Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
323153602
label
Swearing-In of Clarence Thomas 10/18/91 [OA 8330] [2]
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
323153602
contentType
document
title
Swearing-In of Clarence Thomas 10/18/91 [OA 8330] [2]
citationUrl
identifierLocal
13776-013
collections
Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Speech Backup Chronological Files
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
323153602
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
mediaId
1b6987f007208115
ocrText
Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
S; 1998-0207-F
S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Speech File Backup Files
Subseries:
Chron File, 1989-1993
OA/ID Number:
13776
Folder ID Number:
13776-013
Folder Title:
Swearing-In of Clarence Thomas 10/18/91 [OA 8330] [2]
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
G
26
21
7
1
POLITICS 255
29
concern for one's own welfare were now shaping the nation's politi-
cal mood.
Politics
There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.
-Henry Kissinger
I can't type. I can't file. I can't even answer the phone.
-Elizabeth Ray
I was never worried about any sex investigation in Washington. All
the men on my staff can type.
-Bella Abzug
Washington appears to be filled with two kinds of politi-
cians-those trying to get an investigation started, and those trying
to get one stopped.
-Earl Wilson
Every so often, we pass laws repealing human nature.
-Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse
IN THE 1960s and the early 1970s, American politics were infused
with the spirit of the new humanism that had first been espoused
I know you will vote for me until I die. And even after I'm dead I
by John and Robert Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson. Politi-
think some of you will write my name in.
cians such as Eugene McCarthy, Edmund Muskie, Fred Harris,
-Adam Clayton Powell
George McGovern, and others gained prominence with platforms
that offered hope for a new society-joining together our diverse
racial, ethnic, and political groups to "form a more perfect union."
The mark of a good politician is the ability to stop at two drinks.
This political philosophy peaked in the July 12th, 1972 nomination
-Charles Colson, quoting Richard Nixon's adage
of George McGovern for president-by a liberal delegation with a
marked rise in representation among women, students, and blacks.
The difference between the men and the boys in politics is, and
McGovern's strong convictions against the war in Vietnam had won
always has been, that the boys want to be something, while the
him loyal support, but his choice of Thomas Eagleton as a running
men want to do something.
mate, his failure to project a strong image to the American voters,
-Eric Sevareid
and the difficulty of unseating the incumbent (Richard Nixon) de-
feated him at the polls.
All of us in the Senate live in an iron lung-the iron lung of poli-
Nixon's victory against McGovern-the greatest landslide in
tics-and it is no easy task to emerge from that rarefied atmosphere
American history-reversed the 1960s' trend, turning the sights of
in order to breathe the same fresh air our constitutents breathe.
war-weary Americans homeward. By 1974, when Nixon resigned
-John F. Kennedy
over the Watergate scandal, disillusioned Americans had yet an-
other series of crises to face. The energy crunch, unemployment,
I admit I may have dozed through some of the sessions. But I
and runaway inflation had become the primary concerns. No longer
haven't had a good rest since the campaign.
were the masses crusading together; feelings of isolationism and
-S. I. Hayakawa
254
256 POLITICS
POLITICS 257
In the Senate, you have friends; in the executive, you interface.
In your heart, you know I'm right.
-Walter Mondale
-Barry Goldwater, campaign slogan, 1964
To have true justice we must have equal harassment under the law.
If you're not big enough to lose, you're not big enough to win.
-Paul Krassner
-Walter Reuther
Influence is like a savings account. The less you use it, the more
you've got.
I would like to say that if we do well in 1968, we will probably not
-Andrew Young
have to worry about 1984.
-Eugene McCarthy, in the 1968 presidential campaign
There are three constant issues that have run through American
politics, ever since the founding of the Republic
war and peace
The McGovern campaign is the campaign of the three A's: acid,
bread and butter
and black and white.
abortion, and amnesty.
-Theodore White
-Hugh Scott
Sometimes it is said that a man cannot be trusted with the govern-
Our traditional two-party system has become a three-party
ment of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of
others?
system-Republican, McGovern, and Democrat.
-Walter Cronkite
-Ronald Reagan
Let the people decide.
We were always subject to this pressure from the cause people. We
-Stokely Carmichael
reacted to every threat from women, or militants, or college groups.
If I had to do it all over again, I'd learn to tell them to go to hell.
Politics does not make strange bedfellows: it only seems that way to
-Frank Mankiewicz, director of George McGovern's presiden-
those who have not been following the courtship.
tial campaign, 1972
-Kirkpatrick Sale
The right has a lot of discipline that the left lacks. The left always
I learned one thing in politics. If you go into it
then sooner or
dilutes itself. Instead of merging to go after the common enemy, the
later you have to compromise. You either compromise or get out.
left splinters, and the splinters go after one another. Meanwhile, the
-Hugh Sloan
right keeps after its objective, pounding away, pounding away.
-Cesar Chavez
The first thing you do when you want to be elected is to prostitute
yourself. You show me a man with courage and conviction and I'll
To treat comrades like enemies is to go over to the stand of the
show you a loser.
enemy.
-Ray Kroc, chairman of McDonald's
-Mao Tse-tung
We made no progress at all
and we didn't intend to. That's the
Anyone can be elected once by accident. Beginning with the second
function of a national committee.
term, it's worth paying attention.
-Ronald Reagan
-Sam Rayburn
The only summit meeting that can succeed is one that does not take
A lot of congressmen and senators like to draw their breath and
place.
their salaries and not do much else.
-Barry Goldwater
-Sam Ervin
258 POLITICS
POLITICS 259
Conferences at the top level are always courteous. Name-calling is
left to the foreign ministers.
We will bury you.
-Nikita Khrushchev, September 17, 1959
-W. Averell Harriman
Where else could it happen but in a country like this? To let a for-
There are only two kinds of politics
the politics of fear and the
eigner make peace for them, to accept a man like me-I even have a
politics of trust. One says: you are encircled by monstrous dangers.
foreign accent.
The other says: the world is a baffling and hazardous place,
-Henry Kissinger
but it can be shaped to the will of men.
-Edmund Muskie
Don't be humble, you're not that great.
-Golda Meir
Politics is sex in a hula-hoop.
-Richard Reeves
We agree completely on everything, including the fact that we don't
see eye to eye.
-Henry Kissinger and Golda Meir
Politics is war without violence.
-Stokely Carmichael
How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-
six different kinds of cheese?
Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge
-Charles de Gaulle
even where there is no river.
-Nikita Khrushchev
I have not been calling the signals. I have been in the position of a
lineman doing some of the downfield blocking.
West Virginians have always had five friends-God Almighty,
-Hubert Humphrey, trying to dissociate himself from President
Sears Roebuck, Montgomery Ward, Carter's Little Liver Pills, and
Johnson's Vietnam policy during the 1968 presidential cam-
Robert C. Byrd.
paign
-Robert C. Byrd
Apparently Mr. Humphrey isn't comfortable playing the Lone
Acting is as old as mankind
Politicians are actors of the first
Ranger after playing Tonto for so long.
order.
-Spiro T. Agnew
-Marlon Brando
Politics, like the legal system, is dominated by old men. Old men
Being in politics is like being-a football coach. You have to be smart
who are also bugged by religion.
enough to understand the game and dumb enough to think it's im-
-Mick Jagger
portant.
-Eugene McCarthy
I don't think politics is a workable system any more.
They
gotta invent something better.
It is completely unimportant. That is why it is so interesting.
-David Crosby
-Agatha Christie
I have often been accused of putting my foot in my mouth, but I
Life somehow finds a way of transcending politics.
-Norman Cousins
will never put my hand in your pockets.
-Spiro T. Agnew
POLITICS 261
260 POLITICS
Sometimes people mistake the way I talk for what I am thinking.
I would not be truthful if I said I was fully qualified for the office. I
-Idi Amin
do not play the piano, I seldom play golf, and I never play touch
football.
I don't know what sort of president he'd make. He talks and talks
-Barry Goldwater, on the presidency
and talks. He'd make a helluva wife.
-Groucho Marx, on Hubert Humphrey
These presidential ninnies should stick to throwing out baseballs
and leave the important matters to serious people.
-Gore Vidal
I've never thought my speeches were too long: I've enjoyed them.
-Hubert Humphrey
Vote for the man who promises least; he'll be the least disappoint-
ing.
In Maine we have a saying that there's no point in speaking unless
-Bernard Baruch
you can improve on silence.
-Edmund Muskie
Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are
busy driving taxicabs and cutting hair.
Eating words has never given me indigestion.
-George Burns
-Winston Churchill
To say you get a vote of confidence would be to say you needed a
Once you pledge, don't hedge.
vote of confidence.
-Nikita Khrushchev
-Andrew Young
Talking with George McGovern is like eating a Chinese meal. An
It is dangerous for a national candidate to say things people might
hour after it's over, you wonder whether you really ate anything.
remember.
-Eugene McCarthy
-Eugene McCarthy
I have no time to prepare a profound message.
Nothing is so admirable in politics as a short memory.
-Spiro T. Agnew
-John Kenneth Galbraith
You must always appear right as well as be right.
A politician is a man who can be verbose in fewer words than any-
-Strom Thurmond
one else.
-Peter De Vries
If you want to talk to somebody who's not busy, call the vice
president. I get plenty of time to talk to anybody about anything.
Now when I bore people at a party they think it's their fault.
-Walter Mondale
-Henry Kissinger
The seeking of me as a candidate came like the dew in the night. It
A foreign secretary is forever poised between a cliché and an in-
was rather gentle
soft, but there were signs in the morning
discretion.
that something had happened during the night, and so here we are.
-Harold Macmillan
-Eugene McCarthy
262 POLITICS
POLITICS 263
Seen one president, you've seen them all.
The function of socialism is to raise suffering to a higher level.
-Henry Kissinger
-Norman Mailer
Tom Eagleton is fully qualified in mind, body, and spirit to be the
vice president of the United States, and if necessary, to take over
The chief problem of the lower-income farmers is poverty.
the presidency on a moment's notice.
-Nelson Rockefeller
-George McGovern, in the 1972 presidential campaign
If you've seen one city slum, you've seen them all.
I'm 1,000 percent for Tom Eagleton and I have no intention of drop-
-Spiro T. Agnew
ping him from the ticket.
-George McGovern
The streets are safe in Philadelphia, it's only the people who make
On three occasions in my life I have voluntarily gone into hospitals
them unsafe.
as a result of nervous exhaustion and fatigue.
-Frank Rizzo, mayor of Philadelphia
-Thomas Eagleton
My health just wasn't on my mind; it was like a broken leg that
Pessimism in our time is infinitely more respectable than optimism.
healed.
The man who foresees catastrophe has a gift of insight which
-Thomas Eagleton, explaining why he had not mentioned his
insures that he will become a radio commentator, an editor of Time,
three nervous breakdowns at the time of his nomination for
or go to Congress.
-John Kenneth Galbraith
vice president
It's a great country, where anybody can grow up to be president
An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity; a pessimist sees
except me.
a calamity in every opportunity.
-Barry Goldwater
-Winston Churchill
Never give up and never give in.
-Hubert Humphrey
Marvin never tells a lie if he can give you a misleading statement
instead.
-Friend of convicted Maryland Governor Marvin Mandel
The party permits ordinary people to get ahead. Without the party,
I couldn't be a mayor.
-Mayor Richard Daley
The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own in-
difference.
-Bess Myerson
Congressmen, because they run for office every two years, are dis-
tilled politicians.
-Richard Reeves
Money is the mother's milk of politics.
-Jesse Unruh
There are two books that should be in the White House to read.
One is the Constitution of the United States and the other is Dale
When one hundred senators talk for thirty-seven hours, enough
Carnegie's book How To Win Friends and Influence People.
natural gas is produced.
-Sam Ervin
-Henry Kissinger, on the energy filibuster
264 POLITICS
POLITICS 265
We debated this bill now for nine days. I heard the world was
History recorded tonight would not be the same if recorded tomor-
created in seven.
World created in 7days
row.
-Robert C. Byrd
-Ned Rorem
This nomination process over 107?
A clean desk represents an empty mind.
-Felix Frankfurter
The history of things that didn't happen has never been written.
-Henry Kissinger
If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk
to your enemies.
It's possible to dazzle a crowd if you really work at it. But that is no
-Moshe Dayan
qualification for leadership. Hitler was a master of crowds.
-George McGovern
Peace is much more precious than a piece of land.
-Anwar Sadat
The real power is to make people say yes to you when they want to
say no.
-Julian Bond
Sometimes I think this country would be better off if we could just
saw off the eastern seaboard and let it float out to sea.
-Barry Goldwater
Propaganda is the art of persuading others of what one does not
believe oneself.
France cannot be France without greatness.
Abba Eban
-Charles de Gaulle
We should keep [the Panama Canal]. After all, we stole it fair and
square.
To negotiate: to seek a meeting of minds without a knocking
-S. I. Hayakawa
together of heads.
-Eric Sevareid
The sword is the axis of the world, and grandeur is indivisible.
-Charles de Gaulle
A Geneva settlement is like a tall mountain, full of crevices and
sharp rocks.
You don't go to it in a straight line. You go
through zigs and zags.
Many great things indeed have been achieved by those who chose
-Zbigniew Brzezinski
not to leap into the mainstream.
-Joan Mondale
Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men
are great only if they are determined to be so.
I forsook the comfortable code of many of my predecessors, aban-
-Charles de Gaulle
doned the unwritten rules-and said something.
-Spiro T. Agnew
To strip our past of glory is no great loss, but to deny it honor is
devastating.
-Daniel Patrick Moynihan
It is perhaps common in the world for individuals and nations to
suffer for their noble qualities more than for their ignoble ones. For
nobility is an occasion for pride, the most treacherous of sen-
Nobody ever said you have to torture life to produce history.
timents.
-Jimmy Breslin
-Daniel Patrick Moynihan
266 POLITICS
POLITICS 267
yolks. Eggheads of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your
Conservatism is the worship of dead revolutions.
-Adlai Stevenson
-Clinton Rossiter
The activist cannot be a perfectionist. He's got to be a realist. And
The conservative who resists change is as valuable as the radical
he ought to be an idealist.
who proposes it.
-Edmund Muskie
-Will and Ariel Durant
The evolutionary process in governments continues. We have
ment is to function, it must have dissent.
If our democracy is to flourish, it must have criticism; if our govern-
passed from Feudalism to Capitalism. Our current stage, as we all
know, is Corruption.
-Henry Steele Commager
-Jules Feiffer
Information is the currency of democracy.
I would define morality as enlightened self-interest
That old
-Ralph Nader
Platonic ideal that there are certain pure moral forms just isn't
where we are.
splash. Diplomacy-the art of jumping into trouble without making a
-Andrew Young
-Art Linkletter
Your systems-analysis people have too much integrity. This is not
an honorable business conducted by honorable men in an honor-
Diplomacy is the art of the possible, and we have to keep readjust-
able way. Don't assume I'm that way and you shouldn't be.
ing our concept of what is possible.
-Henry Kissinger
-Alfred affairs L. Atherton, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern
The system has not failed-but some of us have failed the system.
-Edmund Muskie
leverage toward an unachievable end, we will create a mess. we
Diplomacy, like politics, is the art of the possible; and if use our
Government is only as good as the men in it.
-George W. Ball
-Drew Pearson
Governments tend not to solve problems, only rearrange them.
but A diplomatist is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday,
-Ronald Reagan
never remembers her age.
-Robert Frost
I become the problem instead of the solution to the problem.
-Nelson Rockefeller
I am as conservative as the Constitution, as liberal as Lincoln, and
ment. as progressive as Theodore Roosevelt before the Bull Moose move-
The government is becoming the family of last resort.
-Jerry Brown
-George Romney
I don't care what anybody says. I'm to do exactly what I want to do.
If you want to get along, go along.
If it's illegal, immoral, or fattening, Adam Powell is going to do it. I
-Sam Rayburn
intend to live my life.
-Adam Clayton Powell
268 POLITICS
Instinct is no guide to political conduct.
POLITICS 269
-Henry Kissinger
The acme of judicial distinction means the ability to look a lawyer
straight in the eyes for two hours and not hear a damned word he
-Hubert A fellow that doesn't have any tears doesn't have any heart.
says.
-Chief Justice John Marshall
Humphrey
When a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember
with They call me Battling Bella, Mother Courage, and a Jewish mother
that four of his fingers are pointing at himself.
-Bella Abzug
more complaints than Portnoy.
-Louis Nizer
A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the bet-
welfare, Republicans and should work for adoption of environmental
ter lawyer.
-Spiro T. Abzug Agnew from showing up in Congress in hot-pants. we
keep Bella revenue-sharing, and most importantly programs, have to
-Robert Frost
A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a hundred men
with guns.
many I have who never met anyone who believed in democracy. I
-Line from The Godfather
willing to prefer it to any other form of government have met
majority die for it. I have met many who are willing and to abide who are
The American way. is first to give a man a trial and then to convict
mass opinion, but I have never met anyone who believed by in
him.
-Louis Nizer
judgment. That is what democracy is.
-Carl Albert
Screw the law-you get the guy off any way you can.
-William Kunstler
I -Jack am neither Benny a Democrat nor a Republican. I'm a registered Whig.
You can't have a constitutional right to do something that is illegal.
-Mario Cuomo
woman. It is a great As honor a to be chosen as the nation's first black
women, represent all the people-the blacks, the whites, the I intend
to United States Representative in Washington congress-
The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little
longer.
this especially the youth. There are many new ideas men, the
-Henry Kissinger
will be country heard. and I intend to speak for these ideas. And abroad my voice in
-Shirley Chisholm
It is when all play safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity.
-Dag Hammarskjöld
You -William have to Proxmire adjust your running style when you're running on ice.
What the liberal really wants is to bring about change which will
not in any way endanger his position.
-Stokely Carmichael
An expert gives an objective view. He gives his own view.
A liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quar-
-Morarji Desai, prime minister of India
rel.
-Robert Frost
270 POLITICS
Hell hath no fury like a Liberal scorned!
POLITICS 271
-Dick Gregory
Outside the kingdom of the Lord there is no nation which is greater
than any other. God and history will remember your judgment.
-Haile Selassie
you cannot be too conservative.
When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong,
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
There are no human rights in Uganda.
-Idi Amin
The end move in politics is always to pick up a gun.
-R. Buckminster Fuller
Put a bullet in a guy's head, and he won't bother you any more.
-Attorney General William Janklow
Thank heaven for the military-industrial complex. Its ultimate aim
is peace in our time.
I captured some of the people who tried to assassinate me. I ate
-Barry Goldwater
them before they ate me.
-Idi Amin
We have a three-to-one advantage over the Russians, which I
The power to blow up the world cannot be entrusted to anyone sick
derstand means we have the potential to kill all the Russians twice un-
enough to seek it.
and they have the potential to kill us about one and a quarter times.
-Philip Slater
-Eugene McCarthy
Tyrants are always assassinated too late; that is their great excuse.
U.S. policy on the world scene is viewed as being neutral toward
-E. M. Cioran
friends. our enemy, friendly toward the neutrals, and unfriendly toward our
There is no point in taking special precautions when those who
-Strom Thurmond
want to kill me are as incompetent as those who are supposed to
protect me.
-Charles de Gaulle
Power
is the way the national ego can assert itself.
-Norman Cousins
The most persistent threat to freedom, to the rights of Americans, is
fear.
I do not want to be controlled by any superpower. I myself consider
-George Meany
myself the most powerful figure in the world.
-Idi Amin
As long as I am mayor, there will be law and order in Chicago. No-
body is going to take over this city.
-Mayor Richard Daley
In Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles.
-David Ben-Gurion
The function of liberal Republicans is to shoot the wounded after
battle.
The problem with me is that I am fifty or one hundred years ahead
-Eugene McCarthy
of of my time. My speed is very fast. Some ministers had to drop out
-Idi Amin
my government because they could not keep up.
You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.
-Indira Gandhi
272 POLITICS
POLITICS 273
I am not a politician, but a professional soldier. I am, therefore, a
Idealism is fine; but as it approaches reality, the cost becomes pro-
man of few words.
-Idi Amin
hibitive.
-William F. Buckley, Jr.
I do not believe in doing something just for the sake of action.
Life's unfairness is not irrevocable; we can help balance the scales
-Henry Kissinger
for others, if not always for ourselves.
-Hubert Humphrey
We have enough people who tell it like it is-now we could use a
few who tell it like it can be.
The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind in other men the
-Robert Orben
conviction and the will to carry on.
-Walter Lippmann
We do not promise what we know cannot be delivered by man,
God, or the Democratic Party.
He taught us how to live and, finally, how to die.
-Lawrence O'Brien
-Walter Mondale, at the funeral of Hubert Humphrey
Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice
Moderation in
the pursuit of justice is no virtue.
-Barry Goldwater
The balance of power has never kept the peace in the past, and I
don't see why it should in the future.
-Bertrand Russell
Men struggle for worthy goals and yet they have no control over their
own destinies. It all seems futile and pointless.
-Hubert Humphrey
The exercise of absolute power corrupts absolutely.
-William F. Buckley, Jr.
The ical. hatred Americans have for their own government is patholog-
At one level it is simply thwarted greed: since our religion
is making a buck, giving a part of that buck to any government is
an act against nature.
-Gore Vidal
If you have to choose between being Don Quixote and Sancho
Panza, for heaven's sake, be the Don.
-Ramsey Clark
Freud - Pétain
678
Brandeis - Freud
1
If one wishes to form a
1
Our Government is the potent, the omni-
9
The psychic development of the individual
full grandeur of religio
present teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches
is a short repetition of the course of develop-
mind what it undertak
the whole people by its example.
ment of the race. 2
gives them information
Ib. 485
Leonardo da Vinci [1916]
origin of the universe, it
10
If we would guide by the light of reason, we
When the wayfarer whistles in the dark, he
tection and final happin
2
may be disavowing his timidity, but he does
ing vicissitudes of life,
must let our minds be bold.
not see any the more clearly for doing so.
thoughts and motions b
New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann,
285 U.S. 262, 3ʳᵈ [1932]
The Problem of Anxiety [1925]
which are backed by th
authority.
11
The poets and philosophers before me dis-
Ib. A Philosophy
3
Stare decisis is usually the wise policy, be-
covered the unconscious; what I discovered
cause in most matters it is more important
was the scientific method by which the un-
2 Religion is an attemp
that the applicable rule of law be settled than
conscious can be studied.³
the sensory world, in wh
that it be settled right.
