The judge's authority depends upon the assumption that he speaks with the mouth of others. That is to say, the momentum of his utterances must be greater than any which his personal reputation and character can command, if it is to do the work assigned to it — if it is to stand against the passionate resentments arising out of the interests he must frustrate — for while a judge must discover some composition with the dominant trends of his times, he must preserve his authority by cloaking himself in the majesty of an overshadowing past.


As quoted by William J Brennan Jr, Associate Justice, US Supreme Court, NY Times (October 6, 1963); and later in "The Role of the Court — The Challenge of the Future" in An Affair with Freedom (1967).

Learned Hand Quotes

The judge's authority depends upon the assumption that he speaks with the mouth of others. That is to say, the momentum of his utterances must be...

The judge's authority depends upon the assumption that he speaks with the mouth of others. That is to say, the momentum of his utterances must be...

The judge's authority depends upon the assumption that he speaks with the mouth of others. That is to say, the momentum of his utterances must be...

The judge's authority depends upon the assumption that he speaks with the mouth of others. That is to say, the momentum of his utterances must be...