Walter Van Tilburg Clark
Walter Van Tilburg Clark was an American novelist, short story writer, and educator. He ranks as one of Nevada's most distinguished literary figures of the 20th century and is known primarily for his novels, his one volume of stories, as well as his uncollected short stories. As a writer, he taught himself to use the familiar materials of the western saga to explore the human psyche and to raise deep philosophical issues.
“True law, the code of justice, the essence of our sensations of right and wrong, is the conscience of society. It has taken thousands of years to develop, and it is the greatest, the most distinguishing quality which has developed with mankind ... If we can touch God at all, where do we touch him save in the conscience? And what is the conscience of any man save his little fragment of the conscience of all men in all time?”
Walter Van Tilburg Clark
“Places, like people, have their beginnings and have also their endings.”
Walter Van Tilburg Clark
“We desire justice, and justice has never been obtained in haste and strong feeling.”
Walter Van Tilburg Clark
“Then our crime's worse than a murderer's. His act puts him outside the law, but keeps the law intact. Ours would weaken the law.”
Walter Van Tilburg Clark
“He proved that it was equally true if the disregard was by a ruler or by a people. "It spreads like a disease," he said. "And it's infinitely more deadly when the law is disregarded by men pretending to act for justice than when it's simply inefficient, or even when its elected administrator's are crooked.”
Walter Van Tilburg Clark