Felix Frankfurter

Old age and sickness bring out the essential characteristics of a man.

— Felix Frankfurter

The words of the Constitution are so unrestricted by their intrinsic meaning or by their history or by tradition or by prior decisions that they leave the individual Justice free, if indeed they do not compel him, to gather meaning not from reading the Constitution but from reading life.

— Felix Frankfurter

To some lawyers, all facts are created equal.

— Felix Frankfurter

Gratitude is one of the least articulate of the emotions, especially when it is deep.

— Felix Frankfurter

Judicial judgment must take deep account of the day before yesterday in order that yesterday may not paralyze today.

— Felix Frankfurter

We forget that the most successful statesmen have been professionals. Lincoln was a professional politician.

— Felix Frankfurter

There can be no security where there is fear.

— Felix Frankfurter

Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because it comes late.

— Felix Frankfurter

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.

— Felix Frankfurter

It is a wise man who said that there is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals.

— Felix Frankfurter