Hoyt & Roberts, comps. Hoyt’s New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations. 1922.
Judges
Judges ought to be more learned than witty, more reverend than plausible, and more advised than confident. Above all things, integrity is their portion and proper virtue.
Bacon—Essays. Of Judicature.
The cold neutrality of an impartial judge.
Burke—Preface to Brissot’s Address. Vol. V. P. 67.
A justice with grave justices shall sit;
He praise their wisdom, they admire his wit.
Gay—The Birth of the Squire. L. 77.
Art thou a magistrate? then be severe;
If studious, copy fair what time hath blurr’d,
Redeem truth from his jaws: if soldier,
Chase brave employments with a naked sword
Throughout the world. Fool not, for all may have
If they dare try, a glorious life, or grave.
Herbert—The Church Porch. St. 15.
Male verum examinat omnis
Corruptus judex.
A corrupt judge does not carefully search for the truth.
Horace—Satires. II. 2. 8.
So wise, so grave, of so perplex’d a tongue,
And loud withal, that would not wag, nor scarce
Lie still without a fee.
Ben Jonson—Volpone. Act I. Sc. 1.
Le devoir des juges est de rendre justice, leur métier est de la différer; quelques uns savent leur devoir, et font leur métier.
A judge’s duty is to grant justice, but his practice is to delay it: even those judges who know their duty adhere to the general practice.
La Bruyère—Les Caractères.
Half as sober as a judge.
Charles Lamb.—Letter to Mr. and Mrs. Moxon. August, 1833.
Bisogna che i giudici siano assai, perché pochi sempre fanno a modo de’ pochi.
There should be many judges, for few will always do the will of few.
Machiavelli—Dei Discorsi. I. 7.
My suit has nothing to do with the assault, or battery, or poisoning, but is about three goats, which, I complain, have been stolen by my neighbor. This the judge desires to have proved to him; but you, with swelling words and extravagant gestures, dilate on the Battle of Cannæ, the Mithridatic war, and the perjuries of the insensate Carthaginians, the Syllæ, the Marii, and the Mucii. It is time, Postumus, to say something about my three goats.
Martial—Epigrams. Bk. VI. Ep. 19.
I pleaded your cause, Sextus, having agreed to do so for two thousand sesterces. How is it that you have sent me only a thousand? “You said nothing,” you tell me; “and this cause was lost through you.” You ought to give me so much the more, Sextus, as I had to blush for you.
Martial—Epigrams. Bk. VIII. Ep. 18.
Judicis officium est ut res ita tempora rerum
Quærere.
The judge’s duty is to inquire about the time, as well as the facts.
Ovid—Tristium. I. 1. 37.
The hungry judges soon the sentence sign,
And wretches hang that jurymen may dine.
Pope—Rape of the Lock. Canto III. L. 21.
Since twelve honest men have decided the cause,
And were judges of fact, tho’ not judges of laws.
Pulteney—The Honest Jury. In the Craftsman. Vol. 5. 337. Refers to Sir Philip Yorke’s unsuccessful prosecution of The Craftsman. (1792). Quoted by Lord Mansfield.
Si judicas, cognosce: si regnas, jube.
If you judge, investigate; if you reign, command.
Seneca—Medea. CXCIV.
Therefore I say again,
I utterly abhor, yea from my soul
Refuse you for my judge; whom, yet once more,
I hold my most malicious foe, and think not
At all a friend to truth.
Henry VIII. Act II. Sc. 4. L. 80.
Heaven is above all yet; there sits a judge,
That no king can corrupt.
Henry VIII. Act III. Sc. 1. L. 100.
Thieves for their robbery have authority
When judges steal themselves.
Measure for Measure. Act II. Sc. 2. L. 176.
He who the sword of heaven will bear
Should be as holy as severe;
Pattern in himself to know,
Grace to stand, and virtue go;
More nor less to others paying
Than by self-offenses weighing.
Shame to him, whose cruel striking
Kills for faults of his own liking!
Measure for Measure. Act III. Sc. 2. L. 275.
To offend, and judge, are distinct offices
And of opposed natures.
Merchant of Venice. Act II. Sc. 9. L. 61.
It doth appear you are a worthy judge;
You know the law; your exposition
Hath been most sound.
Merchant of Venice. Act IV. Sc. 1. L. 236.
What is my offence?
Where are the evidence that do accuse me?
What lawful quest have given their verdict up
Unto the frowning judge?
Richard III. Act I. Sc. 4. L. 187.
Four things belong to a judge: to hear courteously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly, and to decide impartially.
Socrates.
Judex damnatur cum nocens absolvitur.
The judge is condemned when the guilty is acquitted.
Syrus—Maxims.
Initia magistratuum nostrorum meliora, ferme finis inclinat.
Our magistrates discharge their duties best at the beginning; and fall off toward the end.
Tacitus—Annales. XV. 31.