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Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Quotes (1841-1935)
About Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (8 March 1841 – 6 March 1935) was an American jurist and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932; he was often called "The Great Dissenter", and was the son of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Best Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Quotes
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Explore our curated collection of the most famous and impactful Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. quotes.
“A second class mind, but a first class temperament.”
“Men must turn square corners when they deal with the Government.”
“General propositions do not decide concrete cases.”
“State interference is an evil, where it cannot be shown to be a good.”
“Free competition is worth more to society than it costs.”
“Lawyers spend their professional careers shoveling smoke.”
“Even a dog distinguishes between being stumbled over and being kicked.”
“Detached reflection cannot be demanded in the presence of an uplifted knife.”
“The character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done.”
“Constitutions are intended to preserve practical and substantial rights, not to maintain theories.”
“I can't help preferring champagne to ditch water — I doubt if the universe does.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Quotes by Topic
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Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. on Equality
“I have no respect for the passion of equality, which seems to me merely idealizing envy — I don't disparage envy but I don't accept it as legitimately my master.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. on Status quo
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. on Prejudice
“Deep-seated preferences cannot be argued about—you cannot argue a man into liking a glass of beer—and, therefore, when differences are sufficiently far-reaching, we try to kill the other man rather than let him have his way. But that is perfectly consistent with admitting that, as far as appears, his grounds are just as good as ours.”
Quotes About Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Gain deeper perspective through quotes about Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. from others.
Reported on Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
“While a judge of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, when he found the long-winded speeches of the lawyers especially trying, he advised them gravely to take a course of reading risque books, that they might learn to say things by innuendo.”
Max Lerner on Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
“Holmes was exacting in construing a statute and latitudinarian in construing powers under the Constitution. He often said that there was nothing in the Constitution that prevented the country from going to hell if it chose to. But once a statute was clearly constitutional and it became a matter of construing it, Holmes put on his most scrupulous spectacles.”
Bernie Sanders on Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
“America is not broke. The very wealthy and hugely profitable corporations just aren't paying the taxes that, in the words of Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes more than a century ago, "are the price we pay for a civilized society."”
Owen Wister on Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
“An aristocrat in morals as in mind.”
Misattributed Quotes
Quotes mistakenly credited to Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
“A moment's insight is sometimes worth a lifetime's experience.”
“Pretty much all the honest truth-telling there is in the world is done by children.”
“A man's mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions.”
“Keep government poor and remain free.”
“The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.”
“Every now and then a man's mind is stretched by a new idea or sensation, and never shrinks back to its former dimensions.”
About Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (8 March 1841 – 6 March 1935) was an American jurist and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932; he was often called "The Great Dissenter", and was the son of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.