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You have been tried by twelve good men and true, not of your peers but as high above you as heaven is of hell, and they have said you are guilty. Time will pass and seasons will come and go. Spring with its wavin' green grass and heaps of sweet-smellin' flowers on every hill and in every dale. Then sultry Summer, with her shimmerin' heat-waves on the baked horizon. And Fall, with her yeller harvest moon and the hills growin' brown and golden under a sinkin' sun. And finally Winter, with its bitin', whinin' wind, and all the land will be mantled with snow. But you won't be here to see any of 'em; not by a damn sight, because it's the order of this court that you be took to the nearest tree and hanged by the neck til you're dead, dead, dead, you olive-colored son of a billy goat.

Roy Bean#2

DeathHistoryJusticeNature

About this quote

What does it mean?
Roy Bean delivers a poetic yet brutal sentence contrasting nature's cycles with finality of death.
In plain terms
The judge describes life's seasons before ordering execution.
What can you take from it?
Nature contrasts with human finality.

Where it applies

  • court proceedings
  • historical drama
  • literature

Putting it to work

  • study history
  • analyze justice
  • write drama

Questions to consider

  • How do we view justice?
  • What gives life meaning?

Another view

This is dramatized and not standard judicial process.

More from Roy Bean

  1. Gentlemen, I find the law very explicit on murdering your fellow man, but there's nothing here about killing a Chinaman. Case dismissed.

    Permalink to quote #1

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