Learned Hand Quotes

"They taught me, not by precept, but by example, that nothing is more commendable, and more fair, than that a man should lay aside all else, and seek truth; not to preach what he might find; and surely not to try to make his views prevail; but, like Lessing, to find his satisfaction in the search itself."

"You cannot raise the standard against oppression, or leap into the breach to relieve injustice, and still keep an open mind to every disconcerting fact, or an open ear to the cold voice of doubt."

"Words are not pebbles in alien juxtaposition."

"Life is made up of constant calls to action, and we seldom have time for more than hastily contrived answers."

"The mid-day sun is too much for most eyes; one is dazzled even with its reflection. Be careful that too broad and high an aim does not paralyze your effort and clog your springs of action."

"In the end it is worse to suppress dissent than to run the risk of heresy."

"A self-made man may prefer a self-made name."

"It is enough that we set out to mold the motley stuff of life into some form of our own choosing; when we do, the performance is itself the wage."

"The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women."

"We may win when we lose, if we have done what we can; for by so doing we have made real at least some part of that finished product in whose fabrication we are most concerned: ourselves."

"The art of publicity is a black art; but it has come to stay, and every year adds to its potency."

"Right knows no boundaries, and justice no frontiers; the brotherhood of man is not a domestic institution."

"Words are chameleons, which reflect the color of their environment."

"No doubt one may quote history to support any cause, as the devil quotes scripture."

"I shall ask no more than that you agree with Dean Inge that even though counting heads is not an ideal way to govern, at least it is better than breaking them."

"It lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it. While it lies there, it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it."

"If we are to keep democracy, there must be a commandment: Thou shalt not ration justice."

"Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it."

"Life is made up of a series of judgments on insufficient data, and if we waited to run down all our doubts, it would flow past us."

"The aim of law is the maximum gratification of the nervous system of man."