It is a fair summary of history to say that the safeguards of liberty have been forged in controversies involving not very nice people.

Quote by Felix Frankfurter

Topics: History Quotes, Liberty Quotes

As a member of this court I am not justified in writing my private notions...

As a member of this court I am not justified in writing my private notions...

Litigation is the pursuit of practical ends, not a game of chess.

Litigation is the pursuit of practical ends, not a game of chess.

I came into the world a Jew, and although I did not live my life...

I came into the world a Jew, and although I did not live my life...

It is a wise man who said that there is no greater inequality than the...

It is a wise man who said that there is no greater inequality than the...

Freedom of the press is not an end in itself but a means to the...

Freedom of the press is not an end in itself but a means to the...

The real rulers in Washington are invisible, and exercise power from behind the scenes.

The real rulers in Washington are invisible, and exercise power from behind the scenes.

The mode by which the inevitable is reached is effort.

The mode by which the inevitable is reached is effort.

Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because...

Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because...

We forget that the most successful statesmen have been professionals. Lincoln was a professional politician.

We forget that the most successful statesmen have been professionals. Lincoln was a professional politician.

Anybody can decide a question if only a single principle is in controversy.

Anybody can decide a question if only a single principle is in controversy.

All our work, our whole life is a matter of semantics, because words are the...

All our work, our whole life is a matter of semantics, because words are the...

As a member of this court I am not justified in writing my private notions...

As a member of this court I am not justified in writing my private notions...

Decisions of this Court do not have intrinsic authority

Decisions of this Court do not have intrinsic authority

Old age and sickness bring out the essential characteristics of a man.

Old age and sickness bring out the essential characteristics of a man.

I don't like a man to be too efficient. He's likely to be not human...

I don't like a man to be too efficient. He's likely to be not human...

Fragile as reason is and limited as law is as the institutionalized medium of reason,...

Fragile as reason is and limited as law is as the institutionalized medium of reason,...

It is anomalous to hold that in order to convict a man the police cannot...

It is anomalous to hold that in order to convict a man the police cannot...

So many able writers have shown that the unjust institutions which work so much misery...

So many able writers have shown that the unjust institutions which work so much misery...

Surely the fact that a uniformed police officer is wearing his hair below his collar...

Surely the fact that a uniformed police officer is wearing his hair below his collar...

My ignorance of science is such that if anyone mentioned copper nitrate I should think...

My ignorance of science is such that if anyone mentioned copper nitrate I should think...