But in cases in-
On his seventieth birthday [1926];
means of the wish-world
volving the Federal Constitution, where cor-
from LIONEL TRILLING, The Liberal
veloped inside us as a re:
rection through legislative action is practi-
Imagination
psychological necessities
cally impossible, this Court has often
overruled its earlier decisions. The Court
12
The voice of the intellect is a soft one, but
3
Religion is an illusio
bows to the lessons of experience and the
it does not rest until it has gained a hearing.
strength from the fact th
force of better reasoning, recognizing that
Ultimately, after endlessly repeated rebuffs,
instinctual desires.
the process of trial and error, so fruitful in
it succeeds. This is one of the few points in
4
The Mosaic religion ha
the physical sciences, is appropriate also in
which one may be optimistic about the future
gion; Christianity becam
the judicial function.
of mankind, but in itself it signifies not a lit-
old God, the Father,
Burnet v. Coronado Oil and Gas
tle.
Future of an Illusion [1928]
Christ, the Son, stood in
Co., 285 U.S. 393, 406 [1932]
those dark times every S
13
Analogies prove nothing, that is quite true,
Moses and
but they can make one feel more at home.
4
There is in most Americans some spark of
New Introductory Lectures on
5
Man found that he wa
idealism, which can be fanned into a flame. It
Psychoanalysis [1932]
ceptance of "spiritual" f
takes sometimes a divining rod to find what
such forces as cannot be
it is; but when found, and that means often,
14
One might compare the relation of the ego
senses, particularly not b
when disclosed to the owners, the results are
to the id with that between a rider and his
ing undoubted, even
often extraordinary.
horse. The horse provides the locomotor en-
effects. If we may trust to
The Words of Justice Brandeis
ergy, and the rider has the prerogative of de-
movement of the air that
[1953]
termining the goal and of guiding the move-
of spirituality, since th
ments of his powerful mount towards it. But
name from the breath of
all too often in the relations between the ego
tus, Hebrew: ruach = sm
Sigmund Freud¹
and the id we find a picture of the less ideal
soul was thus born as th
situation in which the rider is obliged to
1856-1939
in the individual.
guide his horse in the direction in which it
5
Being entirely honest with oneself is a good
spirits had opened for ma
itself wants to go.
to endow everything in I
exercise.
Ib. The Anatomy of the Mental
he had discovered in hin
Origins of Psychoanalysis. Letter
Personality (Lecture 31)
to Fliess [October 15, 1897]
6
A man who has been
15
The poor ego has a still harder time of it; it
vorite of his mother keep
6
No one who, like me, conjures up the most
has to serve three harsh masters, and has to
of a conqueror, that confio
evil of those half-tamed demons that inhabit
do its best to reconcile the claims and de-
often induces real succes
the human breast, and seeks to wrestle with
mands of all three.
The three tyrants
From ERNEST
them, can expect to come through the strug-
are the external world, the superego and the
Works of Sign
gle unscathed.
id.
Ib.
[1953], ch. I
Complete Psychological Works.
16
Where id was, there shall ego be.
7
The great question
Dora [1905]
Ib.
been able to answer, des₁
7
Conscience is the internal perception of the
Thinking is an experimental dealing with
of research into the femi
17
small quantities of energy, just as a general
does a woman want?"
rejection of a particular wish operating
within us.
moves miniature figures over a map before
Quoted in CHA
Ib. Totem and Taboo [1912-1913]
setting his troops in action.
try in Al
Ib. Anxiety and Instinctual Life
8
Sometimes a cigar is ju
8
At bottom God is nothing more than an
(Lecture 32)
exalted father.
Ib.
2See Haeckel, 617:10.
¹See Emerson, 498:22.
¹See Whitehead, 698:4, and Auden, 868:14.
³See Peirce, 639:12, and Bergson, 688:8.
824
Niemoeller- - Yellen
Bradley - Laski
7 Whatever may be the cause I have to defend
Omar Bra
Martin Niemoeller
1892-
before God, beyond death I have a defender:
1893-19
God.
1
We have grasped the n
1
In Germany they came first for the Com-
Ib. Whatever May Be the Cause
and rejected the Sermon
munists, and I didn't speak up because I
Address on An
wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the
Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't
Mae West
2
The world has achieved
a Jew. Then they came for the trade union-
conscience. Ours is a worl
ists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a
1892-1980
and ethical infants.
trade unionist. Then they came for the Cath-
8
Come up and see me sometime.
olics, and I didn't speak up because I was a
Diamond Lil [1932]
3
Our military forces are
Protestant. Then they came for me, and by
game to win regardless
that time no one was left to speak up.¹
9
Beulah, peel me a grape.
ball. This is no time for
Attributed
I'm No Angel [1933]
won't hit the line with all
play, unless they can cal
player on this team-wh
Harold Wallace Ross
Wendell Lewis Willkie
the spotlight of the backi
1892-1951
1892-1944
the line-must be an All
2
The New Yorker will not be edited for the
Testimony to
10
Freedom is an indivisible word. 4 If we want
Armed Services
old lady from Dubuque.²
to enjoy it, and fight for it, we must be pre-
sentatives [Octc
Upon founding The New Yorker
pared to extend it to everyone, whether they
[1925]
are rich or poor, whether they agree with us
4. In war there is no secon
or not, no matter what their race or the color
ner-up.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
of their skin.
One World, ch. I3
In the Military
1892-1973
11
The Constitution does not provide for first
3
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
and second class citizens.
5 Red China is not the po
Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the
An American Program [1944], ch. 2
ing to dominate the worl
ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a
opinion of the Joint Chiefs
dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit
12 I believe in America because in it we are
egy would involve us in th
down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and
free-
wrong place, at the wrong
that means comfort.
free to choose our government, to speak our
wrong enemy.
The Hobbit; or There and Back
minds,
Testimony to 1
to observe our different religions.
Armed Service
Again [1937], ch. I
Because we are generous with our freedom,
on Foreign Afj
we share
[May 15, 1951]
César Vallejo
our rights with those who disagree with us.
6
Only one military orga
1892-1938
Because we hate no people and covet no peo-
and gain ground in war-
4 I will die in Paris with hard dirty rain, on a
ple's lands.
ported by tactical aviation
day I now remember.
Because we are blessed with a natural and
guarded by the navy.
I will die in Paris-and I don't run-maybe
varied abundance.
In th
a Thursday, like today, in autumn.
Because we have great dreams and because
Human Poems (Poemas Humanos)
we have the
[1939].³ Black Stone on a White
opportunity to make those dreams come true.
Stone (Piedra Negra Sobre una
His creed, inscribed on a marker by
Lew Brov
Piedra Blanca), st. I
his grave in Rushville, Indiana
1893-195
5 A man walks by with a loaf of bread on his
and
shoulder.
Jack Yellen
Buddy [George Gai
I'm going to write, after that, about my dou-
1895-195
ble?
Ib. A Man Walks By, st. I
1892-1958
7 And love can come to evel
6 Another shakes from cold, hacks, spits blood.
13 Happy days are here again,
The best things in life are
The skies above are clear again:
Is it possible to even mention the profound I?
Good News
Let us sing a song of cheer again,
Thing
Another searches in the mud for bones, rinds.
Happy days are here again!
How write after that about the infinite?
Happy Days Are Here Again [1929]⁵
8 Keep your sunny side up.
Ib. st. 5, 6
Sunny Side I
4See Litvinov, 757:11.
¹See Lincoln, 520:2.
⁵Composed by MILTON AGER [1893-1979], it was
Later this became: the little old lady from Dubuque.
played at the 1932 Democratic presidential convention
³Translated by CLAYTON ESHLEMAN.
and became a campaign song for Franklin D. Roosevelt.
¹Music by RAY HENDERSON.
752
Miller - Thorndike
Williams - Jung
Alice Duer Miller
10
Pigeons on the grass alas.
Harry W
1874-1942
Four Saints in Three Acts
1874-
[written 1927]
1 The white cliffs of Dover, I saw rising steeply
1 It's a long way to Tipp
Out of the sea that once made her [England]
11
Before the Flowers of Friendship Faded
to go;
secure.
The White Cliffs [1940]
Friendship Faded.
It's a long way to Tipp
2 But in a world where England is finished and
Title [written 1930]
girl I know!
dead,
Goodbye, Piccadilly,
I do not wish to live.
Ib.
12 Remarks are not literature [said to Hem-
Square,
ingway].
It's a long, long way 1
The Autobiography of Alice B.
heart's right there
John Davison Rockefeller, Jr.
Toklas [written 1930]
1874-1960
13 America is my country and Paris is my
2
In the Shade of the
I believe that every right implies a respon-
home town and it is as it has come to be. After
sibility; every opportunity, an obligation;
all anybody is as their land and air is. Any-
every possession, a duty.
body is as the sky is low or high, the air heavy
Edmund Cleri
Ten Principles: Address in behalf
or clear and anybody is as there is wind or no
1875-
of United Service Organizations,
wind there. It is that which makes them and
3 Sir Christopher Wren
New York [July 8, 1941]
the arts they make and the work they do and
Said "I am going to di
the way they eat and the way they drink and
If anybody calls
Robert William Service
the way they learn and everything.
Say I am designing St
And so I am an American and I have lived
1874-1958
Biogra
half my life in Paris, not the half that made
4 This is the Law of the Yukon, that only the
me but the half in which I made what I made.
strong shall thrive;
4 John Stuart Mill
An American and France [1936]
That surely the weak shall perish, and only
By a mighty effort of
the fit survive.
14 In the United States there is more space
Overcame his natural
Dissolute, damned and despairful, crippled
where nobody is than where anybody is.
And wrote Principles
and palsied and slain,
This is what makes America what it is.
This is the Will of the Yukon-Lo, how she
The Geographical History of
5 George the Third
makes it plain!
America [1936]
Ought never to have
The Law of the Yukon
One can only wonder
15
What is the answer? [I was silent.] In that
5 Back of the bar, in a solo game, sat Dangerous
At SO grotesque a blui
case, what is the question?
Dan McGrew,
Last words. From ALICE B. TOKLAS,
And watching his luck was his light-o'-love,
What Is Remembered [1963]
the lady that's known as Lou.
Mary McLe
The Shooting of Dan McGrew
1875
[1907], st. I
Trumbull Stickney
6
What does the Negi
6 The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
1874-1904
very simple. He want
But the queerest they ever did see
Americans want. He
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
16 Be still. The Hanging Gardens were a dream.
make real what the I
I cremated Sam McGee.
Be Still [1905]
dence and the Consti
The Cremation of Sam McGee
Rights say, what the
17 It's autumn in the country I remember.
[1907], st. I
lish. While he knows t
Mnemosyne
7 A promise made is a debt unpaid. Ib. st. 8
no man completely, h
chance to obtain then
"Certain
Gertrude Stein
Edward Lee Thorndike
From What
1874-1946
1874-1949
edited by R
8
Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.
18 The intellect, character and skill possessed
¹Set to music by JACK Ju
Sacred Emily [written 1913]
by any man are the product of certain origi-
2A quatrain in the form I
nal tendencies and the training which they
as a clerihew.
You are all a lost generation. 1
have received.
³George the First was alv
Used by Ernest Hemingway as an
George the Second; / And V
Educational Psychology: Briefer
good of George the Third?
epigraph for The Sun Also Rises
Course [1914]
descended / God be praised
[1926]
TER SAVAGE LANDOR, epigre
lectures on the four George
1 Hemingway states that the remark was originally
reference to his young mechanics, who were "une généra-
See Frazer, 673:1.
made by a garage owner in the Midi to Gertrude Stein in
tion perdue."
See Jordan, 913:9.
556
Saxe - Fields
Fields - Th
John Godfrey Saxe
7
The ground which a colored man occupies
"Isn't God upo
1816-1887
in this country is, every inch of it, sternly
Just the same
disputed.
The
1 In battle or business, whatever the game,
Speech at the American and For-
Ballo
In law or in love, it is ever the same;
eign Anti-Slavery Society annual
st. 5
In the struggle for power, or the scramble for
meeting, New York City [May 1853]
pelf,
Let this be your motto-Rely on yourself!
8
The destiny of the colored American
G
For, whether the prize be a ribbon or throne,
is the destiny of America.⁶
The victor is he who can go it alone!¹
Speech at the Emancipation League,
The Game of Life, st. 7
Boston [February 12, 1862]
1 The poor huma
2 "God bless the man who first invented sleep!"2
9 The relation between the white and col-
meal.
So Sancho Panza said, and so say I.³
ored people of this country is the great, para-
Strop
Early Rising, st. I
mount, imperative, and all-commanding
Fron
question for this age and nation to solve.⁶
Frederick Douglass⁴
Speech at the Church of the Puri-
tans, New York City [May 1863]
Henry
c. 1817-1895
10
Despite of it all, the Negro remains
3
Every tone [of the songs of the slaves] was
cool, strong, imperturbable, and cheerful.
2 I am a parcel of
a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to
Speech on the twenty-first anniver-
By a chance bon
God for deliverance from chains.
sary of Emancipation in the Dis-
Narrative of the Life of Frederick
trict of Columbia, Washington,
Douglass [1845], ch. 2
3
D.C. [April 1883]
We are as muc
4
The whole history of the progress of human
and knowledge.
11
In all the relations of life and death, we are
liberty shows that all concessions yet made to
eyes.
Jo
her august claims have been born of earnest
met by the color line.
Speech at the Convention of Col-
4
The Indian
struggle.
If there is no struggle, there is
no progress. Those who profess to favor free-
ored Men, Louisville, Kentucky
strained in Nature
dom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men
[September 24, 1883]
her guest, and W
who want crops without plowing up the
12 No man can put a chain about the ankle of
fully. But the civil
ground, they want rain without thunder and
his fellow man without at last finding the
the house. His ho
lightning. They want the ocean without the
other end fastened about his own neck.
awful roar of its many waters.⁵
Speech at Civil Rights Mass Meet-
5
It is a great art
From JOHN W. BLASSINGAME,
ing, Washington, D.C. [October 22,
Frederick Douglass: The Clarion
1883]
6 A slight sound at
Voice [1976]
13 The life of the nation is secure only while
ears, and makes li
5
What, to the American slave, is your
the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.
rene and grand. It
Fourth of July? I answer: A day that reveals
Speech on the twenty-third anni-
may be in the shut
to him, more than all other days of the year,
versary of Emancipation in the Dis-
the gross injustices and cruelty to which he is
trict of Columbia, Washington,
7 For many years
the constant victim. To him your celebration
D.C. [April 1885]
spector of snowstor
is a sham.
14
What to the Slave Is the Fourth of
Where justice is denied, where poverty is
did my duty faithf
enforced, where ignorance prevails, and
ceived one cent for
July? Speech at Rochester, New
where any one class is made to feel that soci-
Ib.
York [July 4, 1852]
ety is in an organized conspiracy to oppress,
6
You profess to believe that "of one blood
rob, and degrade them, neither persons nor
8 And now, at half-p
God made all nations of men to dwell on the
property will be safe.
cockerels crow in
face of all the earth" and hath commanded
Speech on the twenty-fourth anni-
morning is already
all men, everywhere, to love one another
versary of Emancipation in the Dis-
feathered, wakeful t
- yet you notoriously hate (and glory in your
trict of Columbia, Washington,
pates the following
hatred!) all men whose skins are not colored
D.C. [April 1886]
like your own!
Ib.
¹See Sir Humphrey Gil
¹He travels the fastest who travels alone. -KIPLING
ton, 259:12.
[1865-1936], The Winners
James Thomas Fields
²Sauntering, which word
2See Cervantes, 171:1.
idle people who roved abo
1817-1881
³See F. P. Adams, 773:14.
Ages, and asked charity,
⁴This man, this Douglass
superb in love and logic.
15 But his little daughter whispered,
Sainte Terre," to the Hol
- ROBERT HAYDEN [1913-1980], A Ballad of Remem-
As she took his icy hand,
claimed, "There goes a Sain
brance [1962], Frederick Douglass
ing [1862]
⁵See Psalm 93:4, 20:19.
See Du Bois, 724:15.
³No year in Thoreau's da
ORTUNITY
OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNITY
1433
ou may not recall her. She
1
Or lose our ventures.
by you can lay hold on her,
Four things come not back:
SHAKESPEARE, Julius Casar. Act iv, SC. 3, 1. 223.
he hinder part of her head,
The spoken word; The sped arrow;
Urge them while their souls
1 again.
Time past; The neglected opportunity.
Are capable of this ambition,
Bk. i, ch. 37.
OMAR IBN, Sayings.
Lest zeal, now melted by the windy breath
nt by the forward top.
The Gods implore not,
Of soft petitions, pity and remorse,
Plead not, solicit not; they only offer
Cool and congeal again to what it was.
s 02) Well that Ends Well. Act
Choice and occasion, which being once passed
SHAKESPEARE, King John. Act ii, SC. 1, 1. 475.
Return no more.
The time's enemies may not have this
pe even now,
LONGFELLOW, Masque of Pandora: Tower of
To grace occasions.
asion by the hair.
Prometheus on Mount Caucasus.
SHAKESPEARE, King John. Act iv, SC. 2, 1. 61.
i. Act v, SC. 1, 1. 36.
2
9
When fair occasion calls, 'tis fatal to delay.
Hoist up sail while gale doth last
ocks before,
LUCAN, De Bello Civili. Bk. i, 513. (Rowe, tr.)
Tide and wind stay no man's pleasure.
pon his forehead;
3
ROBERT SOUTHWELL, St. Peter's Complaint.
irns no more,
Pluck with quick hand the fruit that quickly
(1595)
talp is naked.
passes. (Quæ fugiunt, celeri carpite poma
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
ve many stays,
manu.)
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.
new delays.
Ovid, Ars Amatoria. Bk. iii, 1. 576.
SHAKESPEARE, Julius Cœsar. Act iv, SC. 3, 1.
Loss in Delay.
See also LIFE AND LIVING; TIME: GATHER YE
218. (1601)
ROSEBUDS.
`ime will not be stayed,
4
Truly there is a tide in the affairs of men,
the forelock take.
To every man there openeth
but there is no gulf-stream setting for ever in
one direction.
moretti. Sonnet lxx. (1595)
A way, and ways, and a way,
J. R. LOWELL, Among My Books: New Eng-
And the high soul climbs the high way,
age, but take time by the
land Two Centuries Ago.
And the low soul gropes the low;
See also TIDE; TIME: ITS FLIGHT.
The Captives. Act iii, SC.
And in between on the misty flats,
The rest drift to and fro;
VI-Opportunity: He That Will Not When
But to every man there openeth
He May
behind hath not one hair.
A high way and a low,
10
ca, iii, 6. (1553)
And every man decideth
Lest, if he will not now do so while he may,
The way his soul shall go.
afterwards, when he at last will, he may not.
y: Now or Never
JOHN OXENHAM, A High Way and a Low.
UNKNOWN, Anglo-Saxon Homily. (c. 950)
5
(SKEAT, Early English Proverbs, vi.)
ich man's life appointed
Oh! who art thou so fast proceeding,
11
S, if then he seize it.
Ne'er glancing back thine eyes of flame?
He who will not when he may, may not when
ETCHER, Custom of the
Mark'd but by few, through earth I'm speed-
he will. (Quia qui non vult cum potest, non
3, 1. 85.
ing,
utique poterit cum volet.)
And Opportunity's my name.
JOHN OF SALISBURY, Policraticus. Bk. viii,
What form is that which scowls beside thee?
century 17. (c. 1150) Referred to as a prov-
ICHER, The Wild Goose
erb. St. Augustine (Opera, xxxviii) has it in
1.
Repentance is the form you see:
somewhat different form: "Corrigant se, qui
Learn then, the fate may yet betide thee:
is hot.
tales sunt, dum vivunt, ne postea velint et
She seizes them who seize not me.
non possint." Which in turn harks back to
he Beaux' Stratagem. Act
THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK, Love and Oppor-
Old Testament: Isaiah, Iv, 6: "Seck ye the
under IRON.
tunity. (Headlong Hall.) An imitation of
Lord while he may be found, call ye upon
:t before it's ripe,
Machiavelli's Capitolo dell' Occasione.
him while he is near."
6
e you'll certainly wipe;
He that will not when he may,
It is a maxim universally agreed upon in agri-
He shall not when he will.
ripe moment go,
culture, that nothing must be done too late;
ROBERT MANNYNG (ROBERT DE BRUNNE),
i the tears of woe.
and again, that everything must be done at its
Handlyng Synne, 1. 4799. (1303)
mic Verses. No. 12.
proper season; while there is a third precept
He that will not when he may,
which reminds us that opportunities lost can
appened once,
When he would he shall have nay.
it forever.
never be regained.
JOHN HEYWOOD, Proverbs. Pt. i, ch. 3. (1546)
outh and Art.
PLINY THE ELDER, Historia Naturalis. Bk.
Quoted twice by Robert Burton, Anatomy
xviii, sec. 44.
of Melancholy, ii, ii, 5; iii, ii, 5.
:'s the hour.
7
You must be not only present in the body, but
He that will not when he may,
When he desires, shall surely purchase nay.
watchful in mind, if you would avail yourself
ROBERT GREENE, Alphonsus. Act v, SC. 3.
e hand,
of the fleeting opportunity. (Non tantum
(1590)
weed and flower,
præsentis, sed vigilantis est occasionem ob-
12
understand,
servare properantem.)
I have known many who could not when they
SENECA, Epistula ad Lucilium. Epis. xxii, 3.
would, for they had not done it when they
This My Life.
8
could.
We must take the current when it serves,
RABELAIS, Works. Bk. iii, ch. 27.
1430
OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNIT
1
10
Occasion is a great matter. Terence says well,
let your hook be hanging; wh
"I came in time, which is the chief thing of
No great man ever complains of want of op-
portunity.
pect it, there will swim a fis!
all." Julius Cæsar understood occasion: Pom-
valet; semper tibi pendeat har
EMERSON, Journals. Vol. v, p. 534.
pey and Hannibal did not.
11
credas gurgite, piscis erit.)
LUTHER, Table-Talk. No. 848.
Fortune once in the course of our life doth
OVID, Ars Amatoria. Bk. iii,
2
Opportunity is a god. (Tòv Kaipòv ¿ons θεóv.)
put into our hands the offer of a good turn.
Know 1 your opportunity. (K
PALLADAS, quoting Menander. (Greek Anthol-
SIR GEOFFREY FENTON, Bandello. Vol. ii, p. 148.
12
PITTACUS. (DIOGENES LAERT
ogy. Bk. x, epig. 52.)
