Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because it comes late.

As a member of this court I am not justified in writing my private notions of policy into the Constitution, no matter how deeply I may cherish them or how mischievous I may deem their disregard.

It is a fair summary of history to say that the safeguards of liberty have been forged in controversies involving not very nice people.

It is anomalous to hold that in order to convict a man the police cannot extract by force what is in his mind, but can extract what is in his stomach.

Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because it comes late.

I don't like a man to be too efficient. He's likely to be not human enough.

Anybody can decide a question if only a single principle is in controversy.

Answers are not obtained by putting the wrong question and thereby begging the real one.

Old age and sickness bring out the essential characteristics of a man.

The mark of a truly civilized man is confidence in the strength and security derived from the inquiring mind.

It must take account of what it decrees for today in order that today may not paralyze tomorrow.

The real rulers in Washington are invisible, and exercise power from behind the scenes.

Litigation is the pursuit of practical ends, not a game of chess.

We forget that the most successful statesmen have been professionals. Lincoln was a professional politician.

To some lawyers, all facts are created equal.

The history of liberty has largely been the history of the observance of procedural safeguards.

Freedom of the press is not an end in itself but a means to the end of achieving a free society.

All our work, our whole life is a matter of semantics, because words are the tools with which we work, the material out of which laws are made, out of which the Constitution was written. Everything depends on our understanding of them.

It is a wise man who said that there is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals.

Judicial judgment must take deep account of the day before yesterday in order that yesterday may not paralyze today.

Gratitude is one of the least articulate of the emotions, especially when it is deep.

The mode by which the inevitable is reached is effort.

The ultimate touchstone of constitutionality is the Constitution itself and not what we have said about it.

I came into the world a Jew, and although I did not live my life entirely as a Jew, I think it is fitting that I should leave as a Jew. I don't want to turn my back on a great and noble heritage.

It simply is not true that war never settles anything.

There can be no security where there is fear.

Ambiguity lurks in generality and may thus become an instrument of severity.

Ambiguity lurks in generality, and may thus become an instrument of severity.

Gratitude is one of the least articulate of the emotions especially when it is deep.

I know of no title that I deem more honorable than that of Professor of the Harvard Law School.

Some of the best lessons we ever learn are learned from past mistakes. The error of the past is the wisdom and success of the future.

What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?

To light one candle to God and another to the Devil is the principle of wisdom.

I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior.

Wisdom lies neither in fixity nor in change, but in the dialectic between the two.

Irony is the gaiety of reflection and the joy of wisdom.

More helpful than all wisdom is one draught of simple human pity that will not forsake us.

Wisdom is the knowledge of good and evil, not the strength to choose between the two.

The clouds may drop down titles and estates, and wealth may seek us, but wisdom must be sought.

Books should to one of these fours ends conduce, for wisdom, piety, delight, or use.

Follow the wisdom of the great actor, James Cagney, you hit your mark, you look the other guy in the eye, and you tell the truth.

Kisses are a better fate than wisdom.

Wisdom is not attained by years, but by ability.

A great memory is never made synonymous with wisdom, any more than a dictionary would be called a treatise.

Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.

It is astonishing what force, purity, and wisdom it requires for a human being to keep clear of falsehoods.

To be satisfied with a little, is the greatest wisdom; and he that increaseth his riches, increaseth his cares; but a contented mind is a hidden treasure, and trouble findeth it not.

The most important lesson of New Labour is this: Every time we made progress we did it by challenging the conventional wisdom.

I've always shied away from conventional wisdom, though I know the power of it.