Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes was the name of two prominent men, father and son:...
angel brains closes gives hands key life mind seventy winds year
Our brains our seventy year clocks, the angel of life winds them up once and for all, then closes the case, and gives the key into the hands of the angel of resurrection.
common draught fair flavor genius grand mediocrity neutrality spoils weak
Unpretending mediocrity is good, and genius is glorious; but a weak flavor of genius in an essentially common person is detestable. It spoils the grand neutrality of a commonplace character, as the rinsings of an unwashed wine-glass spoil a draught of fair water.
amuse battered boys conversation people puns railroad sake themselves train trick upset
People who make puns are like wanton boys that put coppers on the railroad tracks. They amuse themselves and other children, but their little trick may upset a freight train of conversation for the sake of a battered witticism.
enthusiasm faith life looking quote-of-the-day worth
It is faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes a life worth looking at.
original stretched
Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.
fig life side simplicity
I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.
based common evidence experience history less main parts rules
The rules of evidence in the main are based on experience, logic, and common sense, less hampered by history than some parts of the substantive law.
act decides faith great man
The great act of faith is when a man decides he is not God.
truth
A new untruth is better than an old truth.
Any two philosophers can tell each other all they know in two hours.
duty rule seem
The rule of joy and the law of duty seem to me all one.
education learning main
The main part of intellectual education is not the acquisition of facts, but learning how to make facts live.
uttered
A thought is often original, though you have uttered it a hundred times.
Grow we must, if we outgrow all that loves us.