1
Every year if not every day we have to wager our salvation upon some prophecy based upon imperfect knowledge.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.verified·Abrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616 (dissenting)·November 10, 1919
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7 quotes by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. · clear filters
2
General propositions do not decide concrete cases.
3
Great cases, like hard cases, make bad law. For great cases are called great, not by reason of their real importance in shaping the law of the future, but because of some accident of immediate overwhelming interest which appeals to the feelings and distorts the judgment.
4
the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.verified·Abrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616 (dissenting)·November 10, 1919
5
The only difference between the expression of an opinion and an incitement in the narrower sense is the speaker's enthusiasm for the result.
6
This case is decided upon an economic theory which a large part of the country does not entertain.
7
a Constitution is not intended to embody a particular economic theory, whether of paternalism and the organic relation of the citizen to the state or of laissez faire