I think it not improbable that man, like the grub that prepares a chamber for the winged thing it has never seen but is to be—that man may have cosmic destinies that he does not understand. And so, beyond the vision of battling races and an impoverished earth, I catch a dreaming glimpse of peace.

About Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (March 8, 1841 – March 6, 1935) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1902 to 1932. Holmes is one of the most widely cited and influential Supreme Court justices in American history, noted for his long...

More quotations from Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Lawyers spend a great deal of their time shoveling smoke.

—Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.

—Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

The character of a man is known from his conversations.

—Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

character

The law embodies the story of a nation's development through many centuries, and it cannot be dealt with as if it contained only the axioms and corollaries of a book of mathematics.

—Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

history development law mathematics

To have doubted one's own first principles is the mark of a civilized man.

—Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

certainty doubt principles civilization civilized

History

10 Oct 2015 Added
26 Oct 2026 Wording changed

Previous wording

I think it not improbable that man, like the grub that prepares a chamber for the winged thing it has never seen but is to be — that man may have cosmic destinies that he does not understand. And so, beyond the vision of battling races and an impoverished earth, I catch a dreaming glimpse of peace.