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I had rather take my chance that some traitors will escape detection than spread abroad a spirit of general suspicion and distrust, which accepts rumor and gossip in place of undismayed and unintimidated inquiry.

— Learned Hand Speech to the Board of Regents (1952)

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More quotes by Learned Hand

A wise man once said, "Convention is like the shell to the chick, a protection till he is strong enough to break it through."

Life is not a thing of knowing only — nay, mere knowledge has properly no place at all save as it becomes the handmaiden of feeling and emotion.

Class-Day Oration (1893)

What do we mean when we say that first of all we seek liberty?

Right knows no boundaries and justice no frontiers; the brotherhood of man is not a domestic institution.

Life is made up of constant calls to action, and we seldom have time for more than hastily contrived answers.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Learned Hand (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.