"Rights of every kind, which stand upon the foot of usage, gradually receive new strength in point of light and evidence from the continuance of that usage; as it implieth the tacit consent and approbation of every successive age, in which the usage hath prevailed. But when the prerogative hath not only this tacit approbation of all ages, the present as well as the former on its side, but is recognised, or evidently presupposed, by many Acts of Parliament, I see no legal objection that can be made to it."

"No degree of antiquity can give sanction to a usage bad in itself."

"The old order changeth, yielding place to new; And God fulfils himself in many ways, Lest one good custom should corrupt the world."

"'Tis nothing when you are used to it."

"The king ... like the vulgar, thinks, feels, acts, and lives Just as his father did; the unconquered powers Of precedent and custom interpose Between a king and virtue."

"The tyrant custom, most grave senators, Hath made the flinty and steel couch of war My thrice-driven bed of down."

"New customs, Though they be never so ridiculous, Nay, let 'em be unmanly, yet are followed."

"Nice customs curtesy to great kings."

"That monster, custom, * * * is angel yet in this, That to the use of actions fair and good He likewise gives a frock or livery, That aptly is put on."

"But to my mind, though I am native here, And to the manner born, it is a custom More honor'd in the breach than the observance."

"Custom calls me to 't: What custom wills, in all things should we do't, The dust on antique time would lie unswept, And mountainous error be too highly heap't For truth to o'erpeer."

"Ein tiefer Sinn wohnt in den alten Bräuchen."

"Nicht fremder Brauch gedeiht in einem Lande."

"Choose always the way that seems the best, however rough it may be. Custom will render it easy and agreeable."

"The laws of conscience, which we pretend to be derived from nature, proceed from custom."

"Vetustas pro lege semper habetur."

"Optimus legum interpres consuetudo."

"Consuetudo pro lege servatur."

"Great things astonish us, and small dishearten us. Custom makes both familiar."

"Che l'uso dei mortali è come fronda. In ramo, che sen va, ed altra viene."

"Man yields to custom, as he bows to fate, In all things ruled—mind, body, and estate; In pain, in sickness, we for cure apply To them we know not, and we know not why."

"The slaves of custom and established mode, With pack-horse constancy we keep the road Crooked or straight, through quags or thorny dells, True to the jingling of our leader's bells."

"Such dupes are men to custom, and so prone To rev'rence what is ancient, and can plead A course of long observance for its use, That even servitude, the worst of ills, Because deliver'd down from sire to son, Is kept and guarded as a sacred thing!"

"Only that he may conform To (Tyrant) customs."

"Vetus consuetudo natunæ vim obtinet."

"Consuetudo est secunda natura."

"A lot of kids are bullied because of their sexual identity or expression. It's often the effeminate boys and the masculine girls, the ones who violate gender norms and expectations, who get bullied."

"The despotism of custom is everywhere the standing hindrance to human advancement, being in unceasing antagonism to that disposition to aim at something better than customary."

"People try to excuse their brutality by saying that it is the custom; but a crime does not cease to be a crime because many commit it. Karma takes no account of custom; and the karma of cruelty is the most terrible of all. In India at least there can be no excuse for such customs, for the duty of harmlessness is well-known to all. The fate of the cruel must fall also upon all who go out intentionally to kill God's creatures, and call it "sport"."

"There is no greater tyranny than that of social custom."

"Depraved custom is just a kind of general pestilence in which men perish not the less that they fall in a crowd."

"To make everything yield to custom would be to do the greatest injustice. Were the judgments of mankind correct, custom would be regulated by the good. But it is often far otherwise in point of fact; for, whatever the many are seen to do, forthwith obtains the force of custom. But human affairs have scarcely ever been so happily constituted as that the better course pleased the greater number. Hence the private vices of the multitude have generally resulted in public error."

"Woe unto you, O torrent of human custom! Who shall stay your course? When will you ever run dry? How long will you carry down the sons of Eve into that vast and hideous ocean."

"Whatever is injurious to the interests of the public is void, on the grounds of public policy."

"The argument of public policy leads you from sound law, and is never argued but when all other points fail."

"The principle of public policy is this: ex dolo malo non oritur actio. No Court will lend its aid to a man who founds his cause of action upon an immoral or illegal act."

"There are many cases in which individuals sustain an injury, for which the law gives no action; for instance, pulling down houses, or raising bulwarks for the preservation and defence of the kingdom against the King's enemies."

"The great end, for which men enter into society, was to preserve their property. That right is preserved sacred and incommunicable in all instances, where it has not been taken away or abridged by some public law for the good of the whole. . . . Distresses, executions, forfeitures, taxes, &c, are all of this description; wherein every man, by common consent gives up that right, for the sake of justice and general good."

"Public policy does not admit of definition and is not easily explained. It is a variable quantity; it must vary and does vary with the habits, capacities, and opportunities of the public."

"Public policy is a high horse to mount, and is difficult to ride when you have mounted it."

"Public policy is a very unruly horse, and when once you get astride it you never know where it will carry you."

"It is impossible to say what the opinion of a man or a Judge might be as to what public policy is."

"If you’re weak on the facts and strong on the law, pound the law. If you’re weak on the law and strong on the facts, pound the facts. If you’re weak on both, pound the table."

"“If you have a case where the law is clearly on your side, but the facts and justice seem to be against you,” said an old lawyer to his son, who was about to begin the practice of the law, “urge upon the jury the vast importance of sustaining the law. On the other hand, if the law is against you, or doubtful, and the facts show that your case is founded in justice, insist that justice be done though the heavens fall.” “But,” said the young man, “how shall I manage a case where both the law and the facts are dead against me?” “In that case,” replied the old lawyer, “talk around it,” and “the worse it is, the harder you pound the table,” adds a modern commentator."

"The hungry judges soon the sentence sign, And wretches hang, that jurymen may dine."

"We have a duty to discharge to the individual as well as to the public. We cannot make a man serve at the hazard of his life."

"We are all desirous to sit as long as we can, but necessity justifies that which it compels; the strength of man is not adequate to this. Lord Mansfield, as little inclined to give way as any man, did give way at a certain hour in the case of Lord Pomfret."