Certitude is not the test of certainty. We have been cocksure of many things that were not so. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. More Quotes by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. More Quotes From Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. You hear that boy laughing?you think he's all fun; But the angels laugh, too, at the good he has done; The children laugh loud as they troop to his call, And the poor man that knows him laughs loudest of all. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. angelfunchildren Science is the topography of ignorance. From a few elevated points we triangulate vast spaces, inclosing infinite unknown details. We cast the lead, and draw up a little sand from abysses we may never reach with our dredges. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. spaceignorancescience There are three natural anaesthetics: Sleep, fainting, and death. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. sleepfunnydeath Men are tattooed with their special beliefs like so many South Sea Islanders; but a real human heart with divine love in it beats with the same glow under all the patterns of all earth's thousand tribes. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. realheartlove Society is always trying in some way to grind us down to a single flat surface. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. always-tryinggrindsociety A good soldier, like a good horse, cannot be of a bad color. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. horsecolorsoldier It is very grand to die in harness, but it is very pleasant to have the tight straps unbuckled and the heavy collar lifted from the neck and shoulders. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. necksvirtuevices When a man holds his tongue it does not signify much. But when a woman dispenses with the office of the mighty member, when she sheathed her natural weapon at a trying moment, it means that she trusts to still more formidable enginery; to tears it may be, a solvent more powerful than that with which Hannibal softened the alpine rocks. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. womenpowerfulmean Fame is the scentless sunflower, with gaudy crown of gold; But friendship is the rose, with sweets in every fold. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. rosesweetfriendship The joy of life is to put out one's power in some natural and useful or harmless way. There is no other. And the real misery is not to do this. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. diversityrealjustice Fame usually comes to those who are thinking about something else. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. life-and-lovereputationthinking Imitation is a necessity of human nature. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. imitationhuman-naturehumans The wind blows out, the bubble dies; The spring entomb'd in autumn lies; The dew dries up; the star is shot; The flight is past, and man forgot. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. starsspringlying It's a good thing to be rich and a good thing to be strong, but it is a better thing to be beloved of many friends. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. belovedstrongfriendship To know is not less than to feel. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. knowsfeels The common law is not a brooding omnipresence in the sky, but the articulate voice of some sovereign or quasi sovereign that can be identified; although some decisions with which I have disagreed seem to me to have forgotten the fact. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. voicelawsky The world has its fling at lawyers sometimes, but its very denial is an admission. It feels, what I believe to be the truth, that of all secular professions this has the highest standards. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. denialbelieveworld The individual will always be a minority. If a man is in a minority of one, we lock him up. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. locksminoritiesmen Deep-seated preferences cannot be argued about - you cannot argue a man into liking a glass of beer. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. glassesbeermen Every now and then a man's mind is stretched by a new idea or sensation, and never shrinks back to its former dimensions. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. mindmenideas
