John Marshall Harlan Quotes

An objective truth and individual reason are feared above all.

I think objectivity is like this strange myth that people think you're supposed to achieve, but actually, the dirty little secret is that it's not attainable any more than pure justice is attainable by the courts.

I'm not beholden to one party or any special interests.

But the validity of a doctrine does not depend on whose ox it gores.

When you talk to family and friends, they can't tell you anything from an impartial point of view because they have a vested interest in you.

Dispassionate objectivity is itself a passion, for the real and for the truth.

It is necessary to look at the results of observation objectively, because you, the experimenter, might like one result better than another.

It is impossible to advance new theories... when you are under the influence of a particular view, or under the pressure of a particular dogma.

I don't view myself as a political leftie. I view myself as a storyteller who is fair to both sides.

I don't prejudge issues. I come to every case with an open mind. Every case is new to me.

I'm very partisan, but I'm also very fair.

Be able to recognize when you're reading or hearing material biased to your own side.

It sounds funny, but I always try to keep an open mind about what I'm writing about. Sometimes I squeak my opinions in there, but generally I don't. I try to be objective about things that I'm writing about.

A doctrine serves no purpose in itself, but it is indispensable to have one if only to avoid being deceived by false doctrines.

What the lawmaker has to ascertain is not the true belief but the common belief.

It helps to have “has beens” on commissions because they have no political ax to grind.

I think I just say what I'm thinking. And - you know, if people relate to it, they relate to it, but - I really - you know, if you really listen to me, I don't have my finger on any pulse.

Critics, how I would love if you could clear the word 'sentimental' from your minds.

Politics can cloud objectivity.

Your real progressives are never fair: they are never sufficiently neutral.

It is as hard to find a neutral critic as it is a neutral country in time of war. I suppose if a critic were neutral, he wouldn't trouble to write anything.

I think I should be objective, call 'em as I see 'em. Stay the Tooz.

For me, religion is a political construct, and spirituality is a community construct, and there's a real difference.

I am not as partisan as people think I am.

The contents of an ideology are not sacrosanct simply because they are couched in the cloak of a religion.