Torture fails to make us safe, but it certainly makes us less free.
While the notion that torture works has been glorified in television shows and movies, the simple truth is this: torture has never been an effective interrogation method.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Torture is often portrayed as effective in media, but in reality, it is ineffective for gathering truthful information.
This quote highlights the misconception that torture is a viable method for obtaining reliable information from individuals, a narrative perpetuated by media portrayals. The author emphasizes that, despite its dramatic representation in television and film, evidence shows that torture does not produce effective or truthful results, thereby questioning its ethical implications and drawing attention to the need for more humane interrogation methods.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about human rights, you might reference this quote to argue against the use of torture.
More from Jerrold Nadler
All quotes βSimilar quotes
A man of clear ideas errs grievously if he imagines that whatever is seen confusedly does not exist; it belongs to him, when he meets with such a thing, to dispel the midst, and fix the outlines of the vague form which is looming through it.
Maybe if I didn't pick up that one person, I wouldn't have picked up forty-two thousand.
How anyone can profess to find animal life interesting and yet take delight in reducing the wonder of any animal to a bloody mass of fur or feathers?
Should the States reject this excellent Constitution, the probability is, an opportunity will never again offer to cancel another in peacethe next will be drawn in blood.
Living is merely the chaos of existence.
It is the Spirit alone that can mortify sin; he is promised to do it, and all other means without him are empty and vain. How shall he, then, mortify sin that has not the Spirit? A man may easier see without eyes, speak without a tongue, than truly mortify one sin without the Spirit.