Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes was the name of two prominent men, father and son:...
adding chief form general man science worth
I hate facts. I always say the chief end of man is to form general propositions - adding that no general proposition is worth a damn.
generalization
No generalization is wholly true—not even this one.
certainty generally human longing
The longing for certainty... is in every human mind. But certainty is generally illusion.
chief frame general ideas man worth
The chief end of a man is to frame general ideas - and... no general idea is worth a damn.
ancestry features good limbs marks persons signal sit stillness vulgar work
Stillness and steadiness of features are signal marks of good breeding. Vulgar persons can't sit still, or at least must always work their limbs and features.
respect
I like children; I like 'em, and I respect 'em. Pretty much all the honest truth-telling there is in the world is done by them.
bath few music soul twice week
Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water-bath is to the body.
bigot light mind pupil shine
The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye. The more light you shine on it, the more it will contract.
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.
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.
beware hope human
Beware how you take away hope from any human being.
aim
The very aim and end of our institutions is just this: that we may thing what we like and say what we think.
court justice
This is a court of law, young man, not a court of justice.