The book that Quincy quotes from is "The Red Lily" by Anatole France, first published in 1894, which states, "In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread".
When Sam is talking on the phone a close up of the phone number on the phone shows that it's 311-555-2368. This is a phone number set aside by the Bell Telephone Co. as a "safe" phone number which has been used in various movies and TV shows, most famously as the phone number for Jim Rockford in The Rockford Files, which can be seen on the telephone at the end of the opening credits of that show.
In 1977, Carl Betz was diagnosed with terminal and inoperable lung cancer. He kept his diagnosis private so he could keep working. On November 29, 1977, Betz entered Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He died seven weeks later, on January 18, 1978 at the age of 56.
Jan Shutan (Ginny) played the part as Lorraine in Quincy M.E. season 1, episode 2 "Who's Who in Neverland".