---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It has not been unknown that judges…"
description: "\"It has not been unknown that judges persist in error to avoid giving the appearance of weakness and vacillation.\" — Felix Frankfurter"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73d/felix-frankfurter-7424_appearance_it-has-not-been-unknown-that-judges-pers_1364850.png"
---

#  It has not been unknown that judges persist in error to…

![“It has not been unknown that judges persist in error to avoid giving the appearance of weakness and vacillation.” quote by Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73d/felix-frankfurter-7424_appearance_it-has-not-been-unknown-that-judges-pers_1364850.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73d/felix-frankfurter-7424_appearance_it-has-not-been-unknown-that-judges-pers_1364850.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73d/felix-frankfurter-7424_appearance_it-has-not-been-unknown-that-judges-pers_1364850.png)

> “It has not been unknown that judges persist in error to avoid giving the appearance of weakness and vacillation.”

[Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Judges often hide errors to appear decisive, avoiding the perception of weakness.

**In simple terms:** Judges conceal mistakes to seem firm.

Key Takeaway

Recognize the cost of appearing infallible.

Themes

law judicial behavior integrity

Mood

thoughtful analytical

Type

legal philosophical

When to use this quote

- court rulings
- legal reforms
- judicial training
- public trust

Key Concepts

Cognitive bias institutional pressure accountability

Questions to Reflect On

- How can judges balance confidence with honesty?
- What mechanisms promote accountability?

A Different Perspective

Transparency can undermine authority.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Appearance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appearance/) [Constitution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constitution/) [Errors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/errors/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Judges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judges/) [Judges Persist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judges-persist-4682481/) [Judging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judging/) [Persist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persist/) [Unknown Judges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unknown-judges-4682482/) [Vacillation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vacillation/) [Weakness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weakness/) [Weakness Vacillation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weakness-vacillation-4682483/)

## Related quotes

> [When you jump across a canyon, cautious small steps and vacillation won't work. Sometimes you just have to go for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/when-you-jump-across-a-canyon-cautious-small-steps-and-vacillation/)

[Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/)

> [But it's precisely in this cold, loathsome half-despair, half-belief, in this deliberate burying of yourself underground for forty years out of sheer pain, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/but-it-s-precisely-in-this-cold-loathsome-half-despair-half-belief-in/)

[Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/)

> [On a day when all Americans, regardless of party affiliation, are celebrating the growth of freedom and honoring the sacrifices of American and Iraqi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-mehlman/on-a-day-when-all-americans-regardless-of-party-affiliation-are/)

[Ken Mehlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-mehlman/)

> [The resolution of the combat is seldom equal to the vehemence of the charge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-resolution-of-the-combat-is-seldom-equal-to-the-vehemence-of-the/)

[Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/)

> [The great lesson of history for us is that strength and resolve bring peace and order, and weakness and vacillation invite chaos and conflict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-perry/the-great-lesson-of-history-for-us-is-that-strength-and-resolve-bring/)

[Rick Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-perry/)

> [Magic enables man to carry out with confidence his important tasks, to maintain his poise and his mental integrity in fits of anger, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/magic-enables-man-to-carry-out-with-confidence-his-important-tasks-to/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [On the question of women's sexual freedom or female independence, there are still issues that haven't been worked out. There's an aura of traditional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-kipnis/on-the-question-of-women-s-sexual-freedom-or-female-independence/)

[Laura Kipnis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-kipnis/)

> [“Different though the sexes are, they inter-mix. In every human being a vacillation from one sex to the other takes place, and often it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/different-though-the-sexes-are-they-inter-mix-in-every-human-being-a/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [No man has ever lived that had enough of children's gratitude or woman's love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/no-man-has-ever-lived-that-had-enough-of-children-s-gratitude-or/)

[William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/)

> [This is a wrong course the Chinese comrades are trying to lead us on to, it is an opportunist road of vacillation and concessions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enver-hoxha/this-is-a-wrong-course-the-chinese-comrades-are-trying-to-lead-us-on/)

[Enver Hoxha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enver-hoxha/)

