We are all tattooed in our cradles with the beliefs of our tribe; the record may seem superficial, but it is indelible.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.The individual will always be a minority. If a man is in a minority of one, we lock him up.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.But the word "right" is one of the most deceptive of pitfalls; it is so easy to slip from a qualified meaning in the premise to an unqualified one in the conclusion. Most rights are qualified.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Detached reflection cannot be demanded in the presence of an uplifted knife.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.We are all sentenced to capital punishment for the crime of living, and though the condemned cell of our earthly existence is but a narrow and bare dwelling-place, we have adjusted ourselves to it, and made it tolerably comfortable for the little while we are to be confined in it.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.