All our work, our whole life is a matter of semantics, because words are the tools with which we work, the material out of which laws are made, out of which the Constitution was written. Everything depends on our understanding of them.
- Felix Frankfurter Quote

As a member of this court I am not justified in writing my private notions of policy into the Constitution, no matter how deeply I may cherish them or how mischievous I may deem their disregard.
- Felix Frankfurter Quote

Freedom of the press is not an end in itself but a means to the end of achieving a free society.
- Felix Frankfurter Quote

I came into the world a Jew, and although I did not live my life entirely as a Jew, I think it is fitting that I should leave as a Jew. I don't want to turn my back on a great and noble heritage.
- Felix Frankfurter Quote

I don't like a man to be too efficient. He's likely to be not human enough.
- Felix Frankfurter Quote

It is a wise man who said that there is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals.
- Felix Frankfurter Quote

It must take account of what it decrees for today in order that today may not paralyze tomorrow.
- Felix Frankfurter Quote

It simply is not true that war never settles anything.
- Felix Frankfurter Quote

Judicial judgment must take deep account of the day before yesterday in order that yesterday may not paralyze today.
- Felix Frankfurter Quote

Old age and sickness bring out the essential characteristics of a man.
- Felix Frankfurter Quote

The mark of a truly civilized man is confidence in the strength and security derived from the inquiring mind.
- Felix Frankfurter Quote

The mode by which the inevitable is reached is effort.
- Felix Frankfurter Quote

The real rulers in Washington are invisible to exercise power from behind the scenes.
- Felix Frankfurter Quote

The ultimate touchstone of constitutionality is the Constitution itself and not what we have said about it.
- Felix Frankfurter Quote

To some lawyers, all facts are created equal.
- Felix Frankfurter Quote

We forget that the most successful statesmen have been professionals. Lincoln was a professional politician.
- Felix Frankfurter Quote