Learned Hand Quotes

Public discussion demands at least the profession of good faith.

I once said that democracy is a discussion. But real discussion is only possible where men trust one another, and honestly seek the truth. Democracy is a conversation among equals, the thinking of free people open to complete publicity—the word "parliament" has a fine meaning, if only we could give it body!

Debate is so much better than denial.

Good people can disagree - all you want is honesty, because you know, if I disagree, I'm willing to debate you on that, and then let the public decide what's good policy and bad policy.

When I do interviews, I enter them with an open mind and try to answer the questions the best I can.

I find that when you open the door toward openness and transparency, a lot of people will follow you through.

The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress.

I don’t expect anyone to just sit there and agree with me, that’s not their job.

Trust is an important lubricant of a social system. It is extremely efficient; it saves a lot of trouble to have a fair degree of reliance on other people's word. Unfortunately this is not a commodity which can be bought very easily.

I embark upon discussion and argument with great ease and liberty

Transparency is key to reciprocal accountability, which we use to be both free and smart. It is the miracle tool that enables us to question the lies of monsters.

Sometimes I think that people are not prepared to listen and discuss truths.

Building trust is very important.

Without trust, you cannot do anything.

I believe if you can have an open dialogue about anything, whether it's a book or a movie or TV show, it's this door that suddenly opens your mind to new ideas.

I think that being open, in general, is really important. If you're not, you close yourself off to experiences.

That's what art is about: to create dialogue. Everybody deserves to have their own opinion.

If your mind isn't open, keep your mouth shut too.

No idea will work if people don't trust your intentions toward them.

We have so much access to one another through technology and everything else, that we're very much used to people being real. When folks go on TV and they're basically acting - if they were good actors they'd be acting and paid for it for a living, but they're not good actors. When we see bad acting, it doesn't look like bad acting, it looks weird, and we are turned off by it. I'm not talking about anybody in particular, that's just politics right now. This generation, I feel like, has incredible bullshit detectors.

I don't care if it's politics, religion or football. I believe you have to keep opening your mind. And shut your mouth sometimes!

If you're straight with your players, they'll be straight with you.

On the face of it, it must be a bad cause which will not bear discussion. Truth seeks light instead of shunning it.

Our philosophy is we call it as we see it. Sometimes you agree, sometimes you don't. Robust debate is good.

We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values.