Man's extremity is God's opportunity.
i, sec. 79.) Diogenes Laer
3
0 Opportunity, thy guilt is great!
JOHN FLAVEL, A Faithful and Ancient Account
apothegm belongs to Pit
of Some Late and Wonderful Sea Deliver-
seven wise men of Greec
"Tis thou that execut'st the traitor's treason:
570 B. c. The phrase is sai
Thou set'st the wolf where he the lamb may
ances. (c. 1680) Quoted by Lord Belhaven
scribed on the temple of
in a speech to the Scottish Parliament, 2
get;
Nov., 1706.
Know your opportunity. (Tt
Whoever plots the sin, thou point'st the
13
PITTACUS. (AUSONIUS, Lud
season;
Seek not for fresher founts afar,
tum, 1. 203.)
"Tis thou that spurn'st at right, at law, at
Just drop your bucket where you are.
I am come in time. (Veni in t
reason;
SAM WALTER Foss, Opportunity.
TERENCE, Andria, 1. 758. AL
And in thy shady cell, where none may spy
Let down your buckets where you are.
the equivalent of Pittact
him,
2
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, Address, Atlanta Ex-
Sits Sin, to seize the souls that wander by
position.
Opportunity could not be
him.
14
(Opportunitas non potuit
SHAKESPEARE, The Rape of Lucrece, 1. 876.
Keep thou from the Opportunity, and God
PLAUTUS, Pseudolus, 1. 669.
The opportunity for doing mischief is found a
will keep thee from the Sin.
3
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard, 1744.
A good opportunity is seld
hundred times a day, and of doing good once
in a year. (L'occasion de faire du mal se trouve
15
is easily lost. (Occasio æg
cent fois par jour, et celle de faire du bien une
He who seizes the [right] moment is the right
amittitur.)
fois dans l'année.)
man. (Der den Augenblick ergreift Das ist
PUBLILIUS SYRUS, Sententi
VOLTAIRE, Zadig.
der rechte Mann.)
4
4
GOETHE, Faust. Pt. i, SC. 4, 1. 494.
There's place and means fo
Opportunity is the best captain of all en-
Are you in earnest? seize this very minute.
SHAKESPEARE, All's Well t
deavor. (Kaipòs yáp, ботер dvspáðiv MÉYIOTOS
GOETHE, Faust: Prelude at the Theatre, 1. 303.
iv, SC. 3, 1. 375.
¿prov πavtós 'or' éniorátns.)
John Anster, tr. See p. 2298g:3.
I happen, temporarily, to
16
SOPHOCLES, Electra, 1. 75.
House. I am a living witne
Let us snatch our opportunity from the day,
your children may look to
II-Opportunity: Apothegms
my friends. (Rapiamus, amici, Occasionem de
father's child has.
5
die.)
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Addre
A man must make his opportunity, as oft as
HORACE, Epodes. No. xiii, 1. 3.
22 Aug., 1864.
find it.
17
5
FRANCIS BACON, Advancement of Learning:
We sail, at sunrise, daily, "outward bound."
Nor time nor place Did the
Civil Knowledge. Sec. 3.
HELEN HUNT JACKSON, Outward Bound.
SHAKESPEARE, Macbeth. A
18
A wise man will make more opportunities than
Never the time and the pla
he finds.
To improve the golden moment of opportu-
And the loved one all toget
BACON, Essays: Of Ceremonies and Respects.
nity, and catch the good that is within our
ROBERT BROWNING, Neve
6
reach, is the great art of life.
Place
Opportunity makes a thief.
SAMUEL JOHNSON, Works. Vol. vi, p. 214.
FRANCIS BACON, Letter to the Earl of Essex,
19
I've got the time, I've got tl
1598. The earliest appearance of this axiom in
The career open to talents, that was my prin-
to find the girl.
ciple.
MACDONALD-HENRY. Title
English literature is in a manuscript of un-
lar song. (1910)
known authorship, Hali Meidenhad (Early
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. (O'MEARA, Napoleon in
6
English Text Society, 17), dating from about
Exile.) The same principle which he ex-
The perfect spy o' the
1220: "Man saith that ease maketh thief."
pressed in another phrase, "Every French
on 't.
Opportunity makes a man commit larceny.
soldier carries in his knapsack the baton of a
SHAKESPEARE, Macbeth.
JOHN FLORIO, First Fruites, Fo. 169. (1591)
marshal of France."
7
7
When one door is shut, another opens. (Donde
To the very last, he had a kind of idea; that,
Opportunities are seldom
namely, of la carrière ouverte aux talents-the
JOHN A. SHEDD, Salt Fro
una puerta se cierra, otra se abre.)
tools to him that can handle them.
8
CERVANTES, Don Quixote. Bk. i, ch. 21.
JOHN GIBSON LOCKHART, referring to Na-
An opportunity well taker
8
Small opportunities are often the beginning
poleon. (Article on Sir Walter Scott in Lon-
of advantage.
of great enterprises.
don and Westminster Review, 1838.) Car-
JOHN UDALL, To the Ec
DEMOSTHENES, In Leptinem. Sec. 163.
lyle, in his essay on Mirabeau (1837),
1588.
9
book." quotes the phrase as from "a New England
9
Turning. for them who pa
Observe the opportunity.
20
Of servile opportunity to
Apocrypha: Ecclesiasticus, iv, 20.
Opportunity has power everywhere; always
WORDSWORTH, Memoria
Continent. No. 38.
RTUNITY
OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNITY
1431
complains of want of op-
let your hook be hanging; where you least ex-
III-Opportunity: Its Knock
pect it, there will swim a fish. (Casus ubique
10
Vol. v, p. 534.
valet; semper tibi pendeat hamus: Quo minime
O, once in each man's life, at least,
credas gurgite, piscis erit.)
Good luck knocks at his door;
: course of our life doth
OVID, Ars Amatoria. Bk. iii, 1. 425.
And wit to seize the flitting guest
the offer of a good turn.
1
Need never hunger more.
ON, Bandello. Vol. ii, p. 148.
Know your opportunity. (Kaipòv
But while the loitering idler waits
PITTACUS. (DIOGENES LAERTIUS, Pittacus. Bk.
Good luck beside his fire,
God's opportunity.
i, sec. 79.) Diogenes Laertius says that this
The bold heart storms at fortune's gates,
ithful and Ancient Account
apothegm belongs to Pittacus, one of the
d Wonderful Sea Deliver-
seven wise men of Greece, who died about
And conquers its desire.
Quoted by Lord Belhaven
570 B. C. The phrase is said to have been in-
L. J. BATES, Good Luck.
he Scottish Parliament, 2
scribed on the temple of Apollo at Delphi.
As th' pote says, Opporchunity knocks at ivry
man's dure wanst. On some men's dures it ham-
Know your opportunity. (Tiyvwoke kaipóv.)
mers till it breaks down th' dure an' thin it
PITTACUS. (AUSONIUS, Ludus Septem Sapien-
founts afar,
goes in an' wakes him up if he's asleep, an' iver
tum, 1. 203.)
aftherward it wurruks f'r him as a night-watch-
t where you are.
I am come in time. (Veni in tempore.)
man. On other men's dures it knocks an' runs
Opportunity.
TERENCE, Andria, 1. 758. Ausonius cites this as
away, an' on th' dures iv some men it knocks an'
S where you are.
the equivalent of Pittacus' axiom.
whin they come out it hits thim over th' head
TON, Address, Atlanta Ex-
2
with an axe. But ivrywan has an opporchunity.
Opportunity could not be more opportune.
FINLEY PETER DUNNE, Mr. Carnegie's Gift.
(Opportunitas non potuit opportunius.)
11
Opportunity, and God
PLAUTUS, Pseudolus, 1. 669. (Act ii, SC. 1.)
Master of human destinies am I!
e Sin.
3
Fame, love, and fortune on my footsteps wait.
v, Poor Richard, 1744.
A good opportunity is seldom presented, and
Cities and fields I walk; I penetrate
is easily lost. (Occasio ægre offertur, facile
Deserts and seas remote, and passing by
ght] moment is the right
amittitur.)
Hovel and mart and palace, soon or late
enblick ergreift Das ist
PUBLILIUS SYRUS, Sententia. No. 487.
I knock unbidden once at every gate!
4
i, SC. 4, 1. 494.
There's place and means for every man alive.
If sleeping, wake-if feasting, rise before
ize this very minute.
SHAKESPEARE, All's Well that Ends Well. Act
I turn away. It is the hour of fate,
ude at the Theatre, 1. 303.
iv, SC. 3, 1. 375.
And they who follow me reach every state
p. 2298g:3.
I happen, temporarily, to occupy this White
Mortals desire, and conquer every foe
House. I am a living witness that any one of
Save death; but those who doubt or hesitate,
portunity from the day,
your children may look to come here as my
Condemned to failure, penury and woe,
IS, amici, Occasionem de
father's child has.
Seek me in vain and uselessly implore:
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Address, to Ohio soldiers,
I answer not, and I return no more!
xiii, 1. 3.
22 Aug., 1864.
JOHN JAMES INGALLS, Opportunity. First pub-
5
lished in Truth, New York, Feb., 1891.
ily, "outward bound."
Nor time nor place Did then adhere.
ON, Outward Bound.
SHAKESPEARE, Macbeth. Act i, SC. 7, 1. 51.
With rustling wings, she swept from heaven and
Beside me where I loitered in the way. [stood
Never the time and the place
n moment of opportu-
Her brow was calm, and in her outstretched hand
And the loved one all together.
good that is within our
She bore a gift-a virgin bud that blushed
ROBERT BROWNING, Never the Time and the
of life.
Disparting its green sheath.
She spake no
Place
orks. Vol. vi, p. 214.
word,
I've got the time, I've got the place, but it's hard
But paused a little space and looked at me
ents, that was my prin-
to find the girl.
With silent scorn; then plumed her shining wings
MACDONALD-HENRY. Title and refrain of popu-
In sudden flight, nor ever came again.
(O'MEARA, Napoleon in
lar song. (1910)
JAMES B. KENYON, Opportunity.
6
12
principle which he ex-
The perfect spy o' the time; The moment
They do me wrong who say I come no more
phrase, "Every French
on 't.
When once I knock and fail to find you in;
knapsack the baton of a
SHAKESPEARE, Macbeth. Act iii, SC. 1, 1. 131.
For every day I stand outside your door
7
And bid you wake, and rise to fight and win.
id a kind of idea; that,
Opportunities are seldom labeled.
ouverte aux talents-the
JOHN A. SHEDD, Salt From My Attic, p. 14.
Weep not for precious chances passed away!
andle them.
8
Weep not for golden ages on the wane!
IART, referring to Na-
An opportunity well taken is the only weapon
Each night I burn the records of the day-
Sir Walter Scott in Lon-
of advantage.
At sunrise every soul is born again!
er Review, 1838.) Car-
JOHN UDALL, To the Earl of Essex, 15 May,
WALTER MALONE, Opportunity.
on Mirabeau (1837),
1588.
S from "a New England
9
The actual fact is that in this day Opportunity
Turning. for them who pass, the common dust
not only knocks at your door but is playing an
Of servile opportunity to gold.
anvil chorus on every man's door, and then lays
T everywhere; always
WORDSWORTH, Memorials of a Tour on the
for the owner around the corner with a club.
Continent. No. 38.
ELBERT HUBBARD. (The Philistine.)
1432
OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNIT
when she is past, you may not recall her. She
1
IV-Opportunity: Its Forelock
Four things come not back:
1
hath no tuft whereby you can lay hold on her,
Let nothing pass that will advantage you;
The spoken word; The sped a
for she is bald on the hinder part of her head,
hairy in front, Opportunity is bald behind.
and never returneth again.
Time past; The neglected of
(Rem tibi quam nosces aptam dimittere noli;
OMAR IBN, Sayings.
RABELAIS, Works. Bk. i, ch. 37.
Fronte capillata, post est Occasio calva.)
7
The Gods implore
DIONYSIUS CATO, Disticha de Moribus, ii, 26.
Let's take the instant by the forward top.
Plead not, solicit not; they only
In Roman mythology, Occasio (Occasion, or,
SHAKESPEARE, All's Well that Ends Well. Act
Choice and occasion, which beit
in more idiomatic English, Opportunity)
v, SC. 3, 1. 39. (1602)
Return no more.
was personified as a god or goddess standing
We can escape even now,
LONGFELLOW, Masque of Pa
on a rotating wheel, the feet fitted with
So we take fleet Occasion by the hair.
Prometheus on Mount Ca
winged sandals, the head hairy in front but
SHELLEY, The Cenci. Act v, SC. 1, 1. 36.
2
bald behind. Time (Saturnus) also had a
When fair occasion calls, 'tis
8
character of Opportunity, as distinguished
Time wears all his locks before.
LUCAN, De Bello Civili. Bk. i
from Length of Years, and in this character
3
Take thou hold upon his forehead;
(in Greek Kaipós as distinguished from
Pluck with quick hand the f
Kpóvos) was also represented as hairy in
When he flies, he turns no more,
passes. (Quæ fugiunt, cele
front and bald behind.
And behind his scalp is naked.
manu.)
2
Works adjourned have many stays,
OVID, Ars Amatoria. Bk. iii,
Who lets slip Fortune, her shall never find;
Long demurs breed new delays.
See also LIFE AND LIVING; T
Occasion, once passed by, is bald behind.
ROBERT SOUTHWELL, Loss in Delay.
ROSEBUDS.
ABRAHAM COWLEY, Pyramus and Thisbe. St.
9
4
15. (1663)
Tell her the joyous Time will not be stayed,
To every man there openeth
Occasion
being bald can not easily be got-
Unless she do him by the forelock take.
A way, and ways, and a way,
ten again if she be once let slip.
EDMUND SPENSER, Amoretti. Sonnet lxx. (1595)
And the high soul climbs the
WILLIAM PAINTER, Palace of Pleasure, i, 266.
Lose not this advantage, but take time by the
And the low soul gropes the
(1566)
fore-top.
And in between on the mist
3
THOMAS HEYWOOD, The Captives. Act iii, SC.
The rest drift to and fro;
Zeal and duty are not slow,
3. (1624)
But to every man there open
But on occasion's forelock watchful wait.
10
A high way and a low,
MILTON, Paradise Regained. Bk. iii, 1. 172.
The goddess occasion behind hath not one hair.
And every man decideth
4
UNKNOWN, Respublica, iii, 6. (1553)
Opportunity has hair on her forehead, but is
The way his soul shall go.
bald behind. If you meet her seize her, for
JOHN OXENHAM, A High W
V-Opportunity: Now or Never
5
once let slip, Jove himself cannot bring her
11
Oh! who art thou so fast pro
back. (Occasio prima sui parte comosa, pos-
There is an hour in each man's life appointed
To make his happiness, if then he seize it.
Ne'er glancing back thine ey
teriore calva. Quam si occupasis, teneas elap-
Mark'd but by few, through
sum. Non isse possit Jupiter reprehendere.)
BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER, Custom of the
PHEDRUS, Fables. Bk. v, fab. 8.
Country. Act ii, SC. 3, 1. 85.
ing,
5
12
And Opportunity's my nam
"And who art thou?" "Time who subdueth all
Strike, now or never!
What form is that which SCC
things." "Why dost thou stand on tiptoe?"
BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER, The Wild Goose
Repentance is the form you
"I am ever running." "Why dost thou have a
Chase. Act iv, SC. 1.
Learn then, the fate may ye
pair of wings on thy feet?" "I fly with the
Strike while the iron is hot.
She seizes them who seize I
wind."
"Why does thy hair hang over
GEORGE FARQUHAR, The Beaux' Stratagem. Act
THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK,
thy face?" "For him who meets me to take me
iv, SC. 2. See also under IRON.
tunity. (Headlong Hall.
by the forelock." "And why is the back of thy
13
Machiavelli's Capitolo de
head bald?" "Because none whom I have once
If you trap the moment before it's ripe,
6
The tears of repentance you'll certainly wipe;
It is a maxim universally ag
raced by, though he sorely wishes it, may take
hold of me from behind."
But if once you let the ripe moment go,
culture, that nothing must
You can never wipe off the tears of woe.
and again, that everything r
POSIDIPPUS, On a Statue of Time by Lysippus.
(Greek Anthology. Bk. xvi, epig. 275. The
WILLIAM BLAKE, Gnomic Verses. No. 12.
proper season; while there
Planudean Appendix.) Time, here, it should
14
which reminds us that oppo
be noted, is in his character of Opportunity,
This could but have happened once,
never be regained.
the word used being Katpós.
And we missed it, lost it forever.
PLINY THE ELDER, Histo
"Why hast thou hair upon thy brow?"
ROBERT BROWNING, Youth and Art.
xviii, sec. 44.
"To seize me by, when met."
15
7
Now's the day and now's the hour.
You must be not only prese
"Why is thy head then bald behind?"
"Because men wish in vain,
BURNS, Bannockburn.
watchful in mind, if you W(
When I have run past on wingèd feet
16
of the fleeting opportunit
To catch me e'er again."
Holding occasion by the hand,
præsentis, sed vigilantis es
POSIDIPPUS, On a Statue of Time by Lysippus.
Not over nice 'twixt weed and flower,
servare properantem.)
A metrical version.
Waiving what none can understand,
SENECA, Epistulæ ad Lucili
6
I take mine hour.
8
For occasion hath all her hair on her forehead;
JOHN VANCE CHENEY, This My Life.
We must take the current
PN6081
.57
1967
WHRC
t: THE HOME BOOK
OF
QUOTATIONS
Classical and Modern
SELECTED AND ARRANGED BY
BURTON STEVENSON
Editor The Home Book of Verse
I can tell thee where that saying was born
SHAKESPEARE, Twelftb Night
Acci,sc.5,1.9
TENTH EDITION
DODD, MEAD & COMPANY
NEW YORK
OPINION
OPPORTUNITY
1429
erenced
1
13
have it
I very much suspect that if thinking men
I traversed a dominion
against
would have the courage to think for them-
Whose spokesmen spake out strong
selves, and to speak what they think, it would
Their purpose and opinion
7.
be found they do not differ in
opinions
Through pulpit, press, and song.
as much as is supposed.
I saw, in web unbroken,
IS
THOMAS JEFFERSON, Writings. Vol. xiii, p. 349.
Its history outwrought
ninions,
2
Not as the loud had spoken,
S.
Opinion! which on crutches walks,
But as the mute had thought.
252.
And sounds the words another talks.
THOMAS HARDY, Mute Opinion.
DAVID LLOYD, The Poet, 1. 55.
14
its full
3
Nothing is more unjust or capricious than
My opinion, my conviction, gains infinitely
public opinion.
Money.
in strength and success, the moment a second
WILLIAM HAZLITT, Characteristics. No. 84.
..)
mind has adopted it.
ons love
NOVALIS, Fragment. (Carlyle, tr.)
Public opinion, a vulgar, impertinent, anony-
4
mous tyrant who deliberately makes life un-
h. (Ceux
He adopts the opinion of others like a monk
pleasant for anyone who is not content to be the
plus que
in the Sorbonne. (Il opine du bonnet comme
average man.
un moine en Sorbonne.)
DEAN W. R. INGE, Outspoken Essays: Ser. i,
Our Present Discontents.
PASCAL, Lettres Provinciales. No. 2.
15
5
T change
The pressure of public opinion is like the pres-
I have never yet given a second-hand opinion
sure of the atmosphere; you can't see it-
of any thing, or book, or person.
Abraham
but, all the same, it is sixteen pounds to the
GEORGE SAINTSBURY, Notes on a Cellar-Book,
square inch.
p. X.
6
J. R. LOWELL, in interview with Julian
It is difficult, if not impossible, for most peo-
Hawthorne. (BRANDER MATTHEWS, New
2, 1. 37.
ple to think otherwise than in the fashion of
York Times, 2 April, 1922.)
16
yet broke
their own period.
Public opinion has its natural flux and reflux.
BERNARD SHAW, Saint Joan: Preface.
MACAULAY, Essays: Machiavelli.
is bust in
17
Popular opinions, on subjects not palpable to
VII-Opinion: Public Opinion
sense, are often true, but seldom or never the
on.
See also People: Their Fickleness
whole truth.
er and the
7
JOHN STUART MILL, On Liberty. Ch. 2.
On Lib-
Public opinion is no more than this,
18
What people think that other people think.
To take by armed conquest is spasmodic and
ALFRED AUSTIN, Prince Lucifer. Act vi, SC. 2.
temporary, the conquest of public opinion
8
)pinion
alone is enduring.
Where an opinion is general, it is usually cor-
DORA RUSSELL, Right to Be Happy, p. 112.
use other
rect.
19
JANE AUSTEN, Mansfield Park. Ch. 11.
1 know where there is more wisdom than is
ote-Books,
That is true which all men say.
found in Napoleon, Voltaire, or all the minis-
JOHN RAY, English Proverbs.
ters present and to come-in public opinion.
ecite other
9
(Je connais quelqu'un qui a plus d'esprit que
When the people have no other tyrant, their
Napoléon, que Voltaire, que tous les ministres
ms: Social
own public opinion becomes one.
présents et futurs: c'est l'opinion.)
BULWER-LYTTON, Ernest Maltravers. Bk. vi,
TALLEYRAND, Speech, in French Senate, 1821.
ch. 5.
;inal views,
10
OPPORTUNITY
the actions
The coquetry of public opinion, which has her
I-Opportunity: Definitions
caprices, and must have her way.
20
lf-Reliance.
EDMUND BURKE, Letter to Thomas Burgh,
Opportunity is whoredom's bawd.
everything
Dec., 1779.
WILLIAM CAMDEN, Remains, p. 329. (1605)
11
s, δ₃ aútòs
That bloated vanity called public opinion.
Opportunity is the great bawd.
EMERSON, Miscellanies: War.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard, 1735.
12
Thou strong seducer, Opportunity.
Happy those who are convinced so as to be
DRYDEN, II Conquest of Granada. Act 4, SC. 3.
r opinions.
of the general opinions.
21
nental cus-
LORD HALIFAX, Works, p. 227.
What is opportunity to the man who can't
of our gar-
use it? An unfecundated egg, which the waves
Singularity in the right hath ruined many: happy
orn.
of time wash away into nonenity.
those who are convinced of the general opinion.
Agnostic.
GEORGE ELIOT, Scenes from Clerical Life: Amos
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard, 1757.
Barton.
1430
OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNITY
1
10
Occasion is a great matter. Terence says well,
No great man ever complains of want of op-
"I came in time, which is the chief thing of
portunity.
all." Julius Cæsar understood occasion: Pom-
EMERSON, Journals. Vol. v, p. 534.
pey and Hannibal did not.
11
LUTHER, Table-Talk. No. 848.
Fortune once in the course of our life doth
2
put into our hands the offer of a good turn.