> [The percentage of mistakes in quick decisions is no greater than in long-drawn-out vacillation, and the effect of decisiveness itself 'makes things go' and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-percentage-of-mistakes-in-quick-decisions-is-no-greater-than-in/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“In all the mad incongruity, the turgid stultiloquy of life, I felt, at least, securely anchored to myself. Whatever the vacillations of other people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/in-all-the-mad-incongruity-the-turgid-stultiloquy-of-life-i-felt-at/)

[John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/)

> [... vicars of vacillation ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spiro-t-agnew/vicars-of-vacillation/)

[Spiro T. Agnew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spiro-t-agnew/)

> [“He had always been a middle-of-the-road sort. He had never submitted word for word to anyone's command, but neither had he passionately rebelled against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsume-s-seki/he-had-always-been-a-middle-of-the-road-sort-he-had-never-submitted/)

[Natsume Sōseki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsume-s-seki/)

> [If we conceive that anyone loves, desires, or hates anything which we ourselves love, desire, or hate, we shall thereupon regard the thing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/if-we-conceive-that-anyone-loves-desires-or-hates-anything-which-we/)

[Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/)

## More by Felix Frankfurter

> [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/)

[Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/)

> [It is important not to give the appearance of a predisposed mind. And it is more important not to let the mind become predisposed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/it-is-important-not-to-give-the-appearance-of-a-predisposed-mind-and/)

[Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/)

> [In the first place, lawyers better remember they are human beings, and a human being who hasn't his periods of doubts and distresses and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/in-the-first-place-lawyers-better-remember-they-are-human-beings-and/)

[Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/)

> [The State insists that, by thus quarantining the general reading public against books not too rugged for grown men and women in order to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/the-state-insists-that-by-thus-quarantining-the-general-reading/)

[Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/)

> [A court which yields to the popular will thereby licenses itself to practice despotism, for there can be no assurance that it will not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/a-court-which-yields-to-the-popular-will-thereby-licenses-itself-to/)

[Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/)

> [It would be a narrow conception of jurisprudence to confine the notion of 'laws' to what is found written on the statute books, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/it-would-be-a-narrow-conception-of-jurisprudence-to-confine-the/)

[Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/)

> [What becomes decisive to a Justice's functioning on the Court in the large area within which his individuality moves is his general attitude toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/what-becomes-decisive-to-a-justice-s-functioning-on-the-court-in-the/)

[Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/)

> [We forget that the most successful statesmen have been professionals. Lincoln was a professional politician.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/we-forget-that-the-most-successful-statesmen-have-been-professionals/)

[Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/)

> [Anybody can decide a question if only a single principle is in controversy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/anybody-can-decide-a-question-if-only-a-single-principle-is-in/)

[Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/)

> [The Procrustean bed is not a symbol of equality. It is no less inequality to have equality among unequals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/the-procrustean-bed-is-not-a-symbol-of-equality-it-is-no-less/)

[Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/)

> [The mark of a truly civilized man is confidence in the strength and security derived from the inquiring mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/the-mark-of-a-truly-civilized-man-is-confidence-in-the-strength-and/)

[Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/)

> [We recognize that stare decisis embodies an important social policy that represents an element of continuity in law and is rooted in the psychological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/we-recognize-that-stare-decisis-embodies-an-important-social-policy/)

[Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/)

> [The eternal struggle in the law between constancy and change is largely a struggle between history and reason, between past reason and present needs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/the-eternal-struggle-in-the-law-between-constancy-and-change-is/)

[Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/)

> [It is easy to make light of insistence on scrupulous regard for the safeguards of civil liberties when invoked on behalf of the unworthy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/it-is-easy-to-make-light-of-insistence-on-scrupulous-regard-for-the/)

[Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/)

> [I came into the world a Jew, and although I did not live my life entirely as a Jew, I think it is fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/i-came-into-the-world-a-jew-and-although-i-did-not-live-my-life/)

[Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/)

[Explore all 91 Felix Frankfurter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/)

