A lawyer’s either a social engineer or … a parasite on society … A social engineer [is] a highly skilled, perceptive, sensitive lawyer who [understands] the Constitution of the United States and [knows] how to explore its uses in the solving of problems of local communities and in bettering conditions of the underprivileged citizens.
Interpretation
Lawyers have a dual role in society: they can be either beneficial or harmful.
This quote by Charles Hamilton Houston reflects the significant responsibility of lawyers in society, highlighting that they can either work as social engineers to uplift communities by applying the law to address social issues, or they can become parasites by exploiting the legal system for personal gain. It emphasizes the importance of having lawyers who are committed to understanding and utilizing the Constitution for the greater good and improving the lives of disadvantaged individuals.
In practice
In a discussion about the role of lawyers in community service events.
The hate and scorn showered on us Negro officers by our fellow Americans convinced me that there was no sense in my dying for a world ruled by them. I made up my mind that if I got through this war I would study law and use my time fighting for men who could not strike back.
Without education, there is no hope for our people and without hope, our future is lost
The race problem in the United States is the type of unpleasant problem which we would rather do without but which refuses to be buried.
We beg you to save young America from the blight of race prejudice. Do not bind the children within the narrow circles of your own lives.
A lawyer is either a social engineer or he is a parasite on society.
Your only problem, perhaps, is that you scream without letting yourself cry.
Immigration, a lexicon. You're a 'migrant' when you're very poor; 'immigrant' when you're not so poor; and 'expat' when you're rich.
As long as my record stands in federal court, any American citizen can be held in prison or concentration camps without a trial or a hearing.
The life function of [the local church] is to love the God who created it - to care for others out of obedience to Christ, to heal those who hurt, to take away fear, to restore community, to belong to one another, to proclaim the Good News while living it out. The church is the invisible made visible.
It is not the being seen of men that is wrong, but doing these things for the purpose of being seen of men. The problem with the hypocrite is his motivation.
Thus so wretched is man that he would weary even without any cause for weariness... and so frivolous is he that, though full of a thousand reasons for weariness, the least thing, such as playing billiards or hitting a ball, is sufficient enough to amuse him.
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