"I am myself a lecturer on a branch of the law in a reputable law college. At the beginning of my course, or at the end, or, mayhap, many times ad interim, I tell my classes there is no logical, coherent, justifiable law on the subject; that there are decisions galore, and that those decisions will control in the trial Courts, not because they are right, but because they are decisions bound in calf, or sheep, or hide of some other animal. I advise them to search well these volumes in animal skin, and say that the lawyer who finds most opinions leaning his way will succeed the best. It is not a question of logic or elementary law of the sort that is the 'perfection of reason.' It is simply a question of numerical strength. 'The Lord is on the side of the heaviest battalions,' said Napoleon."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Author unidentified.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dictum
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Dictum
28 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Dictum →
Related Quotes
"Speaking for myself, I do not pay much attention to the dicta of modern Judges, as I consider it my duty to decide fo…"
"I never allow my construction of a plain enactment to be biassed in the slightest degree by any number of judicial de…"
"In the books there are some loose dicta that an Act of Parliament and the common law should respectively stand as ori…"
"There are old dicta of great Judges, which have been followed by many decisions and have become maxims of the law; bu…"
"I believe that obiter dicta, like the proverbial chickens of destiny, come home to roost sooner or later in a very un…"
"This mere obiter opinion ought not to weigh against the settled direct authority of the cases which have been deliber…"
""Obiter Dicta," said John A. Finch at the recent banquet of the Indiana State Bar Association, "is not statutory Lati…"
"An old Judge is quoted as saying, 'An obiter dictum, in the language of the law, is a gratuitous opinion, an individu…"
"I am not much of a dictionary maker, but I believe I could improve upon either and say, 'An obiter dictum is the pass…"
"How necessary it is carefully to consider the language of learned Judges, especially when you are dealing with langua…"