Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes was the name of two prominent men, father and son:...
destiny men decision
The language of judicial decision is mainly the language of logic. And the logical method and form flatter that longing for certainty and for repose which is in every human mind. But certainty generally is illusion, and repose is not the destiny of man.
father thinking done
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.
love real heart
Men are tattooed with their special beliefs like so many South Sea Islanders; but a real human heart with divine love in it beats with the same glow under all the patterns of all earth's thousand tribes.
life ethos sides
On the whole, I am on the side of the unregenerate who affirms the worth of life as an end in itself, as against the saints who deny it.
men squares political
Men must turn square corners when they deal with the Government.
powerful prize
The only prize much cared for by the powerful is power.
funny men secret
Young man, the secret of my success is that an early age I discovered that I was not God.
life opportunity half
I despise making the most of one's time. Half of the pleasures of life consist of the opportunities one has neglected.
cutting eugenics waiting
It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the fallopian tubes. Three generations of imbeciles are enough.
passion equality envy
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.
generalization
No generalization is wholly true—not even this one.
faith dying would-be
If I were dying, my last words would be: Have faith and pursue the unknown end.
pay taxes civilized-society
Taxes are what we pay for civilized society
needs obscure investigation
It seems to me that at this time we need education in the obvious more than investigation of the obscure.