Top 12 Quotes & Sayings by Joseph Wapner

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American judge Joseph Wapner.

Last updated on April 14, 2025.

Joseph Albert Wapner (November 15, 1919 – February 26, 2017) was an American judge and television personality. He is best known as the first presiding judge of the ongoing reality court show The People's Court. The court show's first run in syndication, with Wapner presiding as judge, lasted from 1981 to 1993, for a total of 12 seasons and 2,484 episodes. While the show's second run has been presided over by multiple judges, Wapner was the sole judge to preside during the court show's first incarnation. His tenure on the program made him the first jurist of arbitration-based reality court shows, which evolved into the most popular trend in the judicial genre and continues to be to the present.

American - Judge | November 15, 1919 - February 26, 2017

Source: Wikipedia

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.

Joseph Wapner

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.

Joseph Wapner

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

Joseph Wapner

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

Joseph Wapner

I'm not an actor; I'm a judge.

Joseph Wapner

I'm just an ordinary judge from California.

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.

Joseph Wapner

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.'

Joseph Wapner

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

Joseph Wapner

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

Joseph Wapner

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.

Joseph Wapner

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

Joseph Wapner