Opportunity is a god. (Tòv Kalpov Eons Beóv.)
SIR GEOFFREY FENTON, Bandello. Vol. ii, p. 148.
PALLADAS, quoting Menander. (Greek Anthol-
12
ogy. Bk. x, epig. 52.)
Man's extremity is God's opportunity.
3
JOHN FLAVEL, A Faithful and Ancient Account
0 Opportunity, thy guilt is great!
of Some Late and Wonderful Sea Deliver-
"Tis thou that execut'st the traitor's treason:
ances. (c. 1680) Quoted by Lord Belhaven
Thou set'st the wolf where he the lamb may
in a speech to the Scottish Parliament, 2
get;
Nov., 1706.
Whoever plots the sin, thou point'st the
13
season;
Seek not for fresher founts afar,
"Tis thou that spurn'st at right, at law, at
Just drop your bucket where you are.
reason;
SAM WALTER Foss, Opportunity.
And in thy shady cell, where none may spy
Let down your buckets where you are.
him,
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, Address, Atlanta Ex-
Sits Sin, to seize the souls that wander by
position.
him.
14
SHAKESPEARE, The Rape of Lucrece, 1. 876.
Keep thou from the Opportunity, and God
The opportunity for doing mischief is found a
will keep thee from the Sin.
hundred times a day, and of doing good once
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard, 1744.
15
in a year. (L'occasion de faire du mal se trouve
cent fois par jour, et celle de faire du bien une
He who seizes the [right] moment is the right
fois dans l'année.)
man. (Der den Augenblick ergreift Das ist
VOLTAIRE, Zadig.
der rechte Mann.)
4
GOETHE, Faust. Pt. i, SC. 4, 1. 494.
Opportunity is the best captain of all en-
Are you in earnest ? seize this very minute.
deavor. (Kaipos yáp, ботер dvopáðiv HÉYLOTOS
GOETHE, Faust: Prelude at the Theatre, 1. 303.
EPYOV πavtós ÈGT' éniorátns.)
John Anster, tr. See p. 2298g:3.
16
SOPHOCLES, Electra, 1. 75.
Let us snatch our opportunity from the day,
II-Opportunity: Apothegms
my friends. (Rapiamus, amici, Occasionem de
6
die.)
A man must make his opportunity, as oft as
HORACE, Epodes. No. xiii, 1. 3.
find it.
17
FRANCIS BACON, Advancement of Learning:
We sail, at sunrise, daily, "outward bound."
Civil Knowledge. Sec. 3.
HELEN HUNT JACKSON, Outward Bound.
18
A wise man will make more opportunities than
To improve the golden moment of opportu-
he finds.
nity, and catch the good that is within our
BACON, Essays: Of Ceremonies and Respects.
6
reach, is the great art of life.
Opportunity makes a thief.
SAMUEL JOHNSON, Works. Vol. vi, p. 214.
19
FRANCIS BACON, Letter to the Earl of Essex,
1598. The earliest appearance of this axiom in
The career open to talents, that was my prin-
English literature is in a manuscript of un-
ciple.
known authorship, Hali Meidenhad (Early
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. (O'MEARA, Napoleon in
English Text Society, 17), dating from about
Exile.) The same principle which he ex-
1220: "Man saith that ease maketh thief."
pressed in another phrase, "Every French
Opportunity makes a man commit larceny.
soldier carries in his knapsack the baton of a
marshal of France."
JOHN FLORIO, First Fruites, Fo. 169. (1591)
7
To the very last, he had a kind of idea; that,
When one door is shut, another opens. (Donde
namely, of la carrière ouverte aux talents-the
una puerta se cierra, otra se abre.)
tools to him that can handle them.
CERVANTES, Don Quixote. Bk. i, ch. 21.
JOHN GIBSON LOCKHART, referring to Na-
8
poleon. (Article on Sir Walter Scott in Lon-
Small opportunities are often the beginning
don and Westminster Review, 1838.) Car-
of great enterprises.
lyle, in his essay on Mirabeau (1837),
DEMOSTHENES, In Leptinem. Sec. 163.
quotes the phrase as from "a New England
9
book."
Observe the opportunity.
20
Apocrypha: Ecclesiasticus, iv, 20.
Opportunity has power everywhere; always
JNITY
OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNITY
1431
plains of want of op-
let your hook be hanging; where you least ex-
III-Opportunity: Its Knock
pect it, there will swim a fish. (Casus ubique
10
1. v, p. 534.
valet; semper tibi pendeat hamus: Quo minime
0, once in each man's life, at least,
credas gurgite, piscis erit.)
Good luck knocks at his door;
urse of our life doth
OVID, Ars Amatoria. Bk. iii, 1. 425.
And wit to seize the flitting guest
offer of a good turn.
1
Need never hunger more.
Bandello. Vol. ii, p. 148.
Know your opportunity. (Kalpòv yours)
But while the loitering idler waits
PITTACUS. (DIOGENES LAERTIUS, Pittacus. Bk.
Good luck beside his fire,
S opportunity.
i, sec. 79.) Diogenes Laertius says that this
I and Ancient Account
The bold heart storms at fortune's gates,
apothegm belongs to Pittacus, one of the
onderful Sea Deliver-
seven wise men of Greece, who died about
And conquers its desire.
ed by Lord Belhaven
570 B. C. The phrase is said to have been in-
L. J. BATES, Good Luck.
cottish Parliament, 2
scribed on the temple of Apollo at Delphi.
As th' pote says, Opporchunity knocks at ivry
Know your opportunity. (Tiyvwoke kaipóv.)
man's dure wanst. On some men's dures it ham-
PITTACUS. (AUSONIUS, Ludus Septem Sapien-
mers till it breaks down th' dure an' thin it
its afar,
tum, 1. 203.)
goes in an' wakes him up if he's asleep, an' iver
ere you are.
aftherward it wurruks f'r him as a night-watch-
ortunity.
I am come in time. (Veni in tempore.)
man. On other men's dures it knocks an' runs
TERENCE, Andria, 1. 758. Ausonius cites this as
away, an' on th' dures iv some men it knocks an'
ere you are.
the equivalent of Pittacus' axiom.
whin they come out it hits thim over th' head
Address, Atlanta Ex-
2
with an axe. But ivrywan has an opporchunity.
Opportunity could not be more opportune.
FINLEY PETER DUNNE, Mr. Carnegie's Gift.
(Opportunitas non potuit opportunius.)
11
portunity, and God
PLAUTUS, Pseudolus, 1. 669. (Act ii, SC. 1.)
Master of human destinies am I!
1.
3
Fame, love, and fortune on my footsteps wait.
or Richard, 1744.
A good opportunity is seldom presented, and
Cities and fields I walk; I penetrate
is easily lost. (Occasio ægre offertur, facile
Deserts and seas remote, and passing by
moment is the right
amittitur.)
ck ergreift Das ist
Hovel and mart and palace, soon or late
PUBLILIUS SYRUS, Sententiæ. No. 487.
I knock unbidden once at every gate!
4
4, 1. 494.
There's place and means for every man alive.
If sleeping, wake-if feasting, rise before
S very minute.
SHAKESPEARE, All's Well that Ends Well. Act
I turn away. It is the hour of fate,
t the Theatre, 1. 303.
iv, SC. 3, 1. 375.
And they who follow me reach every state
2298g:3.
I happen, temporarily, to occupy this White
Mortals desire, and conquer every foe
House. I am a living witness that any one of
Save death; but those who doubt or hesitate,
nity from the day,
ici, Occasionem de
your children may look to come here as my
Condemned to failure, penury and woe,
father's child has.
Seek me in vain and uselessly implore:
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Address, to Ohio soldiers,
I. 3.
I answer not, and I return no more!
22 Aug., 1864.
JOHN JAMES INGALLS, Opportunity. First pub-
5
outward bound."
lished in Truth, New York, Feb., 1891.
Nor time nor place Did then adhere.
utward Bound.
SHAKESPEARE, Macbeth. Act i, SC. 7, 1. 51.
With rustling wings, she swept from heaven and
Beside me where I loitered in the way. [stood
ment of opportu-
Never the time and the place
Her brow was calm, and in her outstretched hand
that is within our
And the loved one all together.
ROBERT BROWNING, Never the Time and the
She bore a gift-a virgin bud that blushed
Place
Disparting its green sheath
She spake no
Vol. vi, p. 214.
word,
I've got the time, I've got the place, but it's hard
But paused a little space and looked at me
that was my prin-
to find the girl.
With silent scorn; then plumed her shining wings
MACDONALD-HENRY. Title and refrain of popu-
In sudden flight, nor ever came again.
IEARA, Napoleon in
lar song. (1910)
JAMES B. KENYON, Opportunity.
ple which he ex-
6
12
ie, "Every French
The perfect spy o' the time; The moment
They do me wrong who say I come no more
sack the baton of a
on 't.
When once I knock and fail to find you in;
SHAKESPEARE, Macbeth. Act iii, SC. 1, 1. 131.
For every day I stand outside your door
7
ind of idea; that,
Opportunities are seldom labeled.
And bid you wake, and rise to fight and win.
aux talents-the
JOHN A. SHEDD, Salt From My Attic, p. 14.
Weep not for precious chances passed away!
them.
8
Weep not for golden ages on the wane!
referring to Na-
An opportunity well taken is the only weapon
Each night I burn the records of the day-
Iter Scott in Lon-
of advantage.
At sunrise every soul is born again!
view, 1838.) Car-
JOHN UDALL, To the Earl of Essex, 15 May,
Mirabeau (1837),
WALTER MALONE, Opportunity.
1588.
"a New England
9
The actual fact is that in this day Opportunity
Turning. for them who pass, the common dust
not only knocks at your door but is playing an
Of servile opportunity to gold.
anvil chorus on every man's door, and then lays
ywhere; always
WORDSWORTH, Memorials of a Tour on the
for the owner around the corner with a club.
Continent. No. 38.
ELBERT HUBBARD. (The Philistine.)
1432
OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNITY
1
IV-Opportunity: Its Forelock
when she is past, you may not recall her. She
Four
1
hath no tuft whereby you can lay hold on her,
The
Let nothing pass that will advantage you;
for she is bald on the hinder part of her head,
Tim
hairy in front, Opportunity is bald behind.
and never returneth again.
O:
(Rem tibi quam nosces aptam dimittere noli;
RABELAIS, Works. Bk. i, ch. 37.
Fronte capillata, post est Occasio calva.)
7
DIONYSIUS CATO, Disticha de Moribus, ii, 26.
Let's take the instant by the forward top.
Plea
SHAKESPEARE, All's Well that Ends Well. Act
Cho
In Roman mythology, Occasio (Occasion, or,
v, SC. 3, 1. 39. (1602)
Reti
in more idiomatic English, Opportunity)
L
was personified as a god or goddess standing
We can escape even now,
on a rotating wheel, the feet fitted with
So we take fleet Occasion by the hair.
2
winged sandals, the head hairy in front but
SHELLEY, The Cenci. Act v, SC. 1, 1. 36.
Wh
bald behind. Time (Saturnus) also had a
8
L
character of Opportunity, as distinguished
Time wears all his locks before,
3
from Length of Years, and in this character
Take thou hold upon his forehead;
Plu
(in Greek Kaipós as distinguished from
When he flies, he turns no more,
Kpóvos) was also represented as hairy in
pas
And behind his scalp is naked.
front and bald behind.
mai
2
Works adjourned have many stays,
C
Who lets slip Fortune, her shall never find;
Long demurs breed new delays.
See
Occasion, once passed by, is bald behind.
ROBERT SOUTHWELL, Loss in Delay.
Ro:
9
ABRAHAM COWLEY, Pyramus and Thisbe. St.
4
15. (1663)
Tell her the joyous Time will not be stayed,
To
Unless she do him by the forelock take.
A
Occasion
being bald can not easily be got-
EDMUND SPENSER, Amoretti. Sonnet lxx. (1595)
An
ten again if she be once let slip.
WILLIAM PAINTER, Palace of Pleasure, i, 266.
Lose not this advantage, but take time by the
An
(1566)
fore-top.
An
3
THOMAS HEYWOOD, The Captives. Act iii, SC.
Th
Zeal and duty are not slow,
3. (1624)
Bu
But on occasion's forelock watchful wait.
10
A1
MILTON, Paradise Regained. Bk. iii, 1. 172.
The goddess occasion behind hath not one hair.
An
4
UNKNOWN, Respublica, iii, 6. (1553)
Th
Opportunity has hair on her forehead, but is
bald behind. If you meet her seize her, for
V-Opportunity: Now or Never
5
once let slip, Jove himself cannot bring her
11
OF
back. (Occasio prima sui parte comosa, pos-
There is an hour in each man's life appointed
No
teriore calva. Quam si occupasis, teneas elap-
To make his happiness, if then he seize it.
M
sum. Non isse possit Jupiter reprehendere.)
BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER, Custom of the
PHEDRUS, Fables. Bk. v, fab. 8.
Country. Act ii, SC. 3, 1. 85.
12
Ai
5
"And who art thou?" "Time who subdueth all
Strike, now or never!
W
things." "Why dost thou stand on tiptoe?"
BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER, The Wild Goose
R
"I am ever running." "Why dost thou have a
Chase. Act iv, SC. 1.
L
pair of wings on thy feet?" "I fly with the
Strike while the iron is hot.
SI
wind."
"Why does thy hair hang over
GEORGE FARQUHAR, The Beaux' Stratagem. Act
thy face?" "For him who meets me to take me
iv, SC. 2. See also under IRON.
by the forelock." "And why is the back of thy
13
If you trap the moment before it's ripe,
6
head bald?" "Because none whom 1 have once
raced by, though he sorely wishes it, may take
The tears of repentance you'll certainly wipe;
It
But if once you let the ripe moment go,
C'
hold of me from behind."
POSIDIPPUS, On a Statue of Time by Lysippus.
You can never wipe off the tears of woe.
a
WILLIAM BLAKE, Gnomic Verses. No. 12.
p
(Greek Anthology. Bk. xvi, epig. 275. The
Planudean Appendix.) Time, here, it should
14
W
be noted, is in his character of Opportunity,
This could but have happened once,
the word used being Kaipós.
And we missed it, lost it forever.
"Why hast thou hair upon thy brow?"
ROBERT BROWNING, Youth and Art.
15
7
"To seize me by, when met."
"Why is thy head then bald behind?"
Now's the day and now's the hour.
BURNS, Bannockburn.
V
"Because men wish in vain,
When I have run past on wingèd feet
16
0
To catch me e'er again."
Holding occasion by the hand,
F
POSIDIPPUS, On a Statue of Time by Lysippus.
Not over nice 'twixt weed and flower,
S
A metrical version.
Waiving what none can understand,
6
I take mine hour.
8
For occasion hath all her hair on her forehead;
JOHN VANCE CHENEY, This My Life.
TY
OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNITY
1433
ot recall her. She
1
Or lose our ventures.
n lay hold on her,
Four things come not back:
SHAKESPEARE, Julius Casar. Act iv, SC. 3, 1. 223.
part of her head,
The spoken word; The sped arrow;
Urge them while their souls
Time past; The neglected opportunity.
Are capable of this ambition,
37.
OMAR IBN, Sayings.
Lest zeal, now melted by the windy breath
The Gods implore not,
Of soft petitions, pity and remorse,
forward top.
Plead not, solicit not; they only offer
Cool and congeal again to what it was.
it Ends Well. Act
Choice and occasion, which being once passed
SHAKESPEARE, King John. Act ii, SC. 1, 1. 475.
Return no more.
The time's enemies may not have this
now,
LONGFELLOW, Masque of Pandora: Tower of
To grace occasions.
the hair.
Prometheus on Mount Caucasus.
SHAKESPEARE, King John. Act iv, SC. 2, 1. 61.
SC. 1, 1. 36.
2
9
When fair occasion calls, 'tis fatal to delay.
Hoist up sail while gale doth last
ore,
LUCAN, De Bello Civili. Bk. i, 513. (Rowe, tr.)
Tide and wind stay no man's pleasure.
orehead;
3
ROBERT SOUTHWELL, St. Peter's Complaint.
Pluck with quick hand the fruit that quickly
hore,
(1595)
ked.
passes. (Quæ fugiunt, celeri carpite poma
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
stays,
manu.)
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.
OVID, Ars Amatoria. Bk. iii, I. 576.
lays.
SHAKESPEARE, Julius Casar. Act iv, SC. 3, 1.
See also LIFE AND LIVING; TIME: GATHER YE
Delay.
218. (1601)
ROSEBUDS.
Truly there is a tide in the affairs of men,
4
not be stayed,
To every man there openeth
but there is no gulf-stream setting for ever in
telock take.
one direction.
A way. and ways, and a way,
Sonnet lxx. (1595)
J. R. LOWELL, Among My Books: New Eng-
And the high soul climbs the high way,
land Two Centuries Ago.
take time by the
And the low soul gropes the low;
See also TIDE; TIME: ITS FLIGHT.
And in between on the misty flats,
ptives. Act iii, SC.
The rest drift to and fro;
VI-Opportunity: He That Will Not When
But to every man there openeth
He May
ath not one hair.
A high way and a low,
10
(1553)
And every man decideth
Lest, if he will not now do so while he may,
The way his soul shall go.
afterwards, when he at last will, he may not.
or Never
JOHN OXENHAM, A High Way and a Low.
UNKNOWN, Anglo-Saxon Homily. (c. 950)
5
(SKEAT, Early English Proverbs, vi.)
i's life appointed
Oh! who art thou so fast proceeding,
11
Ne'er glancing back thine eyes of flame?
He who will not when he may, may not when
en he seize it.
Custom of the
Mark'd but by few, through earth I'm speed-
he will. (Quia qui non vult cum potest, non
5.
ing,
utique poterit cum volet.)
And Opportunity's my name.
JOHN OF SALISBURY, Policraticus. Bk. viii,
What form is that which scowls beside thee?
century 17. (c. 1150) Referred to as a prov-
erb. St. Augustine (Opera, xxxviii) has it in
The Wild Goose
Repentance is the form you see:
somewhat different form: "Corrigant se, qui
Learn then, the fate may yet betide thee:
tales sunt, dum vivunt, ne postea velint et
She seizes them who seize not me.
non possint." Which in turn harks back to
r' Stratagem. Act
THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK, Love and Oppor-
Old Testament: Isaiah, lv, 6: "Seek ye the
:ON.
tunity. (Headlong Hall.) An imitation of
Lord while he may be found, call ye upon
Machiavelli's Capitolo dell' Occasione.
him while he is near."
e it's ripe,
6
He that will not when he may,
certainly wipe;
It is a maxim universally agreed upon in agri-
He shall not when he will.
oment go,
culture, that nothing must be done too late;
ROBERT MANNYNG (ROBERT DE BRUNNE),
ars of woe.
and again, that everything must be done at its
Handlyng Synne, 1. 4799. (1303)
rses. No. 12.
proper season; while there is a third precept
He that will not when he may,
which reminds us that opportunities lost can
When he would he shall have nay.
d once,
never be regained.
JOHN HEYWOOD, Proverbs. Pt. i, ch. 3. (1546)
ver.
PLINY THE ELDER, Historia Naturalis. Bk.
Quoted twice by Robert Burton, Anatomy
d Art.
xviii, sec. 44.
of Melancholy, ii, ii, 5; iii, ii, 5.
7
He that will not when he may,
hour.
You must be not only present in the body, but
When he desires, shall surely purchase nay.
watchful in mind, if you would avail yourself
ROBERT GREENE, Alphonsus. Act v, SC. 3.
of the fleeting opportunity. (Non tantum
(1590)
præsentis, sed vigilantis est occasionem ob-
12
nd flower,
servare properantem.)
I have known many who could not when they
stand,
SENECA, Epistula ad Lucilium. Epis. xxii, 3.
would, for they had not done it when they
8
could.
fy Life.
We must take the current when it serves,
RABELAIS, Works. Bk. iii, ch. 27.
Heyt, John K
"HOYT'S
New Cyclopedia
OF
Practical Quotations
DRAWN FROM THE SPEECH AND LITERATURE
OF ALL NATIONS, ANCIENT AND MODERN,
CLASSIC AND POPULAR, IN ENGLISH AND
FOREIGN TEXT. WITH THE NAMES, DATES,
AND NATIONALITY OF QUOTED AUTHORS, AND
COPIOUS INDEXES
COMPILED
BY
KATE LOUISE ROBERTS
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
NEW YORK
570
OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNITY
1
13
Opinion's but a fool, that makes us scan
Who lets slip fortune, her shall never find:
The outward habit by the inward man.
Occasion once past by, is bald behind.
Pericles. Act II. Sc. 2. L. 56.
COWLEY-Pyramus and Thisbe. XV.
2
(See also PHEDRUS)
Facts are stubborn things.
14
SMOLLETT. Trans. of Gil Blas. Bk. X. Ch. I.
Rem tibi quam nosces aptam dimittere noli;
ELLIOT-Essay on Field Husbandry. P. 35.
Fronte capillata, post est occasio calva.
(See also BURNS)
Let nothing pass which will advantage you;
3
Hairy in front, Occasion's bald behind.
"That was excellently observed," say I when
DIONYSIUS CATO-Disticha de Moribus. IL
I read a passage in another where his opinion
26.
(See also PHEDRUS)
agrees with mine. When we differ, then I pro-
15
nounce him to be mistaken.
Observe the opportunity.
Swirt-Thoughts on Various Subjects.
Ecclesiasticus. IV. 20.
(See also LA ROCHEFOUCAULD)
16
4
Seek not for fresher founts afar,
Je connais quelqu'un qui a plus d'esprit que
Just drop your bucket where you are;
Napoléon, que Voltaire, que tous les ministres
And while the ship right onward leaps,
présents et futurs: c'est l'opinion.
Uplift it from exhaustless deeps.
I know where there is more wisdom than is
Parch not your life with dry despair;
found in Napoleon, Voltaire, or all the minis-
The stream of hope flows everywhere-
ters present and to come-in public opinion.
So under every sky and star,
TALLEYRAND-In the Chamber of Peers. (1821)
Just drop your bucket where you are!
5
SAM WALTER Foss-Opportunity.
Quot homines, tot sententix; suus cuique mos.
17
So many men, SO many opinions; everyone
"Oh, ship ahoy!" rang out the cry;
has his own fancy.
"Oh, give us water or we die!"
TERENCE-Phormio. II. 3, 14. Same idea in
A voice came o'er the waters far,
GASCOIGNE-Glass of Government.
"Just drop your bucket where you are."
(See also QUEEN ELIZABETH)
And then they dipped and drank their fill
6
Of water fresh from mead and hill;
Matters of fact, as Mr. Budgell somewhere
And then they knew they sailed upon
observes, are very stubborn things.
The broad mouth of the Amazon.
In copy of the Will of MATTHEW TINDAL.
SAM WALTER Foss-Opportunity. "Let down
P. 23. (1733)
your buckets where you are," quoted by
(See also BURNS)
Booker T. Washington. Address at Atlanta
Exposition. See his Life, Up From Slavery.
OPPORTUNITY
18
7
Der den Augenblick ergreift,
A thousand years a poor man watched
Das ist der rechte Mann.
Before the gate of Paradise:
Yet he who grasps the moment's gift,
But while one little nap he snatched,
He is the proper man.
It oped and shut. Ah! was he wise?
GOETHE-Faust. I. 4. 494.
WM. R. ALGER-Oriental Foetry. Swift Oppor-
19
tunity.
Man's extremity is God's opportunity.
8
JOHN HAMILTON (Lord Belhaven). In the
There is an hour in each man's life appointed
Scottish Parliament, Nov. 2, 1706, protesting
To make his happiness, if then he seize it.
against the Union of England and Scotland.
BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER-Custom of the
Also found in JOHN FLAVEL'S Faithful and
Country. Act II. Sc. 3. L. 85.
Ancient Account of Some Late and Wonderful
9
Sea Deliverances. Pub. before 1691.
This could but have happened once,
20
And we missed it, lost it forever.
I beseech you not to blame me if I be desirous
ROBERT BROWNING-Youth and Art. XVII.
to strike while the iron is hot.
10
SIR EDWARD HoBy—To Cecil. Oct. 14, 1587.
He that will not when he may,
When he will he shall have nay.
21
Rapiamus, amici,
BURTON-Quoted in Anatomy of Melancholy.
Occasionem de die.
Pt. III. Sec. 2. Memb. 5. Subsec. 5.
Let us seize, friends, our opportunity from
11
the day as it passes.
There is a nick in Fortune's restless wheel
HORACE-Epodon. XIII. 3.
For each man's good.
22
CHAPMAN-Bussy 'Ambois.
The actual fact is that in this day Opportunity
(See also JULIUS CESAR)
not only knocks at your door but is playing an
12
anvil chorus on every man's door, and then lays
Holding occasion by the hand,
for the owner around the corner with a club.
Not over nice 'twixt weed and flower,
The world is in sore need of men who can do
Waiving what none can understand,
things. Indeed, cases can easily be recalled by
I take mine hour.
every one where Opportunity actually smashed
JOHN VANCE CHENEY-This My Life.
in the door and collared her candidate and
OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNITY
571
dragged him forth to success. These cases are
10
lip fortune, her shall never find:
exceptional, usually you have to meet Oppor-
Occasio prima sui parte comosa, posteriore calva
nce past by, is bald behind.
tunity half-way. But the only place where you
Quam si occupasis, teneas elapsum
-Pyramus and Thisbe. XV.
can get away from Opportunity is to lie down
Non isse possit Jupiter reprehendre.
(See also PHEDRUS)
and die. Opportunity does not trouble dead men,
Opportunity has hair on her forehead, but
or dead ones who flatter themselves that they
is bald behind. If you meet her seize her, for
uam nosces aptam dimittere noli;
are alive.
once let slip, Jove himself cannot catch her
illata, post est occasio calva.
ELBERT HUBBARD. In The Philistine.
again.
ing pass which will advantage you;
1
PHEDRUS. Bk. V. Fable 8. Same idea in
front, Occasion's bald behind.
I knock unbidden once at every gate-
LUCAN-Pharsalia. Bk. I. L. 513. Also in
JS CATO-Disticha de Moribus. II
If sleeping. wake-if feasting, rise before
RABELAIS-Gargantua. Bk. I. Ch. 37.
(See also PHEDRUS)
I turn away-it is the hour of fate,
(See also COWLEY, DIONYSIUS, MILTON,
And they who follow me reach every state
POSIDIPPUS, TASSO)
) opportunity.
Mortals desire, and conquer every foe
11
icus. IV. 20.
Save death, but those who doubt or hesitate,
Why hast thou hair upon thy brow?
Condemned to failure, penury and woe,
To seize me by, when met.
r fresher founts afar,
Seek me in vain and uselessly implore,
Why is thy head then bald behind?
our bucket where you are;
I answer not, and I return no more.
Because men wish in vain,
he ship right onward leaps,
JOHN J. INGALLS-Opportunity.
When I have run past on wingèd feet
m exhaustless deeps.
(See also HUBBARD, MALONE)
To catch me e'er again.
our life with dry despair;
2
Posidippus-Epigram 13. In BRUNCK'S ed.
of hope flows everywhere-
They do me wrong who say I come no more,
of Anthologia. Vol. II. P. 49. Imitated by
ery sky and star,
When once I knock and fail to find you in;
AUSONIUS-Epigram 12.
our bucket where you are!
For every day I stand outside your door
(See also PHEDRUS)
TER Foss-Opportunity.
And bid you wait, and rise to fight and win.
12
JUDGE WALTER MALONE-Opportunity.
There's place and means for every man alive.
(See also INGALLS)
All's Well That Ends Well. Act IV. Sc. 3. L.
oy!" rang out the cry;
; water or we die!"
3
375.
e o'er the waters far,
Not by appointment do we meet delight
13
our bucket where you are."
Or joy; they heed not our expectancy;
Who seeks, and will not take when once 'tis
ey dipped and drank their fill
But round some corner of the streets of life
offer'd,
sh from mead and hill;
They of a sudden greet us with a smile.
Shall never find it more.
cy knew they sailed upon
GERALD MASSEY-Bridegroom of Beauty.
Antony and Cleopatra. Act II. Sc. 7. L. 89.
outh of the Amazon.
4
14
ER Foss-Opportunity. "Let down
Danger will wink on opportunity.
A staff is quickly found to beat a dog.
ickets where you are," quoted by
MILTON-Comus. L. 401.
Henry VI. Pt. II. Act III. Sc. 1. L. 471.
T. Washington. Address at Atlanta
15
on. See his Life, Up From Slavery.
5
Zeal and duty are not slow
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
But on occasion's forelock watchful wait.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
enblick ergreift,
MILTON-Paradise Regained. Bk. III. L. 172.
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
echte Mann.
(See also PHEDRUS)
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
) grasps the moment's gift,
6
Julius Casar. Act IV. Sc. 3. L. 218.
Nostra sine auxilio fugiunt bona. Carpite
(See also CHAPMAN)
proper man.
Faust. I. 4. 494.
florem.
Our advantages fly away without aid. Pluck
18
Urge them while their souls
ity is God's opportunity.
the flower.
Are capable of this ambition,
[ILTON (Lord Belhaven). In the
OviD-Ars Amatoria. III. 79.
Lest zeal, now melted by the windy breath
Parliament, Nov. 2, 1706, protesting
7
Of soft petitions, pity and remorse,
he Union of England and Scotland.
Casus ubique valet; semper tibi pendeat hamus.
Cool and congeal again to what it was.
nd in JOHN FLAVEL'S Faithful and
Quo minime credas gurgite, piscis erit.
King John. Act II. Sc. 2. L. 475.
Account of Some Late and Wonderful
Opportunity is ever worth expecting; let
17
crances. Pub. before 1691.
your hook be ever hanging ready. The fish
O opportunity, thy guilt is great!
will be in the pool where you least imagine it
"Tis thou that executest the traitor's treason;
ou not to blame me if I be desirous
to be.
Thou set'st the wolf where he the lamb may get;
the iron is hot.
OvID-Ars Amatoria. Bk. III. 425.
Whoever plots the sin, thou 'point'st the season;
) HoBy—To Cecil. Oct. 14, 1587.
8
"Tis thou that spurn'st at right, at law, at
Oh! Who art thou SO fast proceeding,
reason.
amus, amici,
Ne'er glancing back thine eyes of flame?
The Rape of Lucrece. L. 876.
e die.
Mark but by few, through earth I'm speeding,
18
ize, friends, our opportunity from
And Opportunity's my name.
Occasio ægre offertur, facile amittitur.
t passes.
What form is that which scowls beside thee?
A good opportunity is seldom presented,
podon. XIII. 3.
Repentance is the form you see:
and is easily lost.
Learn then, the fate may yet betide thee.
SYRUS-Mavims.
act is that in this day Opportunity
She seizes them who seize not me.
19
is at your door but is playing an
THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK-Love and Opportu-
Deliberando sæpe perit occasio.
1 every man's door, and then lays
nity, in Headlong Hall. Imitated from
The opportunity is often lost by deliberating.
around the corner with a club.
MACHIAVELLI'S Capitolo dell' Occasione.
Syrus-Maxims.
in sore need of men who can de
20
1, cases can easily be recalled by
He that would not when he might,
Crespe hà le chiome e d'oro,
re Opportunity actually smashed
lb shall not when he wolda.
E in quella guisa appunto,
and collared her candidate and
Tros. PERCY-Reliques. The Baffled Knight.
Che Fortuna si pinge
PN6081
P7
WHRC
ASURY
For Speakers, Writers,
OROUS
and Home Reference
ATIONS
OCHNOW and
HERBERT V. PROCHNOW, Jr.
V, PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK, EVANSTON, AND LONDON
1817
OPPORTUNITY-OPTIMISM
245
OPERATION-OPINION
4368 Every man has a perfect right to his opinion, provided it agrees
with a foreign title: expensive to
with ours. Josh Billings
therefore a supreme social challenge.
4369 There are two kinds of fools: those who can't change their opinions
and those who won't. Ibid.
just about as sensible as baseball in
4370 Opinion surveys: people who don't matter reporting on opinions
that do matter. John A. Lincoln
OPERATION
eration, arrange your temporal af-
OPPORTUNITY
'e Gourmont
4371 Opportunity: a favorable occasion for grasping a disappointment.
OPINION
Ambrose Bierce
I all think alike; it is difference of
4372 The trouble with opportunity is that it always comes disguised as
Mark Twain
hard work. Herbert V. Prochnow
it the top of one's voice. Ambrose
4373 Never miss an opportunity to make others happy even if you
have to leave them alone to do it. Anonymous
facts combined with prejudice and
OPTIMISM
f impertinence in England if a man
4374 Optimism: the noble temptation to see too much in everything.
G. K. Chesterton
and a year has any opinions at all
y Smith
4375 Every cloud has its silver lining, but it is sometimes a little difficult
I was sixty," said the old Turk,
to get it to the mint. Don Marquis
been in our family for a century."
4376 Being optimistic after you've got everything you want don't count.
Frank McKinney Hubbard
versaries are insane. Mark Twain
4377 Optimism is the state of mind which believes matrimony will be
hybody. French Proverb
cheaper than the engagement. Anonymous
1 as a man in the state of nature
4378 Optimism: the doctrine or belief that everything is beautiful, in-
his own-and if he is a man of
cluding what is ugly. Ambrose Bierce
r than give it up. Laurence Sterne
4379 Pessimism, when you get used to it, is just as agreeable as optimism.
Arnold Bennett
buys its meat, or takes in its milk,
er to do this than to keep a cow.
4380 I hate the Pollyanna pest
tely to be watered. Samuel Butler
Who says that All Is for the Best. Franklin P. Adams
like the pressure of the atmosphere;
4381 A pessimist is a man who thinks all women are bad. An optimist
tame, it is sixteen pounds to the
is one who hopes they are. Chauncey Depew
ell
4382 "Whinever I read in a sermon." said Mr. Dooley, "that th' wurruld
resolutions in favor of vegetarian-
is goin' to pot, that th' foundations iv government is threatened,
lifferent opinion. William R. Inge
that th' whole fabric iv civilised s'ciety is in danger, that humanity
h the learned, if they speak first.
is on th' down grade, and morality is blinkin', that men 're becomin'
dhrunkards, an' women gamblers, an' that th' future iv the race is
destruction, I can always console mesilf with wan thought."
inion I have of myself, and how
"What's that?" asked Mr. Hennessey.
"It ain't so," said Mr. Dooley. Finley Peter Dunne
th in their opinions of us than we
4383 The vague optimism of Tennyson's "Oh, yet we trust that somehow
François de La Rochefoucauld
good shall be the final goal of ill!" Oh, that sloppy somehow! as
: of mind than to have no opinions
Matthew Arnold remarked. Irene C. Willis
4384 What passes for optimism is most often the effect of an intellectual
just wears whatever happens to be
error. Raymond Aron
404
OPINIONS
massage, and a trip to the beauty
7 It is folly of too many to mistake
sometimes also a matter of
1 It takes all St
salon.
the echo of a London coffee-house
opportunity.
Proverb
Eugenia Sheppard (20th century) New York
for the voice of the kingdom.
Hippocrates (c. 460 BC-c. 377 BC) Greek
Herald-Tribune, 24 Feb 1958
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) Irish-born
physician. Precepts, I
2 The poet and
Anglican priest and writer. The Conduct of the
distinct,
15 The operation wasn't bad. I quite
Allies
13 Opportunities are usually disguised
Diverse, she
as hard work, so most people don't
enjoyed the trip up from my room
The one pou
8 So many men, so many opinions.
to the operating parlors, as a
recognise them.
world,
closely confined person does enjoy
Terence (Publius Terentius Afer; C. 190-159
Ann Landers (1918- ) US journalist. Attrib.
The other Vt
BC) Roman poet. Phormio
any sort of outing. The morphine
John Keats (17
14 One can present people with
had loosened my tongue, and while
Fall of Hyperion,
9 I agree with no man's opinion. I
opportunities. One cannot make
we waited in the corridor for the
have some of my own.
them equal to them.
3 Oh, East is
surgeon to arrive, the orderly and I
Ivan Turgenev (1818-83) Russian novelist.
Rosamond Lehmann (1901- ) British novel-
West, and n
let down our hair and had a good
Fathers and Sons, Ch. 13
ist. The Ballad and the Source
meet.
chat about fishing tackle.
E. B. White (1899- ) US journalist and hu-
10 It is just when opinions universally
Rudyard Kipli
15 There is no security in this life.
British writer.
morous writer. The Second Tree from the Cor-
prevail and we have added lip
There is only opportunity.
ner, 'A Weekend with the Angels'
service to their authority that we
become sometimes most keenly
Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) US general.
4 The sublime
MacArthur, His Rendezvous with History
often so nea
16 Ah well, I suppose I shall have to
conscious that we do not believe a
(Courtney Whitney)
difficult to c
die beyond my means.
word that we are saying.
One step ab
Oscar Wilde (1856-1900) Irish-born British
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) British novelist.
16 Equality of opportunity means equal
the ridiculou
writer and wit. On being told the cost of an
The Common Reader
opportunity to be unequal.
the ridiculou
operation.
Iain Macleod (1913-70) British politician.
again.
OPPORTUNITY
Way Of Life John Boyd Carpenter)
Thomas Pain
OPINIONS
See also present
17 Grab a chance and you won't be
The Age of Rea
See also ideas
sorry for a might have been.
5 Roses. have
1 All's grist that comes to the mill.
Arthur Ransome (1884-1967) British novelist.
fountains m
1 A man's opinion on tramcars
Proverb
We didn't mean to go to Sea
Clouds and
matters; his opinion on Botticelli
matters; his opinion on all things
2 Every dog has his day.
18 There is a tide in the affairs of men
and sun,
does not matter.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to
And loathsc
Proverb
sweetest bt
G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) British writer.
fortune;
3 Hoist your sail when the wind is
Heretics
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
All men ma
fair.
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
William Shak
2 Science is the father of knowledge,
Proverb
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
dramatist. Son
but opinion breeds ignorance.
4 Make hay while the sun shines.
And we must take the current when
OP
Hippocrates (c. 460 BC-c. 377 BC) Greek
Proverb
it serves,
physician. The Canon Law, IV
Or lose our ventures.
See also goven
5 Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English
3 They that approve a private
Proverb
dramatist. Julius Caesar, IV:3
1 It has beer
opinion, call it opinion; but they that
invented th
mislike it, heresy: and yet heresy
6 Opportunity seldom knocks twice.
19 Why, then the world's mine oyster,
signifies no more than private
Proverb
Which I with sword will open.
Opposition'
opinion.
William Shakespeare The Merry Wives of
Walter Bage
7 Strike while the iron is hot.
and journalist.
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) English philoso-
Windsor, II:2
Constitution,
pher. Leviathan, Pt. I, Ch. 11
Proverb
20 A man who never missed an
4 The superiority of one man's
8 Whenever you fall, pick up
occasion to let slip an opportunity.
2 The duty (
opinion over another's is never so
something.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish
oppose.
Oswald Theodore Avery (1877-1955) Cana-
Lord Randol
great as when the opinion is about
dramatist and critic. Referring to Lord
dian bacteriologist. Attrib.
Rosebery. Attrib.
Conservative
a woman.
(W. S. Church
Henry James (1843-1916) US novelist. The
9 A wise man will make more
21 I missed the chance of a lifetime,
Tragic Muse, Ch. 9
opportunities than he finds.
3 When I in
too. Fifty lovelies in the rude and
5 "Tis with our judgments as our
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) English philoso-
I'd left my Bunsen burner home.
Majesty's
pher. Essays, 'Of Ceremonies and Respects'
complimen
watches, none
Dylan Thomas (1914-53) Welsh poet. Por-
10 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for
trait of the Artist as a Young Dog. 'One Warm
John Cam H
Go just alike, yet each believes his
itician. Speal
Saturday'
own.
thou shalt find it after many days.
of a Long Life
Alexander Pope (1688-1744) British poet.
Bible: Ecclesiastes 11:1
22 Never miss a chance to have sex or
4 One fifth (
An Essay on Criticism
appear on television.
11 Let him now speak, or else
everything
6 The average man's opinions are
Gore Vidal (1925- ) US novelist. Attrib.
hereafter for ever hold his peace.
Robert Ken
much less foolish than they would
The Book of Common Prayer Solemniza-
The Observer,
be if he thought for himself.
OPPOSITES
1964
tion of Matrimony
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) British philoso-
12 Healing is a matter of time, but it is
See also conflict, difference, doublethink
5
I hav
pher. Autobiography
OPTIMISM
405
1 It takes all sorts to make a world.
life in opposition and I rather like
3 It's an ill wind that blows nobody
Proverb
the role.
any good.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) US writer
Proverb
2 The poet and the dreamer are
and lecturer. Letter to Bernard Baruch, 18 Nov
distinct,
1952
4 It will all come right in the wash.
Diverse, sheer opposite, antipodes.
Proverb
The one pours out a balm upon the
6 The tragedy of the Police State is
world,
that it always regards all opposition
5 Look on the bright side.
The other vexes it.
as a crime, and there are no
Proverb
John Keats (1795-1821) British poet. The
degrees.
Fall of Hyperion, I
Lord Vansittart (1881-1957) British politician.
6 No news is good news.
Speech, House of Lords, June 1947
Proverb
3 Oh, East is East, and West is
West, and never the twain shall
OPPRESSION
7 Nothing so bad but it might have
meet.
been worse.
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) Indian-born
See also imprisonment, indoctrination, power poli-
Proverb
British writer. The Ballad of East and West
tics, slavery, tyranny
8 The darkest hour is just before the
4 The sublime and the ridiculous are
1 When Israel was in Egypt land,
dawn.
often so nearly related that it is
Let my people go,
Proverb
of
difficult to class them separately.
One step above the sublime makes
Oppressed so hard they could not
stand,
9 Tomorrow is another day.
the ridiculous; and one step above
Proverb
the ridiculous makes the sublime
Let my people go.
again.
Go down, Moses,
10 When one door shuts, another
Thomas Paine (1737-1809) British writer.
Way-down in Egypt land,
opens.
The Age of Reason, Pt. 2
Tell old Pharaoh
Proverb
5 Roses have thorns, and silver
To let my people go.
Anonymous Negro spiritual
11 While there's life there's hope.
fountains mud;
Proverb
Clouds and eclipses stain both moon
2 Christ in this country would quite
and sun,
And loathsome canker lives in
likely have been arrested under the
12 Are we downhearted? No!
Suppression of Communism Act.
Anonymous A favorite expression of the Brit-
sweetest bud.
Joost de Blank (1908-68) Dutch-born British
ish soldiers during World War I. Attrib.
All men make faults.
churchman. Referring to South Africa. The
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English
Observer, 'Sayings of the Week', 27 Oct 1963
13 What's the use of worrying?
dramatist. Sonnets, 35
It never was worth while,
3 The enemies of Freedom do not
So, pack up your troubles in your old
OPPOSITION
argue; they shout and they shoot.
kit-bag,
Dean Inge (1860-1954) British churchman.
And smile, smile, smile.
See also government, politics
The End of an Age, Ch. 4
George Asaf (George H. Powell; 1880-1951)
US songwriter. Pack up Your Troubles in
1 It has been said that England
4 If you want a picture of the future,
Your Old Kit-bag
invented the phrase, 'Her Majesty's
imagine a boot stamping on a
Opposition'.
human face - for ever.
14 Let other pens dwell on guilt and
Walter Bagehot (1826-77) British economist
George Orwell (Eric Blair; 1903-50) British
misery.
and journalist. See HOBHOUSE. The English
novelist. Nineteen Eighty-Four
Jane Austen (1775-1817) British novelist.
Constitution, "The Monarchy'
Mansfield Park, Ch. 48
2 The duty of an opposition is to
5 In the first days of the revolt you
must kill: to shoot down a
15 A Scout smiles and whistles under
oppose.
European is to kill two birds with
all circumstances.
Lord Randolph Churchill (1849-95) British
Robert Baden-Powell (1857-1941) - British
Conservative politician. Lord Randolph Churchill
one stone, to destroy an oppressor
(W. S. Churchill)
and the man he oppresses at the
soldier and founder of the Boy Scouts. Scouting
for Boys
same time: there remain a dead
3 When I invented the phrase 'His
man, and a free man.
16 Future, n. That period of time in
Majesty's Opposition' he paid me a
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-80) French writer.
which our affairs prosper, our
compliment on the fortunate hit.
The Wretched of the Earth (F. Fanon), Preface
friends are true and our happiness
John Cam Hobhouse (1786-1869) British pol-
is assured.
itician. Speaking about Canning. Recollections
OPTIMISM
of a Long Life, II, Ch. 12
Ambrose Bierce (1842-?1914) US writer and
journalist. The Devil's Dictionary
4 One fifth of the people are against
See also hope
everything all the time.
17 My sun sets to rise again.
Robert Kennedy (1925-68) US politician.
1 After a storm comes a calm.
Robert Browning (1812-89) British poet. At
The Observer, 'Sayings of the Week', 10 May
Proverb
the 'Mermaid'
1964
2 Every cloud has a silver lining.
18 No, at noonday in the bustle of
5
I have spent many years of my
Proverb
man's worktime
6
Don't
the id
In Am
God \
on the
America
The 0
semi-1
enligh
Ours is a country deliberately founded on a good idea.
John Gunther
Amer
I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.
Thomas Jefferson
Whei
America is a mistake, a giant mistake.
Sigmund Freud
We Il
Americans: People who laugh at
African witch doctors and
spend 100 million dollars on fake reducing systems.
The
Leonard Louis Levinson
walk
the terrible newly imported American doctrine that everyone
ought to do something.
Ther
Osbert Sitwell
ity, t
are ri
The great advantage of the American is that he has arrived at a state
of democracy without having to endure a democratic revolution
and that he is born free without having to become so.
Ame
Alexis de Tocqueville
wags
It was wonderful to find America, but it would have been more
wonderful to miss it.
Mark Twain
a
A.
You are right in your impression that a number of persons are
urging me to come to the United States. But why on earth do you
call them my friends?
Ame
George Bernard Shaw
AMERICA
7
Don't get the idea that I'm one of those goddamn radicals. Don't get
the idea that I'm knocking the American system.
Al Capone
In America, an hour is forty minutes.
German saying
God will save the good American, and seat him as His right hand
on the Golden Throne.
Theodore Dreiser
The organization of American society is an interlocking system of
semi-monopolies notoriously venal, an electorate notoriously un-
enlightened, misled by mass media notoriously phony.
Paul Goodman
ther
America means opportunity, freedom, power.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
rson
When you are actually in America, America hurts.
D. H. Lawrence
reud
We must be the great arsenal of democracy.
; and
Franklin D. Roosevelt
The American people never carry an umbrella. They prepare to
nson
walk in eternal sunshine.
Alfred E. Smith
ryone
There are those, I know, who will say that the liberation of human-
twell
ity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a dream. They
are right. It is the American dream.
L state
Archibald MacLeish
ution
eville
America is a large, friendly dog in a very small room. Everytime it
wags its tail, it knocks over a chair.
Arnold Toynbee
more
[wain
Q. If you find so much that is unworthy of reverence in the
United States, then why do you live here?
A. Why do men go to zoos?
ns are
H.L. Mencken
0 you
L Shaw
America is the only nation in history which miraculously has gone
8
AMERICA
directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval
of civilization.
Georges Clemenceau
How prophetic L'Enfant was when he laid out Washington as a city
that goes around in circles!
John Mason Brown
We must stop talking about the American dream and start listening
to the dreams of Americans.
Reubin Askew
I don't see much future for the Americans. Everything about the
behavior of America reveals that it's half judaized and the other
half negrified. How can one expect a state like that to hold together?
Adolf Hitler
The at
indivio
The ai
Gover
chy ar
Anarc
mana{
State S
446
447
651. Opposition
:, many opinions; for opinion in
tre of gravity on one side, it must go a like
3. Opporchunity knocks at ivry man's
but knowledge in the making.
distance on the other; and it is only after a
dure wanst. On some men's dures it ham-
opagitica (1644).
certain time that it finds the sure point at
mers till it breaks down th' dure an' thin it
opinion is of force enough to
which it can remain at rest. SCHOPEN-
goes in an' wakes him up if he's asleep, an'
be espoused at the expense of
HAUER, "Further Psychological Observa-
iver aftherward it wurruks f'r him as a
GNE, "That the relish of good
tions," Parerga and Paralipomena (1851), tr.
night-watchman. FINLEY PETER DUNNE,
ends in a great measure upon
T. Bailey Saunders.
"Mr. Carnegie's Gift," Mr. Dooley's Opin-
we have of them," Essays
31. If a man would register all his opin-
ions (1901).
Charles Cotton and W. C. Haz-
ions upon love, politics, religion, learning,
4. Remember that you ought to behave
etc., beginning from his youth, and so go to
in life as you would at a banquet. As some-
n is a powerful party, bold, and
old age, what a bundle of inconsistencies
thing is being passed around, it comes to
sure. MONTAIGNE, "That the
and contradictions would appear at last!
you; stretch out your hand, take a portion of
1 and evil depends in a great
JONATHAN SWIFT, Thoughts on Various
it politely. It passes on; do not detain it. Or it
in the opinion we have of
Subjects (1711).
has not come to you yet; do not project your
S (1580-88), tr. Charles Cotton
32. Men,seldom take the opinion of their
desire to meet it, but wait until it comes in
zlitt.
equal, or of a man like themselves, upon
front of you. EPICTETUS, Enchiridion (2nd
inions are less important than
trust. ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE, Democracy
c.), 15, tr. Thomas W. Higginson.
temper with which they pos-
in America (1835-39), 2.3.21.
5. In great affairs we ought to apply
even good opinions are worth
33. It were not best that we should all
ourselves less to creating chances than to
less we hold them in a broad;
think alike; it is difference of opinion that
profiting from those that offer. LA ROCHE-
nd spacious way. JOHN MOR-
makes horse-races. MARK TWAIN, "Pudd'n-
FOUCAULD, Maxims (1665), tr. Kenneth
pierre," Critical Miscellanies
head Wilson's Calendar," Pudd'nhead Wil-
Pratt.
son (1894), 19.
6. There is no security on this earth;
ften contradicts an opinion
34. Opinion is called the queen of the
there is only opportunity. DOUGLAS MAC-
ally only the tone in which it
world; it is so, for when reason opposes it, it
ARTHUR, quoted in MacArthur: His Rendez-
sented that is unsympathetic.
is condemned to death. It must rise twenty
vous with History (1955) by Courtney Whit-
Human, All Too Human (1878),
times from its ashes to gradually drive away
ney.
Portable Nietzsche, tr. Walter
the usurper. VOLTAIRE, "Opinion," Philo-
7. Know thine opportunity. PITTACUS
sophical Dictionary (1764).
(7th-6th c. B.C.), quoted in Diogenes Laer-
fer to learn than teach; and
35. The chief effect of talk on any subject
tius' Lives and Opinions of Eminent
; his opinion has nothing to
is to'strengthen one's own opinions, and, in
Philosophers (3rd c. A.D.), tr. R. D. Hicks.
ILLIAM PENN, Some Fruits of
fact, one never knows exactly what he does
8. While we stop to think, we often miss
3), 2.1.18.
believe until he is warmed into conviction
our opportunity. PUBLILIUS SYRUS, Moral
is one forever absolute, but
by the heat of attack and defence. CHARLES
Sayings (ist c. B.C.), 185, tr. Darius Lyman.
th filtered through the moods,
DUDLEY WARNER, "Sixth Study," Backlog
9. The opportunity that God sends does
e disposition of the spectator.
Studies (1873).
not wake up him who is asleep. SENEGA-
[ILLIPS, lecture, "Idols," Bos-
36. It is only about things that do not in-
LESE PROVERB.
359.
terest one that one can give a really
10. There is a tide in the affairs of men /
g to have an opinion is a way
unbiased opinion, which is no doubt the
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to for-
; isn't it? LUIGI PIRANDELLO,
reason why an unbiased opinion is always
tune; / Omitted, all the voyage of their life /
Own Way (1924), 1, tr. Arthur
absolutely valueless. OSCAR WILDE, "The
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
Critic as Artist," Intentions (1891).
SHAKESPEARE, Julius Caesar (1599-1600),
ervations which ourselves we
4.3.218.
grow more partial for th'
ce. ALEXANDER POPE, Moral
650. OPPORTUNITY
OPPOSITES
35), 1.11.
See also 711. Potential
See 184. Contrast
n by opinion, begin by tram-
der your feet. ROUSSEAU,
1. A wise man will make more opportuni-
3.
ties than he finds. FRANCIS BACON, "Of
651. OPPOSITION
ntiments of an adult are com-
Ceremonies and Respects," Essays (1625).
See also 250. Discord; 256. Dissent;
kernal of instinct surrounded
2. A door that seems to stand open must
747. Protest; 779. Rebellion;
of education. BERTRAND RUS-
be of a man's size, or it is not the door that
813. Revolution; 1024. Violence
il Essays (1928).
Providence means for him. HENRY WARD
1 is like a pendulum and
BEECHER, Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit
1. Many a man's strength is in opposition,
le law. If it goes past the cen-
(1887).
and when that faileth, he groweth out of
338 SPORT
SUCCESS 339
Trying to get a fast ball past Hank Aaron is like trying to get the sun past
a rooster.
Curt Simmons
Success
Golf is a good walk spoiled.
Mark Twain
If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours
to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected
Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.
in common hours.
Henry David Thoreau
Thomas Jefferson
The world belongs to the enthusiast who keeps cool.
William McFee
Hockey captures the essence of the Canadian experience in the New World.
In a land so inescapably and inhospitably cold, hockey is the dance of life,
Out of every fruition of success, no matter what, comes forth something to
and an affirmation that despite the deathly chill of winter we are alive.
make a new effort necessary.
Walt Whitman
Bruce Kidd
Though a tree grow ever so high, the falling leaves return to the root.
The game isn't over until it's over.
Yogi Berra
Malay proverb
The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong - - but that's
Success is that old A B C - ability, breaks and courage.
the way to bet.
Damon Runyan
Charles Luckman
A sportsman is a man who, every now and then, simply has to get out and
How can they say my life isn't a success? Have I not for more than sixty
kill something. Not that he's cruel. He wouldn't hurt a fly. It's not big
years got enough to eat and escaped being eaten?
enough.
Stephen Leacock
Logan Pearsall Smith
Sport begets tumultuous strife and wrath, and wrath begets fierce quarrels
You always pass failure on the way to success.
Mickey Rooney
and war to the death.
Horace
Of course there is no formula for success except perhaps, an unconditional
Citius, altius, fortius. (Swifter, higher, stronger).
acceptance of life and what it brings.
Artur Rubinstein
Motto of the Olympic Games
High station in life is earned by the gallantry with which appalling experiences
Well, God is certainly getting an earful tonight.
are survived with grace.
Tennessee Williams
Jim Murray, sports columnist, on the death of Casey Stengel
Everything bows to success, even grammar.
Victor Hugo
Going to bed with a woman never hurt a ball player. It's staying up all night
looking for them that does you in.
Casey Stengel
Never having been able to succeed in the world, he took his revenge by speak-
ing ill of it.
Voltaire
Knute Rockne liked 'bad losers.' He said 'good losers' lose too often.
George Allen
The successful people are the ones who think up things for the rest of the
world to keep busy at.
Don Marquis
Ninety per cent of this game is half-mental.
Yogi Berra
It is no use saying 'we are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing
what is necessary.
Winston Churchill
Survival is triumph enough.
Harry Crews
It takes time to be a success, but time is all it takes.
Anon.
340 SUCCESS
SUCCESS 341
There is a passion for perfection which you will rarely see fully developed;
Behind every successful man there's a lot of unsuccessful years.
but you may note this fact, that in successful lives it is never wholly lack-
Bob Brown
ing.
Bliss Carman
If people knew what they had to do to be successful, most people wouldn't.
Nothing fails like success; nothing is so defeated as yesterday's triumphant
Lord Thomson of Fleet
cause.
Phyllis McGinley
The secret of all victory lies in the organization of the non-obvious.
The toughest thing about success is that you've got to keep on being a success.
Oswald Spengler
Irving Berlin
Snowflakes are one of nature's most fragile things, but just look what they
Nothing fails like success because we don't learn from it. We learn only from
can do when they stick together.
Vesta M. Kelly
failure.
Kenneth Boulding
Damon Runyon. A day-coach boy in a parlor car seat. Damon Runyon
Get place and wealth, if possible with grace;
If not, by any means get wealth and place.
Alexander Pope
There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way.
Christopher Morley
Success is not so much what you are, but rather what you appear to be.
Anon.
I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula
for failure, which is - try to please everybody. Herbert Bayard Swope
Tact and Diplomacy
Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.
If a person has no delicacy, he has you in his power.
William Hazlitt
Henry Ford
Tact is the intelligence of the heart.
Anon.
A successful man is he who receives a great deal from his fellow men, usual-
ly incomparably more than corresponds to his service to them. The value
Silence is not always tact, and it is tact that is golden, not silence.
of a man, however, should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is
Samuel Butler
able to receive.
Albert Einstein
Diplomats are useful only in fair weather. As soon as it rains, they drown
Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself
in every drop.
Charles de Gaulle
on fire.
Reggie Leach
A distinguished diplomat could hold his tongue in ten languages. Anon.
Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.
Earl Nightingale
Negotiation in the classic diplomatic sense assumes parties more anxious to
agree than to disagree.
Dean Acheson
Success has made failures of many men.
Cindy Adams
Diplomacy; the art of saying 'nice doggie' till you can find a rock.
A great secret of success is to go through life as a man who never gets used
Wynn Catlin
up.
Albert Schweitzer
If any pilgrim monk come from distant parts, with wish as a guest to dwell
Success is a science. If you have the conditions, you get the result.
in the monastery, and will be content with the customs which he finds in
Oscar Wilde
the place, and does not perchance by his lavishness disturb the monastery,
but is simply content with what he finds, he shall be received for as long
Failure changes for the better, success for the worse.
Seneca
as he desires. If, indeed, he find fault with anything, or expose it, reasonably,
The Washington Post
DATE: 9/13/91
PAGE:
IA
Thomas Frustrates Efforts to Elicit His Views
in earlier years criticizing attempts ing universities that receive federal
to press nominees about their views aid also prohibits discrimination.
By Ruth Marcus
on particular issues.
Washington Post Staff Writer
At Yale, he said, "We were not
"I kind of resent the implication talking about two people competing
Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats be-
made several times that you are for one job. We were talking about an
came increasingly frustrated yesterday trying
selectively answering only those educational institution that was very
to draw out the views of Supreme Court nom-
questions that suit your political subjective in its selection process."
inee Clarence Thomas, with committee chair-
agenda," said Sen. Orrin G. Hatch On the issue of what Democrats
man Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) telling the
(R-Utah). I think the burden is complained was his willingness to
nominee that he was engaging in "sophistry"
on those who would condition your discuss some legal doctrines but not
and calling another answer "the most unartful
confirmation on answering ques- abortion, Kennedy questioned
dodge I have heard."
tions about abortion to tell the Thomas about his comments Wed-
But as Thomas testified for a third day be-
American people why you are being nesday and yesterday morning say-
fore the committee, whether his nomination
treated any differently from Judge ing he had "no quarrel" and "no per-
was in jeopardy remained far from clear. Sen.
Souter." He said that Thomas had sonal disagreement" with the cur-
Howell T. Heflin (D-Ala.), a swing vote on the
been asked about abortion more rent three-part test the court has
committee, told PBS yesterday that "from
than 70 times, while Souter was used to analyze separation of
what I hear among my colleagues" in the Sen-
asked about it 36 times.
church and state issues.
Responding to that charge, Sen.
Several justices have criticized
ate
as
a
whole
I would say that if a vote
Howard M. Metzenbaum (D-Ohio), that test, and the court has agreed
were taken today in the Senate, he would prob-
said the difference was that Thom- to consider abandoning it in a
ably be confirmed."
as had "spoken out quite extensive- Rhode Island school graduation
In a long day of testimony that was at times ly in this area," as well as "a greater prayer case to be argued Nov. 6.
testy but often soporific, Thomas sparred with sense of alarm as to the direction in
Biden, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and which the court seems to be mov-
"If you are confirmed as a justice,
Sen. Herbert H. Kohl (D-Wis.) over whether he ing" on abortion.
you will be sitting on that case this
was being adequately forthcoming.
fall yet you did not hesitate yester-
Kennedy pressed Thomas on
Thomas, though, remained unflappable, pa- what he suggested were two incon-
day and today to tell us that you
tiently and politely declining to answer ques- sistencies. He asked how Thomas
have no personal disagreement"
tions he said would compromise his impartial- could
reconcile
his
with the church-state test, Kennedy
opposition
to
a
ity. A veteran of congressional hearings, 1986 Supreme Court ruling uphold-
told Thomas. "My question is: Do
Thomas staked out his legal ground and gen- ing an affirmative action program
you have any personal disagree-
erally refused to budge. He took full advantage with Thomas's own benefit from an
ment with the test used by the
of friendly questions lobbed at him from the affirmative action program at Yale
court in Roe v. Wade to decide the
Republicans on the committee.
Law School. And he contrasted
cases on abortion."
Although no Democrat has said he will vote
Thomas's willingness to discuss his
Thomas answered by saying he
against Thomas, some were clearly irritated at
position on a pending Supreme
did not disagree generally with the
Court case with his refusal to com-
strict test the court uses to judge
the strategy, a reprise of that successfully em-
ment on the abortion issue.
infringements on rights it deems
ployed last year by Justice David H. Souter.
"This is getting more like a debate than it is
On the affirmative action issue,
"fundamental." But he continued to
Kennedy quizzed Thomas about his
assert that "it would be inappropriate
getting information," Biden said toward the end
comments criticizing the court's
for me to sit here as a judge and say I
of a lengthy session on natural law and the
1987 ruling in Johnson v. Transpor-
think that should be used in a case
right to privacy.
tation Agency of Santa Clara County.
that could come before the court."
Kohl challenged Thomas's repeated asser-
In that case, the county-which
At his hearing last year, Souter
tions
that
positions
he
took
as
an
administra-
had
never
hired
a
woman
for
policymaker
and
advocate
should
any
of
was equally evasive on the abortion
tion
not
be
the
238
skilled
positions
in
its
issue and offered a similar state-
counted
against
him
in
his
role
as
a
judge,
in
which Thomas said he had sought to shed him- ed transportation a woman from department-select- among seven em-
ment about his views on the proper
church-state test, an issue on which
self of opinions.
ployees judged qualified for road
the justices are closely divided.
"Why is it inappropriate for us to make an dispatcher. A male applicant who
Biden expressed his frustration in
evaluation of your candidacy based upon all the scored two points higher on an in-
an exchange on the nominee's
things that you have written and said, partic- terview sued, claiming that he had views of natural law.
ularly in view of the fact that you been discriminated against on the Biden asked Thomas about a
have been on the court for only 16 basis of his sex. The Supreme Court 1988 speech before a conservative
months?" Kohl asked. Is it fair rejected his claim, ruling 6 to 3 that group in which he assailed the
for you to say to us, for the most the federal job discrimination stat- court's 7 to 1 ruling upholding the
part, Members of the panel, just ute allowed the county to seek to constitutionality of the independent
view me on what I am saying here diversify its work force.
counsel law against a claim that it
this week, don't view me on what Thomas, in a 1987 speech to the violated the constitutional mandate
has been written about me, about
Cato Institute, said he hoped Justice of separation of powers.
my speeches, about the things I
Antonin Scalia's dissenting opinion
In
the
speech,
Thomas
said
have said.'
would help "provide guidance for Scalia's "remarkable dissent" in that
Thomas, describing himself as a lower courts and a possible majority case "indicates how again we might
person "who did not hide, who did
in future decisions."
relate natural rights to democratic
not sneak away from the problems,"
Kennedy asked Thomas whether self-government and thus protect
told Kohl his record was "relevant," that position contradicted his own the regime of individual rights."
but emphasized that now, "I am a acceptance at Yale Law School un- Biden, quoting that and other
member of the judiciary, and I think der a program in which, as Thomas passages, said, "Now, I don't know
it is a fair question from me to you told the committee Tuesday, the any other way to read this passage
to see whether or not my policy law school had "opened its doors, its than to conclude that you believe
judge." positions have tainted my role as a heart, its conscience to recruit and that natural law and natural rights
admit minority students."
Committee Republicans came to
should help judges decide constitu-
Thomas's
defense,
"Wasn't the county just opening tional decisions."
saying
he
had
its
doors
to
been as forthcoming as possible be qualified?" Kennedy asked. "Why any Thomas speech replied: said that "I we have should not ad- in
a
woman
whom
it
felt
to
with the committee without com- isn't it the same?"
promising his impartiality. They Thomas said he saw similarities to natural law."
judicate cases by directly appealing
complained that Thomas was being between the two situations but that
pressed harder than nominee Sou- the problem in the Supreme Court a little bit of sophistry here," Biden
"It seems like we are engaged in
ter a year ago, particularly on the case was that the federal statute said.
abortion question, and quoted pas- explicitly prohibits discrimination in
PAGE 3 OF 48
sages from committee Democrats any form. The federal law govern-
-CONTO
-CONTO.
Biden's "unartful dodge" comment fusing answer. "I think that IS con-
The Washington Post
came as he sought to prod Thomas sistent with what I said, and I think
to state that the fundamental consti- that is consistent with what the
DATE: 9/13/91
tutional right to privacy extends to court held in Eisenstadt v. Baird," a
PAGE:
All
single individuals, as well as married 1972 case striking down restric-
couples. That point, on which the tions on the distribution of con-
court has never directly ruled, is traceptives to single people.
highly controversial in some conser- But as Thomas pointed out ear-
vative circles because it was part of lier in the exchange, the court-al-
the doctrinal development that led to though it discussed the right of pri-
the Roe abortion ruling.
vacy in the case-ruled that the law
After minutes of pushing and at issue violated the equal protec-
pulling, Biden tried again: "As I un- tion guarantee because it discrim-
derstand it now, you told me inated between married and unmar-
that the privacy right of an individ- ried people, leaving a decision on
ual on procreation is fundamental." the underlying privacy issue for an-
Thomas offered a somewhat con- other day.
Nominee's Responses Presage
Conventional, Unpredictable Justice
By Fred Barbash
He will not forget, he said later, that once courts, it is a departure from Bush admin-
Washington Post Staff Writer
upon a time "you could be picked up and put istration thinking.
Despite the frustration of Democrats un-
on the chain gang for just standing on the
Thomas's views on how to interpret the
corner."
able to pin down Clarence Thomas on the
Constitution, as stated in the hearings, are
subject of abortion, the Supreme Court
There have been some other telling mo- utterly conventional and could have come
nominee has said enough on a range of oth-
ments, hints that Thomas is not necessarily out of the mouth of any number of middle-
er subjects to suggest that he would be a
a conservative party-liner. When asked of-the-bench appointees over the last 25
conventional but unpredictable Supreme
about the legitimacy of "victim impact" years: You "start with the text"; "look to our
Court justice, with no consistent agenda.
statements in trials, he expressed concern history and our tradition," and to prece-
In some areas, he could well become a
about the impact on the defendant. Queried dents; "Our notions of what liberty means
judge who could give conservatives-as
about conservatives' plans to limit access to evolves with the country, it moves with our
the courts, he worried about whether that history and our tradition."
well as liberals-a headache. He has en-
might "squeeze out" of the system "individ- While Thomas has refused to talk about
dorsed, for example, "heightened scrutiny"
uals who most need the access.
