Felix Frankfurter Quotes
1882–1965 Austria
Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
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Also known as: Frankfurter, Felix
Random Felix Frankfurter quote
60 quotes
The indispensable judicial requisite is intellectual humility.
It is a wise man who said that there is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals.
Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because it comes late.
The ultimate touchstone of constitutionality is the Constitution itself and not what we have said about it.
To be effective, judicial administration must not be leaden-footed.
Litigation is the pursuit of practical ends, not a game of chess.
No judge writes on a wholly clean slate.
The Commerce Clause (1937)
The mark of a truly civilized man is confidence in the strength and security derived from the inquiring mind.
But answers are not obtained by putting the wrong question and thereby begging the real one.
Gratitude is one of the least articulate of the emotions, especially when it is deep.
National unity is the basis of national security.
If nowhere else, in the relation between Church and State, "good fences make good neighbors."
It is a fair summary of history to say that the safeguards of liberty have frequently been forged in controversies involving not very nice people.
If one man can be allowed to determine for himself what is law, every man can. That means first chaos, then tyranny. Legal process is an essential part of the democratic process.
After all, this is the Nation's ultimate judicial tribunal, nor a super-legal-aid bureau.
It has not been unknown that judges persist in error to avoid giving the appearance of weakness and vacillation.
The Amendment nullifies sophisticated as well as simple-minded modes of discrimination.
Ambiguity lurks in generality and may thus become an instrument of severity.
Of compelling consideration is the fact that words acquire scope and function from the history of events which they summarize.
The most constructive way of resolving conflicts is to avoid them.