Life in a great society, or for that matter in a small, is a web of tangled relations of all sorts, whose adjustment so that it may be endurable is an extraordinarily troublesome matter. Learned Hand More Quotes by Learned Hand More Quotes From Learned Hand The aim of law is the maximum gratification of the nervous system of man. Learned Hand nervous law men We shall succeed only so far as we continue to undertake “the intolerable labor of thought” — that most distasteful of all our activities. Learned Hand succeed political ideas I shall ask no more than that you agree with Dean Inge that even though counting heads is not an ideal way to govern, at least it is better than breaking them. Learned Hand dean agreement way For myself it would be most irksome to be ruled by a bevy of Platonic Guardians, even if I knew how to choose them, which I assuredly do not. Learned Hand platonic guardian would-be Here I am an old man in a long nightgown making muffled noises at people who may be no worse than I am. Learned Hand here-i-am men long The condition of our survival in any but the meagerest existence is our willingness to accommodate ourselves to the conflicting interests of others, to learn to live in a social world. Learned Hand survival social world What to an outsider will be no more than the vigorous presentation of a conviction, to an employee may be the manifestation of a determination which it is not safe to thwart. Learned Hand determination safe may It was not the violence of our enemies [in World War I] that would undo us, I thought, but our own spiritual weakness, the shallowness of our convictions. Learned Hand spiritual war enemy Conservative political opinion in America cleaves to the tradition of the judge as passive interpreter, believing that his absolute loyalty to authoritative law is the price of his immunity from political pressure and of the security of his tenure. Learned Hand political-opinions loyalty believe I had rather take my chance that some traitors will escape detection than spread abroad a spirit of general suspicion and distrust, which accepts rumor and gossip in place of undismayed and unintimidated inquiry. Learned Hand rumor inquiry gossip The lawyer must either learn to live more capaciously or be content to find himself continuously less trusted, more circumscribed, till he becomes hardly more important than a minor administrator, confined to a monotonous round of record and routine, without dignity, inspiration, or respect. Learned Hand routine important inspiration Our common law is the stock instance of a combination of custom and its successive adaptations. Learned Hand law common justice Today in America vast concourses of youth are flocking to our colleges, eager for something, just what they do not know. Learned Hand learning college america Those of us who have come to years of discretion and more, must often take to retrospect, and seek to appraise the outcome of our lives. Learned Hand maturity outcomes years The apathy of the modern voter is the confusion of the modern reformer. Learned Hand apathy voting confusion Tyranny is tyranny, no matter what its form; the free man will resist it if his courage serves. Learned Hand form matter men The public official must pick his way nicely, must learn to placate though not to yield too much, to have the art of honeyed words but not to seem neutral, and above all to keep constantly audible, visible, likable, even kissable. Learned Hand yield too-much art We all have our prayer-wheels which we set up on the steppes. The indifferent winds come and carry most of them away to gasp out their little lives in the desert, for few reach heaven. Learned Hand prayer wind heaven Bipartisan democracy presupposes the individual, whose welfare is identical with that of the community in which he lives, the absence of coherent social classes, a basic uniformity of interest throughout. Learned Hand democracy community class We prate of freedom; we are in deadly fear of life, as much of our own American scene betrays. Learned Hand scene inspire life
