“General propositions do not decide concrete cases.”

198 U.S. at 76.
1900s, Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 (1905)

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 "General propositions do not decide concrete cases." by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.?
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. photo
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. 107
United States Supreme Court justice 1841–1935

Related quotes

Richard von Mises photo

“Equally possible cases do not always exist, e. g, they are not present in the game with a biased die, or in life insurance. Strictly speaking, the propositions of the classical theory are therefore no applicable to these cases.”

Richard von Mises (1883–1953) Austrian physicist and mathematician

Third Lecture, Critical Discussion of the Foundations of Probability, p. 80
Probability, Statistics And Truth - Second Revised English Edition - (1957)

Kurt Lewin photo
Epifanio de los Santos photo

“Distrust all generalizations: stick to the concrete.”

Epifanio de los Santos (1871–1928) Filipino politician

As quoted in “Don Pañong – Genius" by A.V.H. Hartendorp in Philippine Magazine (September 1929), p. 211.
ULOL
Context: (... philosophy is more often the systematization of the prejudices of philosophers than the systematization of nature.) Distrust all generalizations: stick to the concrete.

George Pólya photo
Josh Hawley photo
Carl Schmitt photo
David Hilbert photo

“The art of doing mathematics consists in finding that special case which contains all the germs of generality.”

David Hilbert (1862–1943) German prominent mathematician

Quoted in Constance Reid, "Hilbert" (1970)

Ludwig Wittgenstein photo
Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon photo

“The use of cases is to establish principles; if the cases decide different from the principles, I must follow the principles, not the decisions.”

Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon (1732–1802) British Baron

Duke of Leeds v. New Radnor (1788), 2 Brown's Rep. (by Belt), 339.

Jacques Maritain photo

Related topics