Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. quotes

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. was an American jurist and Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, recognized for his influential opinions on constitutional law. Often called "The Great Dissenter," his writings greatly shaped American legal thought. He is remembered for his clear prose and lasting impact on the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. Here are 296 of his quotes:

Young man, the secret of my success is that at an early age I discovered that I was not God.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

The advice of the elders to young men is very apt to be as unreal as a list of the hundred best books.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Life is an end in itself, and the only question as to whether it is worth living is whether you have had enough of it.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged; it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and time in which it is used.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

A page of history is worth a pound of logic.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

The character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Free competition is worth more to society than it costs.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Life is painting a picture, not doing a sum.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Man has his will - but woman has her way.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

If I were dying my last words would be: Have faith and pursue the unknown end.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

To have doubted one's own first principles is the mark of a civilized man.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

The greatest act of faith is when a man understands he is not God.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

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.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Certainty generally is illusion, and repose is not the destiny of man.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Life is action, the use of one's powers. As to use them to their height is our joy and duty, so it is the one end that justifies itself.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

I think that we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death, unless they so imminently threaten immediate interference with the lawful and pressing purposes of the law that an immediate check is required to save the country.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

I think that, as life is action and passion, it is required of a man that he should share the passion and action of his time at the peril of being judged not to have lived.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Even a dog distinguishes between being stumbled over and being kicked.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.