113 Quotes by Learned Hand

The hand that rules the press, the radio, the screen and the far-spread magazine, rules the country.

I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon law and upon courts. These are false hopes, believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. While it lies there it needs no constitution, no law, no courts to save it.

Justice is the tolerable accommodation of the conflicting interests of society, and I don't believe there is any royal road to attain such accommodation concretely.

In america, there are two tax systems: one for the informed and one for the uninformed. Both are legal.

There is nothing sinister in so arranging one’s affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible.

Justice is the tolerable accommodation of the conflicting interests of society, and I don’t believe there is any royal road to attain such accommodation concretely.

Skepticism is my only gospel, but I don’t want to make a dogma out of it.

It is still in the lap of the gods whether a society can succeed which is based on “civil liberties and human rights” conceived as I have tried to describe them; but of one thing at least we may be sure: the alternatives that have so far appeared have been immeasurably worse.

Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it.