Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes was the name of two prominent men, father and son:...
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.
freedom believe fighting
When men have realized that time has upset many fighting faiths, they may come to believe... that the ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas-- that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market, and that truth is the only ground upon which their wishes safely can be carried out. That at any rate is the theory of our Constitution. It is an experiment. As all life is an experiment. Every year if not every day we wager our salvation upon some prophecy based upon imperfect knowledge.
truth believe fighting
But when men have realized that time has upset many fighting faiths, they may come to believe...that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market... That at any rate is the theory of our constitution.
aim
The very aim and end of our institutions is just this: that we may thing what we like and say what we think.
fools men wise
Controversy equalizes fools and wise men - and the fools know it
conversation dreadful pathway stick
And when you stick on conversation's burrs, don't strew your pathway with those dreadful urs.
honest telling truth
Pretty much all the honest truth telling in the world is done by children.
awful begins bid brothers chorus dead death destinies glory good great joy lent life note orchestra passion powers seen sound unseen youth
Our dead brothers still live for us and bid us think of life, not death / of life to which in their youth they lent the passion and glory of Spring. As I listen, the great chorus of life and joy begins again, and amid the awful orchestra of seen and unseen powers and destinies of good and evil, our trumpets, sound once more a note of daring, hope, and will.
ahead divided humankind people sit
People can be divided into two classes: those who go ahead and do something, and those who sit still and inquire, why wasn't it done the other way?
beware hope human
Beware how you take away hope from any human being.
common common-sense furniture ground piece science
Science is a first-rate piece of furniture for a man's upper chamber, if it has common sense on the ground floor.
courtesy flatter friendship nearer necessary relation tact
Don't flatter yourself that friendship authorizes you to say disagreeable things to your intimates. The nearer you come into relation with a person, the more necessary do tact and courtesy become.
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.