Anybody who is any good is different from anybody else. Felix Frankfurter More Quotes by Felix Frankfurter More Quotes From Felix Frankfurter The accretion of dangerous power does not come in a day. It does come, however slowly, from the generative force of unchecked disregard of the restrictions that fence in even the most disinterested assertion of authority. Felix Frankfurter politicalfencedoe A phrase begins life as a literary expression; its felicity leads to its lazy repetition, and repetition soon establishes it as a legal formula, undiscriminatingly used to express different and sometimes contradictory ideas. Felix Frankfurter lazyexpressionideas Lincoln's appeal to "the better angels of our nature" failed to avert a fratricidal war. But the compassionate wisdom of Lincoln's first and second inaugurals bequeathed to the Union, cemented with blood, a moral heritage which, when drawn upon in times of stress and strife, is sure to find specific ways and means to surmount difficulties that may appear to be insurmountable. Felix Frankfurter stresswarmean The State insists that, by thus quarantining the general reading public against books not too rugged for grown men and women in order to shield juvenile innocence, it is exercising its power to promote the general welfare. Surely this is to burn the house to roast the pig...The incidence of this enactment is to reduce the adult population of Michigan to reading only what is fit for children. Felix Frankfurter readingbookchildren The line must follow some direction of policy, whether rooted in logic or experience. Lines should not be drawn simply for the sake of drawing lines. Felix Frankfurter drawinglinessake The most constructive way of resolving conflicts is to avoid them. Felix Frankfurter constructiveconflictway The mark of a truly civilized man is confidence in the strength and security derived from the inquiring mind. Felix Frankfurter confidencemindmen While it is not always profitable to analogize "fact" to "fiction," La Fontaine's fable of the crow, the cheese, and the fox demonstrates that there is a substantial difference between holding a piece of cheese in the beak and putting it in the stomach. Felix Frankfurter crowdifferencesfiction I know of no title that I deem more honorable than that of Professor of the Harvard Law School. Felix Frankfurter titleslawschool It simply is not true that war never settles anything. Felix Frankfurter never-settlesettlingwar It has not been unknown that judges persist in error to avoid giving the appearance of weakness and vacillation. Felix Frankfurter errorsjudginggiving Appeal must be to an informed, civically militant electorate. Felix Frankfurter electoratemilitantappeals Old age and sickness bring out the essential characteristics of a man. Felix Frankfurter aquariumscharactermen Answers are not obtained by putting the wrong question and thereby begging the real one. Felix Frankfurter beggingrealanswers I don’t like a man to be too efficient. He’s likely to be not human enough. Felix Frankfurter efficiencyenoughmen To be effective, judicial administration must not be leaden-footed. Felix Frankfurter judicialadministration Judicial judgment must take deep account...of the day before yesterday in order that yesterday may not paralyze today. Felix Frankfurter yesterdaymayorder There is torture of mind as well as body; the will is as much affected by fear as by force. And there comes a point where this Court should not be ignorant as judges of what we know as men. Felix Frankfurter ignorantjudgingmen The dynamo of our economic system is self-interest which may range from mere petty greed to admirable types of self-expression. Felix Frankfurter greedexpressionself It would be a stultification of the responsibility which the course of constitutional history has cast upon this Court to hold that in order to convict a man the police cannot extract by force what is in his mind, but can extract what is in his stomach. Felix Frankfurter policemenorder