## More Appearance quotes

> [Your looks don't make you pretty, it's the person inside who makes you pretty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-chan/your-looks-don-t-make-you-pretty-it-s-the-person-inside-who-makes-you/)

[Aaron Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-chan/)

> [I just worried about my weight. Worried about my appearance and thought I wan't pretty enough to be a pop star. It was very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-durham/i-just-worried-about-my-weight-worried-about-my-appearance-and/)

[Judith Durham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-durham/)

> [The essence of worldliness is exclusion of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-jacobsen/the-essence-of-worldliness-is-exclusion-of-god/)

[Henry Jacobsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-jacobsen/)

> [We must, however, note that what are usually called the high religions made their appearance within about twenty-five hundred years - most of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-scott-latourette/we-must-however-note-that-what-are-usually-called-the-high-religions/)

[Kenneth Scott Latourette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-scott-latourette/)

> [First impressions are often the truest, as we find (not infrequently) to our cost, when we have been wheedled out of them by plausible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/first-impressions-are-often-the-truest-as-we-find-not-infrequently-to/)

[William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/)

> [The turning points of lives are not the great moments. The real crises are often concealed in occurrences so trivial in appearance that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-turning-points-of-lives-are-not-the-great-moments-the-real-crises/)

[George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/)

> [You can have a nice body, dress with the latest fashion. But if you don't have self-confidence sweetheart, forget about looking sexy, you can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/you-can-have-a-nice-body-dress-with-the-latest-fashion-but-if-you-don/)

[Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/)

> [I cannot be convinced that great artists are moralists. Art is first appearances, then meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/i-cannot-be-convinced-that-great-artists-are-moralists-art-is-first/)

[Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/)

> [So may the outward shows be least themselves; The world is still deceived with ornament.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/so-may-the-outward-shows-be-least-themselves-the-world-is-still/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [We are one of many appearances of the thing called Life; we are not its perfect image, for it has no perfect image except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/we-are-one-of-many-appearances-of-the-thing-called-life-we-are-not/)

[Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/)

> [I'm OK with my appearance. I have made my peace with it after a long and frankly exhausting battle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-perkins/i-m-ok-with-my-appearance-i-have-made-my-peace-with-it-after-a-long/)

[Sue Perkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-perkins/)

> [There is no society or conversation to be kept up in the world without good-nature, or something which must bear its appearance and supply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/there-is-no-society-or-conversation-to-be-kept-up-in-the-world/)

[Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/)

> [Appearance records are pretty special. Mine means a lot to me, not only because I love stats, but because it shows that I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james/appearance-records-are-pretty-special-mine-means-a-lot-to-me-not-only/)

[David James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james/)

> [Every man would fall in love with their voice, their lovely appearance, but no man would ever get past that. They'd never really know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-hocking/every-man-would-fall-in-love-with-their-voice-their-lovely-appearance/)

[Amanda Hocking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-hocking/)

> [I already know what things look like - I don't want description. People believe in appearances, and I don't believe in appearances at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/i-already-know-what-things-look-like-i-don-t-want-description-people/)

[Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/)

[Browse all 2,446 Appearance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appearance/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "It has not been unknown that judges persist in error to avoid giving the appearance of weakness and vacillation.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Felix Frankfurter"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/it-has-not-been-unknown-that-judges-persist-in-error-to-avoid-giving/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Appearance"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/it-has-not-been-unknown-that-judges-persist-in-error-to-avoid-giving/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73d/felix-frankfurter-7424_appearance_it-has-not-been-unknown-that-judges-pers_1364850.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73d/felix-frankfurter-7424_appearance_it-has-not-been-unknown-that-judges-pers_1364850.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73d/felix-frankfurter-7424_appearance_it-has-not-been-unknown-that-judges-pers_1364850.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“It has not been unknown that judges persist in error to avoid giving the appearance of weakness and…” — Felix Frankfurter",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Felix Frankfurter",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "It has not been unknown that...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/it-has-not-been-unknown-that-judges-persist-in-error-to-avoid-giving/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/it-has-not-been-unknown-that-judges-persist-in-error-to-avoid-giving/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
