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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.
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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.
Force
Domination
Seems
Pigs
Every
Check
Checks
Impulse
Morality
Ultimate
Trough
Feet
Politeness
More quotes by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Systems die instincts remain.
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Modesty and reverence are no less virtues of freemen than the democratic feeling which will submit neither to arrogance nor to servility.
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The mode by which the inevitable comes to pass is effort.
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Leisure only means a chance to do other jobs that demand attention.
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To have doubted one's own first principles is the mark of a civilized man.
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A great man represents a great ganglion in the nerves of society, or to vary the figure, a strategic point in the campaign of history, and part of his greatness consists in his being there.
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Even for practical purposes theory generally turns out the most important thing in the end.
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Every real thought on every real subject knocks the wind out of somebody or other.
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It's a good thing to be rich and a good thing to be strong, but it is a better thing to be beloved of many friends.
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There is no friend like the old friend, who has shared our morning days, No greeting like his welcome, no homage like his praise: Fame is the scentless sunflower, with gaudy crown of gold But friendship is the breathing rose, with sweets in every fold.
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History has to be rewritten because history is the selection of those threads of causes or antecedents that we are interested in.
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Certitude is not the test of certainty.
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Science is the topography of ignorance. From a few elevated points we triangulate vast spaces, inclosing infinite unknown details. We cast the lead, and draw up a little sand from abysses we may never reach with our dredges.
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We must think things not words, or at least we must constantly translate our words into the facts for which they stand, if we are to keep to the real and the true.
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The mark of a civilized man is his willingness to re-examine his most cherished beliefs.
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To rest upon a formula is a slumber that, prolonged, means death.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
The man of action has the present, but the thinker controls the future.
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Detached reflection cannot be demanded in the presence of an uplifted knife.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Our test of truth is a reference to either a present or imagined future majority in favour of our view.
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Even a dog distinguishes between being stumbled over and being kicked.
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