Quote

The thing I want to do is put as many new ideas into the law as I can, to show how particular solutions involve general theory, and to do it with style. I should like to be admitted to be the greatest jurist in the world.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Age: 93 †
Born: 1841
Born: March 8
Died: 1935
Died: March 6
Judge
Jurist
Lawyer
Philosopher
Politician
University Teacher
Boston
Massachusetts
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Oliver W. Holmes
Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr
Holmes
Oliver Wendell
Jr.
Oliver Wendell
Jr. Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Jr
Oliver Holmes
Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Jr.
Many
Theory
Thing
Style
Like
Particular
Jurist
World
Greatest
Jurists
Law
Admitted
Show
Involve
Shows
Solutions
Ideas
General

More quotes by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Image
Most people have died before they expire died to all earthly longings, so that the last breath is only, as it were, the locking of the door of the already deserted mansion.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Image
It is perfectly easy to be original by violating the laws of decency and the canons of good taste.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Image
Certitude is not the test of certainty.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Image
The character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Image
We expect more of ourselves than we have any right to.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Image
Most of the things we do, we do for no better reason than that our fathers have done them or our neighbors do them, and the same is true of a larger part than what we suspect of what we think.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Image
The mark of a civilized man is his willingness to re-examine his most cherished beliefs.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Image
If you can eat sawdust without butter, you can be a success in the law.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Image
The very minute a thought is threatened with publicity it seems to shrink towards mediocrity.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Image
For my part I think it is a less evil that some criminals should escape, than that the government should play an ignoble part.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Image
Society is always trying in some way to grind us down to a single flat surface.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Image
Our morality seems to be only a check on the ultimate domination of force, just as our politeness is a check on the impulse of every pig to put his feet in the trough.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Image
This is a court of law, not a court of justice.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Image
Research and writing are lonely occupations. It is easy to become discouraged in solitary confinement.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Image
I despise making the most of one's time. Half of the pleasures of life consist of the opportunities one has neglected.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Image
Life is an end in itself, and the only question as to whether it is worth living is whether you have had enough of it.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Image
The best of a book is not the thought which it contains, but the thought which it suggests just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones but in the echoes of our hearts.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Image
You hear that boy laughing?you think he's all fun But the angels laugh, too, at the good he has done The children laugh loud as they troop to his call, And the poor man that knows him laughs loudest of all.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Image
Fame is the scentless sunflower, with gaudy crown of gold But friendship is the rose, with sweets in every fold.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Image
The great end of being is to harmonize man with the order of things, and the church has been a good pitch-pipe, and may be so still.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.