draft that sews many of those ragtag pieces together.

- Scott Turow

Year, Vague, Notes, About A Year

I keep two sentimental mementos on my desk to remind me of two favorite men. There is an inkwell that my Uncle Seymour made, a brass grotesque he mounted on a marble base. And my grandfather's shaving cup is there, used to store pencils and pens.

- Scott Turow

Uncle, Two, Used, Pencils

I love criminal law. It must be the Dostoyevskian streak in me. I'm fascinated by the accumulation of forces that make people behave in ways that everybody else hates.

- Scott Turow

Love, Law, Everybody, Streak

I never really felt free to talk a lot about my family life because I don't want to sacrifice anybody else's privacy. If you look through the archives, you will see, for example, no pictures of my children. That is not because I don't love them. I think I've been a really good dad; at least, I try to be.

- Scott Turow

Love, Through, Been, Archives

I've become President of the Author's Guild, and, in part because they thought I had to know what I was talking about and also as a sort of coronation present, they got me an iPad. And I have to tell you, I'm crazy about it. It's got some bugs, but it's basically replaced my laptop. I'm very happy with it.

- Scott Turow

Thought, Some, Very, Guild

The purpose of narrative is to present us with complexity and ambiguity.

- Scott Turow

Purpose, Complexity, Ambiguity

I grew up on the north side of Chicago, in West Rogers Park, an overwhelmingly Jewish neighborhood. When I was 13, my parents moved to Winnetka, Illinois, an upper class, WASPy suburb where Jews - as well as Blacks and Catholics - were unwelcome on many blocks. I suffered the spiritual equivalent of whiplash.

- Scott Turow

Equivalent, North, Moved, Blacks

Like most Americans of my age, I was very impressed by the dynamic capacities of the law, demonstrated by the Civil Rights Movement and then Watergate, animated by Sam Ervin's mantra that no person is above the law.

- Scott Turow

Very, Mantra, Impressed, Capacities

'Reversible Errors' is about the limits of the law to define who committed ultimate evil, to define what ultimate evil is, to allow the million arbitrary factors to make this a meaningful punishment, and finally to say, 'Are we really accomplishing what we wanted to accomplish? Are those anxieties relieved?' I don't think so.

- Scott Turow

Meaningful, Allow, About, Anxieties

I am a big believer in the fact that all authors really write only one book.

- Scott Turow

Book, Fact, Big, One Book

My sister was a twin, and the other baby died in childbirth, and I was three at the time, and I always kind of thought it haunted me. It was a weird thing. My dad was an ob-gyn, and so it was confusing that the other baby didn't come home from the hospital.

- Scott Turow

Thought, Other, Weird Thing, Haunted

Widespread public access to knowledge, like public education, is one of the pillars of our democracy, a guarantee that we can maintain a well-informed citizenry.

- Scott Turow

Education, Access, Pillars, Well-Informed

'Presumed Innocent' was written over a six to seven year period with intervals in between where I was figuring out the end of the book and writing other stuff... My life as a writer was carried on against the odds. I had written four unpublished novels by then... as a writer of fiction, I hadn't gotten very far. I just wanted to do it.

- Scott Turow

My Life, Other, Very, Odds

Musicians make up for the copies of their songs that get pirated by performing live. I don't think there will be as many people showing up to hear me read as to hear Beyonce sing. We need to make sure piracy is dealt with effectively.

- Scott Turow

Musicians, Beyonce, Piracy, Showing Up

Now, many public libraries want to lend e-books, not simply to patrons who come in to download, but to anybody with a reading device, a library card and an Internet connection. In this new reality, the only incentive to buy, rather than borrow, an e-book is the fact that the lent copy vanishes after a couple of weeks.

- Scott Turow

Fact, Couple, Weeks, Lent

People talk of me as being the inventor of the legal thriller.

- Scott Turow

Legal, Me, Talk, Inventor

The great break of my literary career was going to law school.

- Scott Turow

Law, Career, Break, Law School

I always say, and I mean it, that the great break of my literary career was when I went to law school.

- Scott Turow

Law, Career, Always, Law School

I'm an ambitious person, and Harvard makes me feel successful, just having gotten in here. That's the ugly side of why I'm proud of being at Harvard Law School. Another reason is because there's a spirit of serious intellectual endeavor here.

- Scott Turow

Reason, Here, Gotten, Law School

You know, my mom, who inspired me to be a novelist, I remember her reading 'The Agony and the Ecstasy,' about Michelangelo, and saying, 'No mother would want that for her child, no matter how great the artist.' I have my share of demons, but I am a gregarious sort.

- Scott Turow

Artist, I Remember, About, Demons

In re-reading 'Presumed Innocent,' the one thing that struck me - and I re-read the book four different times in writing 'Innocent,' interested in different things each time - but I did think there were a couple of extra loops in the plot that I probably didn't need. The other thing that sort of amazed me was how discursive the book was.

- Scott Turow

Innocent, Other, Couple, Struck

All my novels are about the ambiguities that lie beneath the sharp edges of the law.

- Scott Turow

Law, Beneath, About, Novels

Los Angeles for many years had operated with a police department that was far smaller than other police departments had in areas of comparable or larger size, New York and Chicago being the most obvious examples.

- Scott Turow

Other, Larger, Smaller, Department

Generally, I like to write in the morning before all the dust of dreams has blown away. Beforehand, I read two papers, cook my breakfast and then settle down in front of the word processor, usually by 8 A.M. I'll write, and then check e-mail or voicemail when things stall.

- Scott Turow

Settle, Away, Before, E-Mail

I spent four of my five years at Stanford writing a novel I was unable to sell.

- Scott Turow

Four, Unable, Spent, Stanford

I don't know if a novelist ever fully detaches him- or herself from what they wrote and the way they wrote it. I can watch 'Presumed Innocent' again and again, and I will always be bothered by the same things that will never bother anybody else.

- Scott Turow

Innocent, Him, Anybody, Fully

The one thing I would like more credit for is being part of a movement which involves recognising the importance of plot and asserting that books of literary worth could be written that had plots.

- Scott Turow

Part, Importance, Asserting, Plots

Because I spend so much time traveling, I tend to do most of my reading on the same iPad on which I write. For me, it's words, not paper, that matter most in the end. This practice has had the additional benefit of greatly reducing the time I spend storming through the house, defaming the mysterious forces who 'hid my book.'

- Scott Turow

Practice, Through, Hid, Greatly

Amazon can't be all good or all bad. I don't think that everything they do is evil; they've given a lot of authors access.

- Scott Turow

Think, Access, Given, Authors

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