Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932, and as Acting Chief Justice of the United States January–February 1930. Noted for his long service, his concise and pithy opinions and his deference to the decisions of elected legislatures, he is one of the most widely cited United States Supreme Court justices in history, particularly for his "clear and present danger" opinion for a...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionJudge
Date of Birth8 March 1841
CountryUnited States of America
To us who remain behind is left this day of memories. Every year--in the full tide of spring, at the height of the symphony of flowers and love and life--there comes a pause, and through the silence we hear the lonely pipe of death.
Apologizing - a very desperate habit - one that is rarely cured. Apology is only egotism wrong side out.
I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.
Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.
I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization.
Life is painting a picture, not doing a sum.
Lawyers spend a great deal of their time shoveling smoke.
Reason means truth and those who are not governed by it take the chance that someday the sunken fact will rip the bottom out of their boat.
The history of what the law has been is necessary to the knowledge of what the law is.
We should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe.
There are many things which we can afford to forget which it is yet well to learn.
The riders in a race do not stop when they reach the goal. There is a little finishing canter before coming to a standstill. There is time to hear the kind voices of friends and say to oneself, The work is done.
Beware of making your moral staple consist of the negative virtues.
The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience.