Judging is a lonely job in which a man is, as near as may be, an island entire.
Interpretation
Judging others can lead to isolation, as the judge often stands alone in their decisions.
In this quote, Abe Fortas reflects on the solitary nature of judgment. He suggests that those who judge others may find themselves distanced from social connections, much like an island that is separate from the mainland. This isolation can stem from the role of a judge or the act of passing judgment on others, causing a rift between the judge and those being judged. The metaphor emphasizes the psychological burden and loneliness that can accompany the responsibility of making judgments about others.
In practice
In a speech about the burdens of leadership, one might say, 'As Abe Fortas said, judging is a lonely job, reminding us of the isolation leaders may feel.'
Though we may never be able to comprehend human life, we know certainly that it is a movement, of whatever nature it be. The existence of movement unavoidably implies a body which is being moved and a force which is moving it. Hence, wherever there is life, there is a mass moved by a force. All mass possesses inertia; all force tends to persist
It is not surprising that liberals believed in progress. The idea of progress justified the entire transition from feudalism to capitalism. It legitimated the breaking of the remaining opposition to the commodification of everything, and it tended to wipe away all the negatives of capitalism on the grounds that the benefits outweighed, by far, the harm.
The weather varies between heavy fog and pale sunshine; My thoughts follow the exact same process.
My own sex, I hope, will excuse me, if I treat them like rational creatures, instead of flattering their fascinating graces, and viewing them as if they were in a state of perpetual childhood, unable to stand alone.
In our society, as people pass out of young adulthood, they tend to relate to themselves more in terms of what they are no longer than what they are now, and that's psychologically low-grade devastating.
In place of a world, there is a city, a point, in which the whole life of broad regions is collecting while the rest dries up. In place of a type-true people, born of and grown on the soil, there is a new sort of nomad, cohering unstably in fluid masses, the parasitical city dweller, traditionless, utterly matter-of-fact, religionless, clever, unfruitful, deeply contemptuous of the countryman and especially that highest form of countryman, the country gentleman.
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