Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes was the name of two prominent men, father and son:...
Oliver Wendell Holmes quotes about
ability action life man passion peril required share
As life is action and passion, it is required of a man that he should share the passion and action of his time, at the peril of being not to have lived.
conversation dreadful pathway stick
And when you stick on conversation's burrs, don't strew your pathway with those dreadful urs.
aim
The very aim and end of our institutions is just this: that we may thing what we like and say what we think.
alike fatal homicide language legitimate life results treatment violent word
Life and language are alike sacred. Homicide and verbicide --that is, violent treatment of a word with fatal results to its legitimate meaning, which is its life --are alike forbidden.
close knew landlord lived monarch pretended proper though
Now Landlord Porter, grave, concise, severe, Master, nay, monarch in his proper sphere, Though to belles-lettres he pretended not, Lived close to Harvard, so knew what was what
expectation large neighbors reason suspect true
Most of the things we do, we do for no better reason than that our father's have done them or our neighbors do them, and the same is true of a large part than what we suspect of what we think.
accurate insanity logic mind
Insanity is often the logic of an accurate mind overtaxed.
court justice
This is a court of law, young man, not a court of justice.
amuse battered boys conversation people puns railroad sake themselves train trick upset
People who make puns are like wanton boys that put coppers on the railroad tracks. They amuse themselves and other children, but their little trick may upset a freight train of conversation for the sake of a battered witticism.
bigot light mind pupil shine
The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye. The more light you shine on it, the more it will contract.
chief frame general ideas man worth
The chief end of a man is to frame general ideas - and... no general idea is worth a damn.
direction great vision
The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.
adversity bad capacity creates embrace formula handle meet pass speaking terms treating trouble
If I had a formula for bypassing trouble, I would not pass it round. Trouble creates a capacity to handle it. I don't embrace trouble; that's as bad as treating it as an enemy. But I do say meet it as a friend, for you'll see a lot of it and had better be on speaking terms with it.
fools men wise
Controversy equalizes fools and wise men - and the fools know it