Quote #53

I used to say that, as Solicitor General, I made three arguments in every case. First came the one I had planned - as I thought, logical, coherent, complete. Second was the one actually presented - interrupted, incoherent, disjointed, disappointing. The third was the utterly devastating argument that I thought of after going to bed that night:

More from Robert H. Jackson

  1. Often his name was, in a generation or two, forgotten. It was from this brotherhood that America has drawn its statesmen and its judges. A …
  2. On your first appearance before the Court, do not waste your time and ours telling us so. We are likely to discover for ourselves that you …
  3. He loved his profession, he had a real sense of dedication to the administration of justice, he held his head high as a lawyer, he rendered…
  4. When the Court moved to Washington in 1800, it was provided with no books, which probably accounts for the high quality of early opinions.
  5. Our people do not want barren theories from their democracy. Maury Maverick has expressed very quaintly, but clearly, what they really want…
  6. My philosophy has been and continues to be that [the Court] cannot and should not try to seize the initiative in shaping the policy of the …
  7. The office of the lawyer, however poorly filled, is too delicate, personal and confidential to be occupied by a corporation.
  8. The Supreme Court in the American System of Government (1955), p. 79-80.

All Robert H. Jackson quotes