Learned Hand: Most

Learned Hand was American legal scholar, Court of Appeals judge. Explore interesting quotes on most.

Learned Hand: 112 quotes0 likes

“We may win when we lose, if we have done what we can; for by so doing we have made real at least some part of that finished product in whose fabrication we are most concerned: ourselves.”

"A Fanfare for Prometheus" (29 January 1955).
Extra-judicial writings

“The mid-day sun is too much for most eyes; one is dazzled even with its reflection. Be careful that too broad and high an aim does not paralyze your effort and clog your springs of action.”

The Spirit of Liberty: Papers and Addresses (1952), p. 9.
Extra-judicial writings

“This is the most miserable of cases, but we must dispose of it as though it had been presented by actual lawyers.”

As quoted in Learned Hand : The Man and the Judge (1994) by Gerald Gunther.
Extra-judicial writings

“There is no surer way to misread any document than to read it literally. … As nearly as we can, we must put ourselves in the place of those who uttered the words, and try to divine how they would have dealt with the unforeseen situation; and, although their words are by far the most decisive evidence of what they would have done, they are by no means final.”

Giuseppe v. Walling (1944).
Judicial opinions

“With the courage which only comes of justified self-confidence, he dared to rest his case upon its strongest point, and so avoided that appearance of weakness and uncertainty which comes of a clutter of arguments. Few lawyers are willing to do this; it is the mark of the most distinguished talent.”

"In Memory of Charles Neave" (1938).
Extra-judicial writings

“Most of my issues that mankind sets out to settle, it never does settle… The dispute fades into the past unsolved, though perhaps it may be renewed as history and fought over again. It disappears because it is replaced by some compromise that, although not wholly acceptable to either side, offers a tolerable substitute for victory…”

As quoted in The Modern Researcher, 3rd edition (1977) by Jacques Barzun and Henry Graff, p. 44.
Extra-judicial writings

“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.”

The Bill of Rights (1958), p. 73.
Extra-judicial writings