ABSTRACT
Mr. Justice Holmes has been a great judge because it is in terms like these that he has consistently thought of his work. Whether as Chief Justice in Massachusetts or as a member of the Supreme Court, he has sought to make the infinitely small illuminate the infinitely great. He has been a great judge because he has never ceased to be a philosopher. By temperament a sceptic, by training a scholar, one sees in his whole attitude to life the qualities which make for wisdom. For Mr. Justice Holmes has known that great thoughts come only to men who are capable of heroic self-sacrifice. Every man who is to confront the impenetrable universe proudly must, Galileo-like, face an inquisition none the less formidable because it is ceaselessly active in his own heart. A political system which produces great judges can feel some real assurance about its future.
