There are many things which we can afford to forget which it is yet well to learn.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Law derives its essence from real-life experiences rather than mere logical constructs.
This quote emphasizes that the foundation of law is built on the practical experiences of life rather than just theoretical reasoning. It suggests that understanding the law requires engagement with the complexities of human experience, which informs and shapes legal concepts more effectively than pure logic alone.
Themes
LawExperiencePhilosophyJusticeLogic
In practice
Example use cases
During a law lecture, the professor quoted Holmes to illustrate the practical nature of legal systems.
More from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
All quotes βOn the whole, I am on the side of the unregenerate who affirms the worth of life as an end in itself, as against the saints who deny it.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
If you don't know what you want, you will probably never get it.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
Why should you row a boat race? Why endure the long months of pain in preparation for a fierce half hour that will leave you all but dead? Does anyone ask the question? Is there anyone who would not go through all the costs, and more, for the moment when anguish breaks into triumph or even for the glory of having nobly lost? Is life less than a boat race? If a man will give the blood in his body to win the one, will he spend all the might of his soul to prevail in the other?
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
The main part of intellectual education is not the acquisition of facts, but learning how to make facts live.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
Beware how you take away hope from another human being.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
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