“High Court judge presiding in a sodomy case, seeking advice on sentencing: "Could you tell me, what do you think one ought to give a man who allows himself to be buggered?"
Smith: "Oh, thirty shillings or two pounds; whatever you happen to have on you."”

—  F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead

A 1924 entry in Evelyn Waugh's diary, cited in The Times 23 May 2006, Law supplement p.7

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "High Court judge presiding in a sodomy case, seeking advice on sentencing: "Could you tell me, what do you think one ou…" by F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead?
F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead photo
F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead 27
British politician 1872–1930

Related quotes

“They say a hundred-and-thirty-pound woman has no chance against an athletic two-hundred-pound man. That's a lie. You just have to make the decision to hurt him and then do it.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Burn for Me

Henry Miller photo

“Take a good look at me. Now tell me, do you think I'm the sort of fellow who gives a fuck what happens once he's dead?”

Henry Miller book Tropic of Capricorn

Source: Tropic of Capricorn (1939) New York: Grove Press, 1961, p. 313

Scott Adams photo

“People think they follow advice but they don't. Humans are only capable of receiving information. They create their own advice. If you seek to influence someone, don't waste time giving advice. You can change only what people know, not what they do.”

Scott Adams book God's Debris

Source: Books, God's Debris (2001)

Gore Vidal photo

“Write what you know will always be excellent advice for those who ought not to write at all. Write what you think, what you imagine, what you suspect!”

Gore Vidal (1925–2012) American writer

"Thomas Love Peacock: The Novel of Ideas" (1980)
1980s, The Second American Revolution (1983)
Variant: In any case, write what you know will always be excellent advice to those who ought not to write at all.
Source: The Essential Gore Vidal

Epictetus photo

“Do not give sentence in another tribunal till you have been yourself judged in the tribunal of Justice.”

Epictetus (50–138) philosopher from Ancient Greece

Fragment vii.
Golden Sayings of Epictetus, Fragments

Alan Charles Kors photo

“Students once asked me, if being a historian, I could predict the future and I said "No, I can't. But, I can tell what you what won't happen.", and someone said "What won't happen? What do you know what won't happen?" and I gave two answers. I said "Russia will never allow the reunification of Germany" and "whites in South Africa will never give up their tyranny without a bloodbath." So, let's not take me as a prophet.”

Alan Charles Kors (1943) American academic

2010s, Socialism's Legacy (2011), Q&A

Raymond Kethledge photo

“Clearly, there are limits on the Executive power. There are limits on the Commander-in-Chief power. Youngstown Sheet and Tube tells us that. That was a case where the President issued an Executive Order to seize steel mills, cited exigent circumstances related to the Korean War. The Supreme Court stepped forward and said no, you can't do that. That is a clear example of courts doing, I think, what the Senator described. How does a court go about that? I think that certainly as a court of appeals judge, you start with the Constitution itself. You go to Supreme Court precedent, which is obviously binding on any court of appeals. You look to the prior precedents of one's own circuit, which would be binding as well. The decisionmaking can also be informed by precedents from other circuits. I think you look at those things, and you try to reach a lawful result, which is precisely that and which is not a result which is driven by passion or considerations of the moment. That is why judges have life tenure.”

Raymond Kethledge (1966) a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Confirmation of Raymond Kethledge https://www.congress.gov/110/chrg/shrg48894/CHRG-110shrg48894.htm (May 7, 2008)

F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead photo

“Judge: What do you suppose I am on the Bench for, Mr. Smith?
Smith: It is not for me, Your Honour, to attempt to fathom the inscrutable workings of Providence.”

F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead (1872–1930) British politician

Quoted in F.E. : The Life of F. E. Smith First Earl of Birkenhead (1933) by Frederick Second Earl of Birkenhead, 1959 edition, Ch 9

William Gibson photo

“Hate," Case said. "Who do I hate? You tell me." "Who do you love?”

William Gibson book Neuromancer

the Finn's voice asked.
Neuromancer (1984)

Charles Mingus photo

“What do you think happens to a composer who is sincere and loves to write and has to wait thirty years to have someone play a piece of his music?”

Charles Mingus (1922–1979) American jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader

As quoted in Setting the Tempo : Fifty Years of Great Jazz Liner Notes (1996) by Tom Piazza. p. 339
Context: What do you think happens to a composer who is sincere and loves to write and has to wait thirty years to have someone play a piece of his music? Had I been born in a different country or had I been born white, I am sure I would have expressed my ideas long ago. Maybe they wouldn't have been as good because when people are born free — I can't imagine it, but I've got a feeling that if it's so easy for you — the struggle and the initiative are not as strong as they are for a person who has to struggle and therefore has more to say.

Related topics