We expect more of ourselves than we have any right to. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Acceptance Copy Share Image
The mode by which the inevitable comes to pass is effort. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Effort Copy Share Image
We have been cocksure of many things that were not so. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Certainty Copy Share Image
The history of what the law has been is necessary to the knowledge of what the law is. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Copy Share Image
Fame is the scentless sunflower, with gaudy crown of gold; But friendship is the rose, with sweets in every fold. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Community Copy Share Image
It's a good thing to be rich and a good thing to be strong, but it is a better thing to be… — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Beloved Copy Share Image
To have doubted one's own first principles is the mark of a civilized man. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Copy Share Image
The root of joy, as of duty, is to put all one's powers towards some great end. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Duty Copy Share Image
Longevity is having a chronic disease - and taking care of it. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Care Copy Share Image
The difference between gossip and philosophy lies only in one's way of taking a fact. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Differences Copy Share Image
A man is usually more careful of his money than of his principles. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Copy Share Image
The world has its fling at lawyers sometimes, but its very denial is an admission. It feels, what I believe to be… — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Copy Share Image
Our morality seems to be only a check on the ultimate domination of force, just as our politeness is a check on… — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Character Copy Share Image
Young feller, you will never appreciate the potentialities of the English language until you have heard a Southern mule driver search the… — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Copy Share Image
It takes me several days, after I get back to Boston, to realize that the reference "the president" refers to the president… — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Boston Copy Share Image
Science is the topography of ignorance. From a few elevated points we triangulate vast spaces, inclosing infinite unknown details. We cast the… — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Abyss Copy Share Image
“A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged; it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in… — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Copy Share Image
The riders in a race do not stop when they reach the goal. There is a little finishing canter before coming to… — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Copy Share Image
But I have long thought that if you knew a column of advertisements by heart, you could achieve unexpected felicities with them.… — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Copy Share Image
These are the hands whose sturdy labor brings The peasant's food, the golden pomp of kings; This is the page whose letters… — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Copy Share Image
Why should you row a boat race? Why endure the long months of pain in preparation for a fierce half hour that… — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Anguish Copy Share Image
I think that we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to… — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Copy Share Image
The history of intellectual growth and discovery clearly demonstrates the need for unfettered freedom, the right to think the unthinkable, discuss the… — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Challenges Copy Share Image
If I had a formula for bypassing trouble, I wouldn't pass it around. Wouldn't be doing anybody a favor. Trouble creates a… — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Copy Share Image
With all humility, I think, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." Infinitely more important than the vain… — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr About yourself Copy Share Image
It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime or to let them starve… — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Copy Share Image
Nothing is so commonplace has the wish to be remarkable. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Copy Share Image
No generalization is wholly true—not even this one. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Funny Copy Share Image
Every man is an omnibus in which his ancestors ride. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Ancestor Copy Share Image
The rule of joy and the law of duty seem to me all one. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Duty Copy Share Image
Young men know the rules, but old men know the exceptions. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr Copy Share Image
