---
title: "1 Expression Opinion Quotes By Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr"
description: "1 Expression Opinion quotes by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Plus more from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr and more Expression Opinion sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/650/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-1986_belief_every-idea-is-an-incitement-it-offers-it_709171.png"
---

> [Every idea is an incitement. It offers itself for belief, and if believed it is acted on unless some other belief outweighs it or some failure of energy stifles the movement at its birth. The only difference between the expression…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/every-idea-is-an-incitement-it-offers-itself-for-belief-and-if-2/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/650/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-1986_belief_every-idea-is-an-incitement-it-offers-it_709171.png)

## More by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr

> [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/)

> [Blood is a destiny. One's genius descends in the stream from long lines of ancestry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/blood-is-a-destiny-one-s-genius-descends-in-the-stream-from-long/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/)

> [If you don't know what you want, you will probably never get it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/if-you-don-t-know-what-you-want-you-will-probably-never-get-it/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/)

> [Any two philosophers can tell each other all they know in two hours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/any-two-philosophers-can-tell-each-other-all-they-know-in-two-hours/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/)

> [It is mere childishness to expect men to believe as their fathers did; that is, if they have any minds of their own. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/it-is-mere-childishness-to-expect-men-to-believe-as-their-fathers-did/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/)

> [Longevity is having a chronic disease - and taking care of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/longevity-is-having-a-chronic-disease-and-taking-care-of-it/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/)

> [As for the excellent little wretches who grow up in what they are taught, with never a scruple or a query, ... they signify…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/as-for-the-excellent-little-wretches-who-grow-up-in-what-they-are/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/)

> [On every stem, on every leaf,... and at the root of everything that grew, was a professional specialist in the shape of grub, caterpillar,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/on-every-stem-on-every-leaf-and-at-the-root-of-everything-that-grew/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/)

> [Three generations of imbeciles are enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/three-generations-of-imbeciles-are-enough/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/)

> [A good soldier, like a good horse, cannot be of a bad color.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/a-good-soldier-like-a-good-horse-cannot-be-of-a-bad-color/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/)

> [Free competition is worth more to society than it costs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/free-competition-is-worth-more-to-society-than-it-costs/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/)

> [Systems die; instincts remain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/systems-die-instincts-remain/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/)

> [In my opinion, economists and sociologists are the people to whom we ought to turn more than we do for instruction in the grounds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/in-my-opinion-economists-and-sociologists-are-the-people-to-whom-we/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/)

> [The great end of being is to harmonize man with the order of things, and the church has been a good pitch-pipe, and may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/the-great-end-of-being-is-to-harmonize-man-with-the-order-of-things/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/)

> [Between two groups of people who want to make inconsistent kinds of worlds, I see no remedy but force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/between-two-groups-of-people-who-want-to-make-inconsistent-kinds-of/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/)

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