“I used to say that, as Solicitor General, I made three arguments of every case. First came the one that I 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 quotes by Robert H. Jackson

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"Men are more often bribed by their loyalties and ambitions than by money."

- Robert H. Jackson

Awareness

"The military constitutes a specialized community governed by a separate discipline from that of the civilian."

- Robert H. Jackson

Awareness

"Those who begin coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters. Compulsory unification of opinion achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard."

- Robert H. Jackson

Adversity

"Thought control is a copyright of totalitarianism and we have no chain to it."

- Robert H. Jackson

Adversity

"It is not the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error."

- Robert H. Jackson

Responsibility

More Reflection Quotes

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"Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today."

- Will Rogers

Reflection

"Life is like a sewer … what you get out of it depends on what you put into it."

- Tom Lehrer

Reflection

"I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done."

- Lucille Ball

Reflection

"Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know."

- Pema Chodron

Reflection

"Happy Tuesday! It is a good day to reflect on the week so far and spread happiness."

Reflection