"
of laws that discriminate be-
abortion, those who worry about whether
NEWS
All of this assumes he ultimately prac- he might vote to overturn Roe v. Wade
tween the sexes, an approach
ANALYSIS
invented by Justice William J.
tices what he says, an assumption that can- might take some heart from his attitude
Brennan Jr. and adopted by the Supreme
not safely be made with any Supreme Court toward what he called this "very serious
nominee. Virtually all of them-from Earl matter."
Court in the 1970s to eliminate countless
Warren to Antonin Scalia and David H. Sou-
You would have to be of the view
barriers against women.
ter-have endorsed the conventional wis- that a case is incorrectly decided, but I
He has "no quarrel" with the Supreme
dom and claimed to have "no agenda." Many think even that is not adequate. There are
Court's traditional methodology for deter-
of them-including the three above-later some cases that you may not agree with
mining when church and state become ex-
have sprung some surprises which, since that should not be overruled
Stare
cessively entangled, a methodology crafted
they serve for life, they never are called decisis provides continuity to our system. It
in the Warren Court era that stood in the
upon to explain.
provides predictability."
way of prayer in the public schools, state aid
And none of this means Thomas would
to parochial schools and creches on public
rule in any particular way on any particular
property, among other things.
case. While the method of analysis is critical
On Tuesday, the first day of his confir-
in the law, the sensibility brought to the
mation testimony before the Senate Judi-
method produces the results. But many of
ciary Committee, he expressed "concern"
the views he has expressed run contrary to
over a recent Rehnquist Court ruling heavi-
conservative ideology and some of the ap-
ly criticized by liberals for making it too
proaches he has endorsed are under active
easy for states to interfere with the practice
attack by conservative judges and justices.
of religion.
Is Thomas a "closet liberal," as Sen. How-
And on issues of "law and order," this
ell T. Heflin (D-Ala.) put it yesterday in a
nominee, thought to be "tough" on defen-
PBS interview, noting that some were be-
dants, has let his heart bleed openly and
ginning to raise that question. Probably not.
often.
He is more likely caught in the middle. He
"You know," Thomas said yesterday, "in
has come off in the hearings as someone
my current court, I have occasion to look
still very much in search of an overall judi-
out the window that faces C Street, and
cial identity.
there are converted buses that bring in the
He said clearly that he does not like civil
criminal defendants to our criminal justice
rights remedies that discriminate. He be-
system, busload after busload. And you look
lieves it is illegal to promote a woman over
out, and you say to yourself, and I say to
a
more
qualified
man.
But
he
also
said
he
myself almost every day, 'but for the grace
favors stronger deterrents to discrimination
could of God have there go I.' So you feel that you than those now available, such as monetary
had the same fate as those
damages. While that is a subject likely to be
individuals.'
resolved in Congress, rather than in the
PAGE
OF
The New York Times
THOMAS UNDERGOES
from witnesses supporting and oppos-
ing the nomination next week.
Senator Biden, a Delaware Demo-
DATE:
9/13/91
crat, sought today to explore again the
HARSH QUESTIONING
significance of Judge Thomas's earlier
PAGE:
1A
writings favoring the use of natural
law, the philosophical principle that
some fundamental human rights tran-
Thomas was in trouble," he said. He
ON JUDICIAL VIEWS
scend any written law.
said anyone should be able to under-
Judge Thomas has tried to dispel any
stand that someone sitting for a long
notions that his interest in natural law
time at a table and drinking water
meant that he would use his personal
would need to take a respite.
moral code to supersede the Constitu-
Senator Herb Kohl, Democrat of Wis-
NOMINEE's TOUGHEST DAY
tion. "I have not in any speech said that
consin, in the morning session, ques-
we should adjudicate cases by appeal-
tioned Judge Thomas about the intense
ing to natural law," he said.
preparation he had undergone for the
Republicans on Senate Panel
But Senator Biden challenged him,
committee hearings. He asked Judge
arguing that Judge Thomas had spoken
Thomas if he had been coached to
Mount Sharp Counterattack
of natural law in some of his speeches
soften an answer, or to respond that it
as a tool in deciding cases. He noted
would be inappropriate to answer cer-
- Democrats Stymied
how Judge Thomas had once praised a
tain questions.
dissent written by Justice Antonin Sca-
Judge Thomas replied, "Senator, the
lia that employed natural law to argue
answer to that is unequivocally no."
against the constitutionality of a spe-
In answer to another question from
By NEIL A. LEWIS
cial prosecutor. That showed, he said,
Senator Kohl, Judge Thomas demon-
Special to The New York Times
how Judge Thomas was trying to back
strated one of the ways the preparation
WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 - Judge
away from his earlier statements.
process works. Asked why he wanted to
Clarence Thomas faced his toughest
When Judge Thomas insisted
his
sit on the Supreme Court, Judge Thom-
questioning yet from exasperated
praise of the Scalia dissent should not
as answered at length, saying that it
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary
be taken that way, Senator Biden re-
was an opportunity to give back to the
sponded: "It seems like we're engaged
Committee today, with the committee
country what it had given him. He
in a little bit of sophistry here."
chairman, Joseph R. Biden Jr., calling
promised to "walk in the shoes of the
Senator Biden later asked Judge
one of the responses of the Supreme
people who are affected by what the
Thomas whether unmarried people
Court does."
Court nominee "the most unartful
had privacy rights concerning sexual
dodge I have heard."
relations. When Judge Thomas re-
In 1987 when asked the same ques-
But committee Republicans mount-
sponded that he could not say so be-
tion, Judge Robert H. Bork seriously
ed a vigorous counterattack after three
cause he did not have any briefs or oral
harmed his prospects for confirmation
days in which Judge Thomas has faced
arguments on such a case, Senator
when he said he wanted to be on the
accusations that he has disavowed his
Biden said: "Well, Judge, I think that is
Court because he would find it "an
the most unartful dodge that I have
intellectual feast," a response that ce-
extensive record to help win confirma-
heard."
mented an image of him as an unfeel-
tion. Senator Orrin G. Hatch, a Utah
Privacy Rights
ing theorist.
Republican, complained sharply that
Democrats were badgering Judge
Judge Thomas eventually said he
Judge Souter last year and Judge
Thomas and treating him far more
believed that sexual relations and
Thomas this year both practiced how
harshly than they did Judge David H.
childbearing by unmarried people
to answer such a question.
Souter in confirmation hearings last
could be protected by privacy rights
Asked by Senator Kohl about re-
but not until after Senator Biden said,
year.
"It's getting more like a debate than it
marks lamenting the absence of pray-
Even as the hearings took on a more
is getting information."
ers in public schools, Judge Thomas
partisan tenor today, there seemed to
Republican strategists said after-
said he fully accepted the Supreme
be no clear momentum developing ei-
ward that they thought Senator Biden
Court's rulings outlawing such prayer.
ther way on the nomination. That is
might have appeared heavy-handed,
He also said he accepted the Court's
widely viewed as favoring confirma-
and that in any case, the issue of natu-
test to evaluate whether any govern-
tion. Although Judge Thomas's re-
ral law was too arcane to generate
ment action violates the Constitution's
sponses have produced visible annoy-
much opposition to Judge Thomas.
separation of church and state doc-
ance among many of the committee's
At least one member of the commit-
trine. Under the test first enunciated in
Democrats, he has not provided them
tee gave the impression that he was not
1971 in a case called Lemon V. Kurz-
mann, judges should decide whether
with any explicit new ammunition to
interested in the questioning on natural
some government action like a school
oppose his confirmation. Excerpts,
law. Senator Hank Brown, Republican
page A18.]
of Colorado, looked bored and then
Christmas pageant unduly entangles
began reading the home furnishings
government in religion and whether
A Frustrating Experience
section of The Washington Post.
the activity's primary purpose is sec-
tarian.
One committee member, who told a
As Senator Biden neared the end of
reporter that he found the experience
his questioning, a small incident typi-
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Demo-
of the confirmation hearings intensely
fied the battle for public perception
crat of Massachusetts, said it was
frustrating, suggested he would proba-
over Judge Thomas's performance.
wrong of Judge Thomas to decline to
bly end up voting in favor of the nomi-
Judge Thomas had signaled to support-
answer questions on Roe V. Wade on
ers that he wanted to take a break and
the basis that it would undermine his
nee. Judge Thomas will most likely
Senator Biden said, "I think your
independence while endorsing the so-
complete his appearance before the
friends here think you're getting in
called Lemon test. Senator Kennedy
committee on Friday.
trouble, so they'd like me to stop.'
noted that the Court is to hear a case
In defending Judge Thomas, Senator
this fall questioning whether a speech
Hatch said the nominee had been asked
The Questioning Continues
given at a public high school by a rabbi
about 70 questions trying to elicit his
At that point, Senator John Danforth,
violated the Consitution.
views on abortion while the committee a
Missouri Republican and Judge
had only asked 36 such questions of
Thomas's principal patron, who had
Judge Souter, and both had made it
been sitting behind the nominee, ap-
clear they would not disclose their
peared greatly upset and shouted, "No,
VIEWS on the issue.
no, no. Go right ahead with your ques-
tions."
Now I don't know why you're being
Senator Danforth later explained
singled out," Senator Hatch told the that Judge Thomas wanted to take a
nominee. He noted that Judge Souter break for personal reasons and that he
was confirmed by the committee by a did not want it portrayed that he was
13-to- 1 vote after he similarly refused seeking refuge from tough questioning.
to even hint how he would vote on Roe
"I didn't want anyone to think Judge
V. Wade, the 1973 ruling that estab-
lished a constitutional right to abortion.
"I think the burden is on those who
would condition your confirmation on
answering questions about abortion to
tell the American people why you're
being treated differently from Judge
Souter," he said. "You'd think from
listening to what's going on here that
that's the only issue the Supreme Court
has to decide."
White House strategists have said
they believed it would be difficult for
the committee members to hold Judge
Thomas, a black, to a higher standard
than Judge Souter, who is white.
The committee is scheduled to hear
PAGE
5
OF48
The Washington Post
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
DATE: 9/13/91
PAGE:
All
DATE: 9/13/91
PAGE: A12
Kennedy in '67:
Some Issues
Democrats Charge Thomas Is Evasive,
Are Off Limits
Willing to Discuss Anything but Abortion
By PAUL M. BARRETT
ment's ban on official "establishment of
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
religion." The three-part test, enunciated
By Howard Kurtz
WASHINGTON-Some Democrats ac-
in the 1971 case of Lemon vs. Kurtzman,
Washington Post Staff Writer
cused Clarence Thomas of inconsistency in
allows government support if it is aimed at
discussing his views on a number of impor-
a secular purpose, if its primary effect nei-
The hottest thing on talk ra-
tant constitutional issues while avoiding
ther advances nor restricts religion, and if
dio this week is a tape of Sen.
the topic of abortion.
it doesn't lead to government "entangle-
Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.)
On the third day of Senate Judiciary
ment" with religion.
talking about what questions a
Committee hearings on his nomination to
In response to questions from Demo-
Supreme Court nominee should
the Supreme Court, Judge Thomas criti-
crats, Judge Thomas went further, observ-
answer.
cized recent Supreme Court opinions up-
ing that the Supreme Court has split in re-
"We will have to respect that
holding the constitutionality of the federal
cent years over how to apply the Lemon
independent-counsel law and some forms
test and whether to abandon it for one that
any nominee
will have to
of voluntary government affirmative ac-
would allow more interaction between gov-
defer any comments on any
tion.
ernment and religion. Sens. Kohl and Ed-
matters which are either before
He also endorsed, with some qualifica-
ward Kennedy (D., Mass. ) objected that
the court or is very likely to ap-
tion, the legal standard the high court has
the nominee would discuss the Lemon test
pear before the court," Kennedy
used since 1971 for determining the propri-
but refused to comment on the constitu-
says. "This has been a proce-
ety under the First Amendment of govern-
tional analysis of state laws restricting
ment support for religion. That standard,
dure which has been followed in
abortion. Judge Thomas would say only
now criticized by several justices and the
that "prejudging" the abortion issue would
the past and is one which I think
Bush administration, will be the focus of a
"undermine" his impartiality.
is based upon sound legal pre-
closely watched case scheduled to be
Judge Thomas, in answers to questions
cedent."
heard by the high court in November.
put by Sen. Kennedy, defended his past
Kennedy is obviously not talk-
Despite his inclination to comment on
criticism of two other Supreme Court
these hotly debated constitutional issues,
ing about Clarence Thomas,
cases. One case was a 1988 decision up-
however, Judge Thomas steadfastly re-
whom he and other Democrats
holding Congress's authorization of the ap-
fused to discuss Roe VS. Wade, the 1973
pointment of independent counsels to in-
have peppered with questions
case in which the Supreme Court recog-
vestigate and prosecute high government
about. abortion and other issues
nized a woman's constitutional right to an
officials. The other was a 1987 decision up-
at this week's Senate Judiciary
abortion.
holding a voluntary affirmative-action hir-
Committee hearings. The tape
Expressing increasing frustration, some
ing policy of a county agency that resulted
is from 1967, and Kennedy is
Democratic senators accused the nominee
in the hiring of a woman rather than a
of evasiveness. They also scolded him for
man who had scored slightly better on a
talking about a Democratic
having been coached by White House law-
job test.
nominee to the court, Thurgood
yers and not wanting to discuss that prep-
In a 1988 speech. the nominee called the
Marshall.
aration.
independent counsel decision "the most
But it appeared increasingly unlikely
important court case since Brown vs.
Rush Limbaugh, a conser-
that these complaints, and others, would
Board of Education." the 1954 decision that
vative talk-show host whose
coalesce into a serious campaign to defeat
condemned segregated schools as inher-
program is carried on more
the 43-year-old nominee, who sits on the
ently unequal and thus unconstitutional.
than 400 stations, including
federal appeals court in Washington and
Yesterday, Judge Thomas criticized the in-
hopes to fill the seat vacated by the resig-
dependent counsel decision because it au-
WMAL-AM here, said he has
nation of Justice Thurgood Marshall. After
thorized judicial appointment of prosecu-
played the tape at least a dozen
a morning of sometimes heated interroga-
tors who he contended aren't "responsi-
times.
tion, the questioning grew desultory as the
ble" to any of the three branches of gov-
"It's representative of
afternoon wore on.
ernment. Such prosecutors "could under-
Ted Kennedy's hypocrisy,"
"I wish he were more candid; I think he
mine the freedom" of the officials they in-
hasn't been," Sen. Herb Kohl (D., Wis.)
vestigate, Judge Thomas testified.
Limbaugh said: "Here is a guy
said in an interview after questioning
Discussing the 1987 affirmative action
who is demanding to know
Judge Thomas. But the lawmaker said he
case, he said the Supreme Court's majority
exactly how Clarence Thomas
didn't know whether this alleged lack of
improperly allowed reverse discrimination
is going to vote on abortion
candor would prompt him or others to-op-
against the male job applicant. Under the
That's impeachable to
pose President Bush's nominee. Sen. Kohl
applicable federal statute, 'discrimination
me. If the nominee is a conser-
suggested that Judge Thomas's guarded-
is wrong on any basis," he said.
ness and seeming adherence to a script
The nominee readily acknowledged that
vative like Thomas, they've got
may be an inevitable "part of the nomina-
both the independent counsel and affirma-
to know these things. If it's
tion process, the way it's done now."
tive action cases are "the law of the
a liberal nominee, it's hands
Republicans on the committee spent
land."
off."
much of their question time yesterday de-
In other testimony, Judge Thomas said
the Supreme Court hadn't displayed inap-
Paul Donovan, Kennedy's
livering speeches, commending Judge
Thomas on his accomplishments, including
propriate "activism" in its Miranda and
spokesman, said that "the sit-
his tenure as chairman of the Equal Em-
exclusionary-rule decisions. The 1966 case
uation is very different
Be-
ployment Opportunity Commission during
of Miranda vs. Arizona required that crim-
fore his nomination, Judge
the 1980s. Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch accused
inal suspects in custody be informed of
Thomas made statements sug-
Democrats of persecuting the nominee on
their right to remain silent and have a law-
gesting hostility to abortion.
Roe VS. Wade. "What are we going to
yer. The exclusionary rule, first imposed
have, 64,000 questions on abortion?" he
to a limited degree in 1914, bars the admis-
During the hearings, he has dis-
asked.
sion in court of illegally seized evidence.
cussed many other issues likely
After being asked dozens of times about
Conservatives frequently attack both land-
to come before the Supreme
Roe vs. Wade, the most Judge Thomas
marks of criminal procedure as examples
Court. The only issue he won't
would say was that he recognized the
of judicial overreaching.
strong emotions on both sides of the abor-
Judge Thomas is expected to give at
discuss is abortion."
tion debate and that, if confirmed, he
least one more day of testimony. He will
Limbaugh said a video archiv-
would keep an open mind on abortion
be followed by witnesses supporting and
ist on Long Island sent him a
cases that came before the Supreme
opposing his nomination.
videotape of Kennedy's old re-
Court.
Scott Woolley contributed to this arti-
He was more forthcoming on other con-
cle.
marks and that he taped the
audio portion. "I have been in-
tentious constitutional issues. Judge
undated with calls from other
Thomas said he has "no quarrel" with the
existing constitutional test for whether
radio stations that want the
government support or sponsorship of reli-
tape," he said.
gion is permissible under the First Amend-
PAGE OF 48
The New York Times
In Trying to Clarify What He Is Not,
DATE: A19
PAGE: 9/13/91
Thomas Opens Question of What He Is
By LINDA GREENHOUSE
to the New York Times
been a natural preparation 10r that
moment.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 - In his
form new ones, but also of traits and
On the other hand, in his strenuous
testimony before the Senate Judiciary
attitudes that have formed the essence
efforts to fit what he has described as
Committee, Judge Clarence Thomas
of his adult personality, to the extent
the proper judicial role, Judge Thomas
has repeatedly talked about the pro-
that old friends now regard him as a
has at times given the appearance of
cess of transforming himself from an
"worthless conversationalist,' as he
having wrenched himself from his
executive-branch official and fighter of
ruefully noted at one point.
most authentic personal moorings.
ideological battles into a
So it was perhaps inevitable that
judge.
someone would ask him, as Senator
An Awkward Transformation
News
He has spoken of his ef-
Herb Kohl, Democrat of Wisconsin, did
Analysis
forts to "shed the baggage
today. "If you do leave SO much of this
It is not an easy transition. During
of ideology" and to "stop
behind, what's left?"
the hearings, there has been a striking
accumulating new opin-
In a way, that is the core question
contrast in tone between Judge Thom-
that Senators have to answer to their
as's discussion of his record as chair-
ions" in the year and a half since he
was confirmed, at the age of 41, 10 his
own satisfaction in evaluating Judge
man of the Equal Employment Oppor-
current seat on the United States Court
Thomas's nomination to the Supreme
tunity Commission and his discussion
of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Court. If they take him at his word that
of judicial issues. His deep voice is
Circuit.
he is assiduously shedding his old self,
guarded, almost flat, when he talks
"When one becomes a judge, it's an
what is his new self, and what kind of
about the Court. But he is noticeably
judge would he be?
more animated when he talks, even
Judge Thomas made a brief attempt
under the pressure of hostile question-
to answer the question posed by Sena-
ing, about his years in the executive
In casting off
tor Kohl. What was left, he said, were
branch.
his "underlying concerns and feelings
"A man no longer what he was, nor
baggage, has the
about people being left out, about our
yet the thing he'd planned,' the poet
society not addressing all the problems
Edna St. Vincent Millay once wrote in a
nominee's anchor
of people." He added: "I'll take those
much different context. Yet even if the
10 the grave with me," along with his
process of transformation was not so
personal experiences and the strength
gone, too?
visibly awkward, questions would re-
he got from his grandparents.
main about Judge Thomas's premise.
Senator Kohl was polite but unsatis-
Is it desirable or even conceivable for
fied. "We didn't get a good answer," he
judges to break with their past, to
amazing process," he said Wednesday.
said later in an interview. "We got
divest themselves of old ideas and stop
"You want to be stripped down like a
much conversation, but not an answer.
accumulating new ones? Is there such
runner."
Who this man really is, I don't really
a thing as true objectivity? Or is it
Asking the Senators to discount the
know."
more helpful for public understanding
strongly held views he expressed in
and acceptance of the judicial function
Contrast With Souter
speeches and articles as the Reagan
for judges to acknowledge that they
Administration's top civil rights offi-
The contrast between Judge Thomas
have points of view and be prepared to
test them in the crucible of real cases?
cial, Judge Thomas said he had given
and the last Supreme Court nominee,
up the role of advocate and was now
David H. Souter, whom the Senate con-
Seventy years ago, before he became
striving for impartiality. 'You begin to
firmed last year, is striking. Justice
a Supreme Court Justice, Benjamin N.
walk away from that constant develop-
Souter, who had been Attorney General
Cardozo reflected on similar questions.
ment of new policies," he said today.
of New Hampshire and served eight
Judges "do not stand aloof on these
'What's Left?'
years on the New Hampshire Supreme
chill and distant heights," he wrote in
Court, had not spoken or written on
"The Nature of the Judicial Process,"
He has painted a vivid image of a
controversial issues.
"and we shall not help the cause of
man methodically ridding himself not
Before Justice Souter's confirmation
truth by acting and speaking as if they
only of old ideas and even the desire to
hearing, his critics raised the question
do."
of whether the soft-spoken, scholarly
judge had enough experience in the
everyday world to tackle the profound
social and political questions that come
before the Court. He largely allayed
those concerns in three days of testi-
mony before the Judiciary Committee
that demonstrated a mastery of the
broad currents as well as obscure nu-
ances of modern constitutional law.
