History or custom or social utility or some compelling sense of justice or sometimes perhaps a semi-intuitive apprehension of the pervading spirit of our law must come to the rescue of the anxious judge and tell him where to go.
Interpretation
Judges often rely on a combination of history, tradition, and an inherent understanding of justice to guide their decisions.
This quote emphasizes the complexities judges face when interpreting the law. Cardozo suggests that beyond the written statutes, judges must draw upon various influences, such as historical precedent, societal values, and an intrinsic sense of justice, to navigate their judgments effectively, especially in challenging cases.
In practice
Quoting this during a legal seminar to highlight the philosophical aspects of judgment.
Lawsuits are rare and catastrophic experiences for the vast majority of men, and even when the catastrophe ensues, the controversy relates most often not to the law, but to the facts. In countless litigations, the law Is so clear that judges have no discretion.
The Constitution overrides a statute, but a statute, if consistent with the Constitution, overrides the law of judges. In this sense, judge-made law is secondary and subordinate to the law that is made by legislators.
There comes not seldom a crisis in the life of men, of nations, and of worlds, when the old forms seem ready to decay, and the old rules of action have lost their binding force. The evils of existing systems obscure the blessings that attend them, and, where reform is needed, the cry is raised for subversion.
Law never is, but is always about to be.
The judge is not the knight-errant, roaming at will in pursuit of his own ideal of beauty or of goodness.
In law, as in every other branch of knowledge, the truths given by induction tend to form the premises for new deductions. The lawyers and the judges of successive generations do not repeat for themselves the process of verification any more than most of us repeat the demonstrations of the truths of astronomy or physics.
Will is wish, and liberty is power.
There is only one thing I fear in life, my friend: One day, the black will swallow the red.
Beautiful objects are wrought by study through effort, but ugly things are reaped automatically without toil.
Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.
'Smart growth' destroys the environment. 'Dumb growth' destroys the environment. The only difference is that 'smart growth' does it with good taste. It's like booking passage on the Titanic. Whether you go first-class or steerage, the result is the same.
The true meaning of existence is disclosed in moments of living in the presence of God
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