Joseph Wapner

“A judge is not a god or a king. He has the last word most of the time, but sometimes, one makes mistakes.”

“I was the only Jew who'd ever been elected, and I don't know when there'll be another.”

“People say, 'I'm only suing for the principle of the thing,' and I reply that I can't give you principle - only money.”

“Sometimes I don't even deliberate. I just decide from the bench, it's so obvious. The beautiful part is that I have carte blanche.”

“I'm trying to demystify the whole process. Make it simple, make it palatable. I want people to have respect for the law, and I want to educate people on the basics of the law.”

“When 'The People's Court' came along, I had an opportunity to really teach people about law. It was very important to me.”

“Judges should decide legal disputes. Judges should not make law.”

“I'm not an actor; I'm a judge.”

“I'm just an ordinary judge from California.”

“I realized that a great deal of life is exactly and precisely about being able to feel pain: my own and other people's.”

“When I was on the bench, I used to have a yellow pad, and I put on the pad at the beginning of the day, 'patience' and 'restraint.'”

“People think I'm kind and considerate and that I listen and evaluate and give each party a chance to talk. The public's perception of judges seems to be improving because of what I'm doing, and that makes me happy.”