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.
Through our great good fortune, in our youth our hearts were touched with fire. It was given to us to learn at the outset that life is a profound and passionate thing.
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.
Between two groups of people who want to make inconsistent kinds of worlds, I see no remedy but force.
It seems to me that at this time we need education in the obvious more than investigation of the obscure.
Lawyers spend a great deal of their time shoveling smoke.
The mode by which the inevitable comes to pass is effort.
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.
Every calling is great when greatly pursued.
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.
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.
Life is painting a picture, not doing a sum.
When in doubt, do it.
