Harper Lee: Pauper the Equal of Rockefeller

Posted by admin on Friday, August 21, 2015

Harper Lee Money Quotation saying something we wish were true is that the law sees rich and poor as equals, when it respects money & lawyers more. Harper Lee said in To Kill a Mockingbird:
 

 

“There is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court” — Harper Lee

 

 

In this quote, Harper Lee is highlighting the ideal of equality before the law. She suggests that in a court of law, factors like wealth, intelligence, education or status hold no special weight – a poor person is on equal legal footing with a billionaire, a less intelligent person with a genius, and an uneducated person with a highly educated leader.

The quote conveys Lee’s view that the judicial system aims to provide everyone with fairness and equal treatment under the law, regardless of social or economic distinctions outside of the courtroom.

Overall, she appears to be praising the principle of impartial justice that a court aims to uphold, where ordinary citizens have the same legal rights and considerations as the most privileged members of society