Jack Kevorkian Quotes (55 Quotes)

Rotten travesty. Yeah. Send me to jail for contempt. Try that. Go ahead.

Among doctors in general, I think more than half support what I'm doing.

Five to six thousand people die every year waiting for organs, but nobody cares.

You can cite me for contempt, Your Honor. I don't care.

If a man is terrified, it's up to me to dispel that terror.

When your conscience says law is immoral, don't follow it.

The Supreme Court of the United States... has validated the Nazi method of execution in... concentration camps, starving them to death.

They take away their feeding and water when they're in coma and let them die. I mean, you're validating what the Nazis did in concentration camps.

Not one has shown an iota of fear of death. They want to end this agony.

My intent was to carry out my duty as a doctor, to end their suffering. Unfortunately, that entailed, in their cases, ending of the life.

Maybe I won't stay out of prison. Who knows?

Tracy Ward was awarded third place in the feature writing category for her interview with Dr. Death ... an excellent job of providing narrative mortar' to cement the quotes from Jack Kevorkian in place.

The patient's autonomy always, always should be respected, even if it is absolutely contrary - the decision is contrary to best medical advice and what the physician wants.

During the break, look up your case during the break. Look up your case. Prove it to me, then I'll apologize. You ain't got a case. And no law.

She made the decision that her existence had lost its meaning. And you cannot judge that.

I will admit, like Socrates and Aristotle and Plato and some other philosophers, that there are instances where the death penalty would seem appropriate.

If you don't have liberty and self-determination, you've got nothing, that's what this is what this country is built on. And this is the ultimate self-determination, when you determine how and when you're going to die when you're suffering.

When history looks back, it will prove what I'll die knowing.

Listen, when you take my liberty away, you've taken away more-something more precious than life. I mean, what good is a life without liberty? Huh? None.

What looks like enjoyment is the sneer of contempt. That's not a smile.

As a medical doctor, it is my duty to evaluate the situation with as much data as I can gather and as much expertise as I have and as much experience as I have to determine whether or not the wish of the patient is medically justified.

It's the boredom that kills you. You read until you're tired of that. You do crossword puzzles until you're tired of that. This is torture. This is mental torture.

A transfer of money should never be involved in this profound situation. Although illness is profound, too, but medicine's a business today. It's a business.

I want some colleague to be free to come help me when I say the time has come. That's what I'm fighting for, me. Now that sounds selfish. And if it helps somebody else, so be it.

I don't persuade to suicide.

My religion centers in different areas than what's considered conventional religion.

I did, ... But it could be manslaughter, not murder. It's not necessarily murder. But it doesn't bother me what you call it. I know what it is. This could never be a crime in any society which deems itself enlightened.

Am I a criminal? The world knows I'm not a criminal. What are they trying to put me in jail for? You've lost common sense in this society because of religious fanaticism and dogma.

There are certain things that words on paper can never make a crime, ... There are certain acts that by sheer common sense are not crimes.

Look at the forces against me. They don't want me out. They're afraid I'll cause trouble if I get out.

The prosecutor calls it a crime, a murder, a killing, ... I call it a medical service. Youk came to me and said, 'Please help me.' The aim was a final solution to incurable agony.

This could never be a crime in any society which deems himself enlightened.

This could never be a crime no matter what words are written on paper... just like it was never a crime to drink beer, even though words on paper said it was, and that women were too dumb to vote,

All we have to do to solve the whole controversy is have the medical profession come forward (and) lay the guidelines down, ... The guidelines say only certain doctors can do it, and if you don't, we're going to punish you.

Let's hope you feel better now.

I will go to what they call a court. Only they call it a court.

You're basing your laws and your whole outlook on natural life on mythology. It won't work. That's why you have all these problems in the world. Name them: India, Pakistan, Ireland. Name them-all these problems. They're all religious problems.

The American Medical Association says the humane way is to let people starve and thirst to death. If you did that to an animal, you'd be put in jail immediately ... In the face of such insanity masquerading as authority, who wouldn't be strident.

I'm for absolute autonomy of the individual, and an adult, competent woman has absolute autonomy. It's her choice.

I don't enjoy good food. I don't enjoy flashy cars. I don't care if I live in a dump. I don't enjoy good clothes. This is the best I've dressed in months.

What are friends? Some people are nice. Some people aren't. There are some I'm fairly close with... we talk.

I didn't do this for other people; I did this for me. I fought for this right for me - does that sound selfish?

Either they go or I go, ... If I'm acquitted, they go, because they know they'll never convict me. If I'm convicted, I will starve to death in prison, so I will go.

I'd find it demeaning to be cleaning toilets.

This is not a trial. This is a lynching. There is no law.

None of them want to delay. Understand that. None of them.

There is nothing anyone can do anyway. The public has no power. The government knows I'm not a criminal. The parole board knows I'm not a criminal. The judge knows I'm not a criminal.

The American people are sheep. They're comfortable, rich, working. It's like the Romans, they're happy with bread and their spectator sports. The Super Bowl means more to them than any right.

First of all, do any of you here think it's a crime to help a suffering human end his agony? Any of you think it is? Say so right now. Well, then, what are we doing here?

The patient decides when it's best to go.