By contrast, Judge Thomas's liabil-
ity, perceived by the nominee himself
as well as by his critics, is the "bag-
gage" of his extensive public involve-
ment on the stage of ideological contro-
versy. As his exchange with Senator
Kohl demonstrated, this concern is
more difficult to allay. Justice Souter
did not feel pressed to remake himself;
rather, his fluent testimony gave the
impression that his entire adult life had
PAGE 7 OF
The Washington Times
Thomas feels
DATE:
9/13/91
PAGE:
IA
critics' wrath
By Dawn Ceol
"It's very clear that he's under-
"Thus far, you have been asked al-
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
gone extensive coaching, so why
most or a little bit more than 70 ques-
Senate Democrats, irritated by
does he deny it?" Sen. Herb Kohl,
tions on abortion," he said. "Now, I
three days of failure to draw out
Wisconsin Democrat, said during a
don't know why you're being singled
Judge Clarence Thomas' views on
break in the morning session. "I
out, because Justice [David] Souter
don't know if the word is 'lie,' but it's
abortion, yesterday accused the Su-
was asked 36 questions on abortion.
clear he has been less than candid."
preme Court nominee of being less
"One year ago this week Judge
than totally honest in his effort to win
At his appearance yesterday,
Souter was approved 13 to 1 in this
confirmation.
Judge Thomas, a member of the U.S.
Committee, 13 to 1, and he refused
During his testimony before the
Court of Appeals for the District of
to say anything about it [abortion],"
Senate Judiciary Committee, Judge
Columbia, answered questions on is-
Mr. Hatch said. "I think the burden
give back," the nominee said, adding
Thomas continued to insist that he
sues ranging from the constitution-
is on those who would condition your
that he would bring a unique per-
would undermine his impartiality if
ality of the independent prosecutor
confirmation on answering ques-
spective to the court, fashioned by
he divulged opinions on controver-
to cameras in the courtroom.
tions about abortion to tell the Amer-
his hard-luck upbringing in Pin
Judge Thomas defended his rec-
Point, Ga.
sial issues likely to come before the
ican people why you're being treated
high court.
ord as chairman of the Equal Em-
any differently from Judge Souter."
At his Appeals Court office, "I
ployment Opportunity Commission
have occasion to look out the window
"I have no agenda, Senator," Judge
under accusations by Sen. Howard
At the close of his third day of
that faces C Street, and there are
Thomas said when Sen. Edward M.
M. Metzenbaum, Ohio Democrat,
testimony, Judge Thomas' chances converted buses that bring in the
Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat,
that he had been lax in his pursuit of
for confirmation did not appear to be
criminal defendants to our criminal
pressed him on the abortion ques-
age-discrimination claims.
in serious jeopardy.
justice system, bus load after bus
tion. "I am open-minded on this par-
And the black conservative re-
Sen. Howell Heflin, Alabama
load," Judge Thomas said. "I say to
ticular important issue."
jected suggestions that he was
Democrat, said Judge Thomas
myself almost every day, But for the
Critics on the committee charged
tapped for the high court only be-
would have been confirmed if the
grace of God there go I.'
that the nominee had been selec-
cause of his race. "The president in-
"So you feel that you have the
tively evasive by offering his views
dicated that he nominated me be-
vote were held yesterday, noting that same fate, or could have, as those
on other contentious topics, such as
cause, as a result of his search, as
about seven or eight moderate-to- individuals," he said. "So I can walk
school prayer, while refusing to an-
limited or as broad as it may have
conservative Democrats had told in their shoes and I could bring
swer any queries pertaining to abor-
been, among those individuals he
him they probably would vote for the something different to the court.
felt that I was the best qualified," he
nominee.
tion.
"And I think it is a tremendous
said. "I take him at his word."
None of Judge Thomas' strongest responsibility and it's a humbling re-
"Well, Judge, I think that is the
The abortion issue would not die.
critics on the panel have announced sponsibility and it's one that, if con-
most unartful dodge that I have
Mr. Kennedy asked Judge Thomas
which way they will vote.
firmed, I will carry out to the best of
heard," Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr.,
Delaware Democrat, mused after
what test he would apply to abortion
But Sen. John C. Danforth, Mis-
my abilities."
cases - and Republicans chastised
souri Republican, and Kenneth
the nominee declined to say whether
the judge's critics for their unrelent-
Duberstein, an outside consultant
he believed the privacy of single per-
sons is protected by the Constitu-
ing interest in the judge's position on
hired by the White House to help
the issue.
Judge Thomas survive the hearings,
tion.
"Now let's not kid ourselves. We
appeared edgy when it became ap-
Under further pressure from Mr.
all know that, and it is, in my view,
parent Mr. Biden had used more
Biden, the committee chairman,
inappropriate to keep this up," said
than his allotted half-hour of ques-
Judge Thomas said he did not "quar-
tioning.
rel with the decision" that estab- lican.
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Repub-
Judge Thomas, President Bush's
lished a privacy right for unmarried
choice to replace retiring Justice
couples to have sexual relations: In
Thurgood Marshall, did get the
earlier testimony, the nominee said
chance to answer the one question
he recognized a marital right to pri-
universal to all employment inter-
vacy.
views: "Why do you want this job?"
"Now. what is this? It seems like
"It is an opportunity to serve, to
we're engaged in a little bit of soph-
istry here," Mr. Biden said at another
point as he jousted with the nominee
over "natural law," or rights beyond
the written law.
Thomas rattles, soothes faithful
By George Archibald
The court is expected to rule this
"Almost every scholar in the field,
gan administration.
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
term on the test's validity in a pend-
left and right, sees problems with
Judge Thomas has refused to an-
ing case from Providence, R.I.
the Lemon test," Mr. McConnell said.
swer scores of abortion-related
Conservative legal experts were
"The court, of course, has had dif-
Conservative lawyers said they
questions during the hearings.
dismayed yesterday with Supreme
ficulty in applying the Lemon test
were pleased Judge Thomas agreed
Using the Lemon test, a U.S. dis-
Court nominee Clarence Thomas'
and is grappling with that as we sit
with Justices Anthony Kennedy and
trict judge ruled that a school prin-
testimony on the school prayer issue.
here, I would assume," Judge
David Souter in finding "a right of
cipal in Norman, Okla., had violated
But they were pleased with the
Thomas testified yesterday.
privacy" in the Constitution.
the Constitution by allowing five pu-
judge's endorsement of the constitu-
"A lot of conservatives had a lot of
"But the concept itself, the Jeffer-
pils to read the Bible on the school
tional right to privacy.
sonian 'wall of separation' [between
trouble with [rejected Reagan nomi-
playground in their spare time, said
Judge Thomas' unequivocal en-
church and state], the Lemon test,
nee Robert] Bork when he categori-
Mr. Whitehead, a lawyer who has
dorsement of a 1971 Supreme Court
test - to determine whether state-
neither of those do I quarrel with,"
cally denied there was a right of pri-
handled hundreds of religious liber-
vacy," said Joseph A. Morris,
ties cases.
he said.
supported institutions have violated
president of the Lincoln Legal Foun-
"The problem with the Lemon test
the constitutional ban on "establish-
"If you take that line of thinking,
dation, based in Chicago.
is it's so subjective, so flexible, a
ing" religion was his only disturb-
then virtually no religious activity
"Conservatives do think the fun-
judge can do whatever he wants to.
ing signal in three days of Senate
would be allowed in public places,
damental right embodied in the Con-
There can be no religious activity,
Judiciary Committee hearings, said
including public schools," said John
stitution is the right to be let alone
basically."
conservative lawyers.
Whitehead, president of the Ruther-
and the Constitution screams it
Mr. Willard, now a private lawyer
Judge Thomas said yesterday he
ford Institute, a civil liberties group
even though it never uses the word
in the District, said the court had
has "no quarrel" with the three-part
in Charlottesville, Va.
privacy."
erred with the Lemon test and Judge
test established in Lemon VS. Kurtz-
"I do not believe that the senators
Neither Judge Thomas nor Jus-
Thomas was mistaken to endorse it.
man.
who asked the question or the nomi-
tices Souter and Kennedy have
The Constitution does not support
The test requires state-supported
nee who answered it have given any
"gone further to say whether the
the test, Mr. Willard said, adding that
programs to achieve a secular pur-
serious thought to the ramifications
unenumerated right of privacy in-
he hoped Judge Thomas would keep
pose while avoiding either advanc-
of the Lemon test," said Michael
cludes a woman's right to have an
an open mind if he was sitting on the
ing or inhibiting religion. The third
McConnell, professor of constitu-
abortion," said Richard K. Willard,
Supreme Court. "And I wouldn't in-
part prohibits "excessive govern-
tional law at the University of Chi-
who headed the Justice Depart-
terpret anything he would say here
ment entanglement with religion."
cago.
ment's civil division during the Rea-
as foreclosing that."
P.BOF48
The Washington
DATE: 9/13/91
PAGE: All
Kohl Raises Questions on Role of Thomas Advisers
Danforth Says Men Behind Supreme Court Nominee Lend Support, Not Coaching
By Guy Gugliotta
that Thomas's testimony was a put
cuss specifics, but maintained that
ural law" would have little to do
Washington Post Staff Writer
up job or that Thomas had under-
their only advice for the hearings,
with adjudicating the Constitution.
gone a "confirmation conversion" in
as one put it, is "for Clarence to just
"All of this came up when he was
It was Herbert Kohl of Wiscon-
hopes of making himself more pal-
be himself." This, they say, he has
named to the appellate court," said
sin, the newest Democrat on the
atable to Democrats.
done. Opening day questioning on
one source, referring to hearings
Senate Judiciary Committee, who
"That's a crock, that's a total
natural law by Committee Chair-
before the same committee when
wanted to know about the men sit-
crock," Danforth said. "And people
man Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.)
Bush in 1989 named Thomas as a
ting behind Clarence Thomas in the
are going to get sick of hearing it."
caused Thomas to stumble, said the
federal judge. The committee voted
Senate Caucus Room.
Danforth, along with lead strat-
strategist, but Wednesday "he hit
13 to 1. to confirm him on that oc-
"There is nothing wrong with
egist Kenneth M. Duberstein, Ron-
his stride," and Thursday he was
casion, and Thomas's counselors
getting some advice and help," Kohl
ald Reagan's last White House chief
"responding thoroughly and well."
believe that it will be difficult to
of staff, and Frederick D. McClure,
"He's like a baseball pitcher," said
reverse that decision this time.
told Thomas yesterday, but in prac-
President Bush's assistant for leg-
a source close to the advisory team.
tice sessions for his confirmation
"They voted for him then, and
islative affairs, are the main actors
"In the first inning somebody hits a
they should confirm him now," the
hearings, did anyone "ever critique
in the Thomas advisory camp, oc-
single off him, but after that he gets
source said. "And they know that."
you about responses to questions in
cupying chairs behind the nominee
in a groove. He's used to being
Because of his experience, the
the substantive way? Did they say,
while hearings are in session in the
there."
sources say, hearing day prepara-
for example, 'You should soften that
cavernous Russell Senate Office
Familiarity, the advisers say, is
tions are simple. Thomas meets his
answer,' or 'Don't answer that
Building room. Others hover in the
one of Thomas's biggest advan-
advisers about 8:45 a.m. in Dan-
question, just say that you can't
background and walk the halls, dis-
tages. This week's spectacle is his
forth's offices, a floor below the
prejudge an issue that may come
pensing good cheer and cautious
fifth confirmation hearing and, dur-
Caucus Room. "We don't brief him,"
before the court?'
confidence.
ing two terms as head of the Equal
said one source. "We sit around,
Thomas replied, "Unequivocally
After three days of hearings, the
Employment Opportunity Commis-
have coffee and review the issues of
no." During the mock hearings, he
rest of the Judiciary Committee,
sion, he testified before Congress
the day."
said, he told his friends "that they
like Kohl, appears to accept that
more than 50 times.
There is no evidence that staffers
were there simply to ask me and to
Thomas should be well-schooled
There are also no surprises, said
or emissaries from Republican sen-
hear me respond to questions that
and well-prepared, but this does not
sources close to Thomas. Prepara-
ators on the committee are involved
have been traditionally asked before
include coaching the substance of
tions for the hearings may have
in a choreographed dance with the
Thomas's answers.
this committee
not to tell me
been exhaustive, but the arguments
Thomas team.
Fair enough, the strategists say.
against the nominee were well
Instead, said Sen. Alan K. Simp-
whether it was right or wrong, or
For Danforth, support is more im-
known, as were his responses: he
son (R-Wyo.), they, like the Dem-
too little or too much."
portant than advice. "My own view
has refused to answer specific ques-
ocrats, are doing what comes nat-
Sen. John C. Danforth (R-Mo.),
is that Clarence Thomas is my
tions about his views on abortion;
urally: "It's the propensity of any-
Thomas's one-time mentor and
friend," Danforth said. "This is a
contrasted his advocacy as an em-
one not in the president's party to
principal shepherd through the
grueling, grueling ordeal. This is
ployee of the Reagan administration
ask tough questions," Simpson said.
minefield of confirmation, was even
torture."
with his impartiality as a judge;
"On our side, your job is partly to
more blunt when it was suggested
Other strategists declined to dis-
maintained that his interest in "nat-
rehabilitate."
THE EVENING SUN
Mfume has doubts on Thomas
DATE:
9/12/91
PAGE: A10
Hopes nominee
reservations about Thomas.
willing to support Thomas, despite
"Now I have some very serious
misgivings, because he is black.
will answer the
problems," Mfume said yesterday,
Mfume said Thomas' views, not
listing concerns about Thomas'
tough questions.
his race, are the issue that concerns
views on abortion, affirmative ac-
him.
tion and the 1954 Supreme Court
Mfume's background is not un-
By John Fairhall
case that led to school desegrega-
like Thomas' in that both men over-
Evening Sun Staff
tion.
WASHINGTON - Like many
Mfume said he hopes the hearing
came poverty and other obstacles.
Americans who are curious about
will bring out information on Thom-
Acknowledging this, Mfume ques-
Supreme Court nominee Clarence
as' past performance as head of the
tioned whether Thomas recognizes
Equal Employment Opportunity
the sacrifices of previous genera-
Thomas, Maryland Rep. Kweisi
tions.
Mfume is looking for clues in the
Commission and his current role as a
Senate confirmation hearing.
federal appellate court judge.
"They laid down their bodies,
Mfume, D-7th, is neutral on
"I think many people have been
made their bodies a bridge so we
Thomas' nomination. Although the
neutral in this because Clarence
could run across," Mfume said.
majority of the Congressional Black
Thomas has been a question mark to
"I haven't forgotten that and I
Caucus voted to oppose the nomina-
many people."
don't know if Clarence Thomas has
tion, Mfume did not vote, despite
Some black leaders have been
or not."
PAGE
9
OF
48
The Washington Times
DATE:
9/13/91
PAGE:
Thomas'
testimony cements views on
By Joyce Price
most troubling about his testimony
ican Life Lobby, a pro-life group
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
- his complete about-face on nat-
based in Stafford, Va.
both
ural law or the growing list of an-
But other black leaders held a
Clarence Thomas' testimony in
swers he has given that are utterly
news briefing yesterday in which
the first three days of his Supreme
lacking in candor," said Arthur J.
they assessed Judge Thomas' testi-
Court confirmation hearings has re-
sides
Kropp, president of People for the
mony and reiterated their opposition
inforced both the support and the
American Way. "Judge Thomas' con-
to his confirmation.
vancement of Colored People, said if
opposition that activist groups ex-
tinued stonewalling has cast his con-
"He has not done his task well in
he had to grade Judge Thomas on his
pressed for him before the hearings
firmation in real peril."
terms of saying where he stands on
testimony he'd give him a C-minus.
began.
Pro-life groups, who hope Judge
abortion or capital punishment,"
"For the first day or so, he only
Traditional civil rights organiza-
Thomas' approach to law might lead
said the Rev. Charles G. Adams,
talked about how hard it was for him
tions and pro-choice groups ob-
him to help overturn Roe VS. Wade,
president of the Progressive Na-
growing up," he said. "And we're
jected from the start to President
the 1973 decision that gave women a
tional Baptist Convention Inc. "He
troubled by his failure to clarify
Bush's nomination of Judge Thomas,
constitutionally protected right to an
cannot hide behind his dead grand-
many of his positions that he says in
a black conservative, to succeed Jus-
abortion, say nothing he's said in the
father or wrap himself in the moldy
the hearings he didn't say, but that
tice Thurgood Marshall, a black lib-
hearings has changed their opinion
shroud of Martin Luther King and
when you read his papers, they are
eral. They say now they are even
of him.
sneak into the Supreme Court. We'll
there."
more firmly opposed after listening
"He's handled himself very well
oppose him vociferously and with
Elaine R. Jones of the NAACP Le-
to his testimony and some even
and I don't see anything we have
great deliberation."
gal Defense Fund said she was dis-
said his confirmation could be in
to be scared of,' said the Rev. Ronald
William F. Gibson, chairman of
turbed when Judge Thomas said
danger.
Ross, chairman of the African
the national board of directors of the
yesterday he disagreed with a Su-
"It's difficult to decide what is
American Committee of the Amer-
National Association for the Ad-
preme Court decision saying the
Santa Clara County, Calif., govern-
ment was within its rights giving a
job to a qualified female candidate
rather than a man who had scored a
few points better in an interview.
Michael Callahan, a black official
Confirming process
of the Department of Health and Hu-
man Services and a Thomas sup-
porter, said of the judge's opponents,
demeans nominees
"When the administration does what
the activists do, it's a litmus test. But
when the activists do it, it's a truth
squad."
By Ralph Z. Hallow
he had learned the lesson of the Bork
At least one organization - the
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
defeat. The Democrats who defeated
Planned Parenthood Federation of
Judge Bork did not claim he wasn't
America - officially announced its
As Sen. Joseph Biden grilled
smart enough or knowledgeable
opposition to Judge Thomas' nomi-
Judge Clarence Thomas for the
enough to serve on the high court.
nation Wednesday.
third straight day yesterday on the
Rather, as many Democrats pri-
"We wanted to give him a chance
senator's favorite constitutional sub-
vately agree, Mr. Bork refused to
to publicly express his positions,"
ject, "natural law," one thing did
answer the committee's questions in
Planned Parenthood President Faye
seem to be confirmed: the Supreme
a politically correct way. He main-
Wattleton said yesterday. "But a can-
Court nomination process itself has
tained his intellectual integrity but
become a demeaning exercise.
didate who is unwilling to express
at the cost of lifetime tenure on the
his views on constitutional protec-
"The process has become de-
nation's most august body.
tion for reproductive rights and
meaning because it has become po-
Because he wants to be con-
abortion is not a candidate we can
liticized," said
firmed, Judge Thomas either moved
support."
Stephen Am-
NEWS
away from his past conservative
brose, biogra-
Patricia Ireland, executive vice-
pher of Presi-
ANALYSIS
writings and speeches, making what
committee member Sen. Howell
president of the National Organi-
dents Eisen-
Heflin, Alabama Democrat, has
zation for Women. said it is contra-
hower and Nixon. He traces its polit-
called a "confirmation conversion"
dictory for Judge Thomas to say it
icization to the failed nomination of
- or he was less than candid with
would be improper for him to dis-
President Lyndon Johnson's crony,
the committee about his views. Ei-
cuss abortion when he discussed
Abe Fortas.
Mr. Ambrose said the process
ther way, his image suffered.
separation of church and state, an
issue the Supreme Court will be fac-
played out over the last three days
The sight of the white Judiciary
ing next month.
bears no resemblace to what the
Committee chairman, Mr. Biden, ex-
Ralph Neas, who heads the liberal
Constitution's framers had in mind.
plaining to Judge Thomas the differ-
Leadership Conference on Civil
Alan M. Slobodin, president of the
ence between a Catholic saint and
Rights, had the same complaint. "He
Legal Studies Division, Washington
the nominee himself was not exactly
edifying, critics agreed.
seems to be picking and choosing
Legal Foundation, has traced the
which serious constitutional issues
change in the Senate's role to the
Referring to the Constitution's
to address," he said.
1987 rejection of Judge Robert
drafters and "natural law," Mr. Biden
Bork.
Douglas Johnson, legislative di-
said: "Some agreed with the Thomis-
rector for the National Right to Life
"The Bork battle established a
tic view - not Thomas who's up for
Committee, said he was encouraged
new rule: Judicial nominees, even
- not you - Thomas Aquinas
by an indication in Judge Thomas'
though highly qualified and without
Going on to explain that the au-
testimony that he shares Justice Da-
ethical problems, could be defeated
thors of the Constitution differed in
vid Souter's belief that judges
for ideological reasons," Mr. Slobo-
their views of natural law, Mr. Biden
"should not enact their own social
din wrote last year.
wanted to know which view it was,
policies under the guise of constitu-
Judge Thomas showed his deter-
precisely, that Mr. Thomas was es-
tional law." Pro-lifers believe the Roe
mination to avoid this fate by declin-
pousing - if he were indeed espous-
vs. Wade ruling was an example of
ing to turn the "natural rights" argu-
ing one.
this, and Judge Thomas' statements
ment against Mr. Biden yesterday.
As the nominee attempted to an-
"give us some hope," Mr. Johnson
He might have said: "If you are
said.
swer, Mr. Biden seemed barely able
black, you have to believe you have
to contain his impatience with Judge
rights that come from God and not
Thomas, who had suggested that the
the Constitution. Otherwise you'd
late Justice John Marshall Harlan
have had to accept slavery.
might have had a problem in inter-
"For over 70 years the Constitu-
preting the Constitution.
tion said it was all right for my
"Judge, Justice Harlan had no
ancestors to be slaves. But they had
problem," Mr. Biden said. "He didn't
the God-given right not to be slaves,
have your problem. this tortuous
don't you agree. Senator?"
logic. which I think borders on -
He didn't say any of that because
well. anyway, this tortuous logic."
PAGE
10
or
Friends glued to TV
USA
TODAY
in Pin Point, Ga.
DATE:
9/12/91
PAGE:
NA
By Mark Mayfield
Thomas is bigger news than
USA TODAY
even the pennant drive of base-
S.C.
background where you help
Enlarged area
ball's Atlanta Braves.
people and you help yourself."
PIN POINT, Ga. - The
The hearing made front-
Ga.
That feeling was evoked
even at Savannah High.
sounds of the U.S. Senate echo
page headlines in the Savan-
Ala.
nah Evening Press and
An aspiring lawyer, 16-year-
through the stately, moss-
old Antecia Thomas (no rela-
draped oak trees here.
drowned out nearly everything
N
In simple, wood-frame
Fla.
95
tion to the nominee), criticizes
else in the black-owned Savan-
the civil rights leaders who
houses, cable TV has become
nah Tribune. The weekly, out
0
10
have condemned Thomas'
as essential as electricity while
Wednesday, carried five front-
South
Carolina
nomination. "They should back
the Judiciary Committee grills
page photos of Thomas and
miles
him 100%," she says.
native son Clarence Thomas
trumpeted: "The Tribune Fam-
But she has questions of her
live on C-SPAN.
ily Salutes Judge Thomas."
16
"It makes me sick the way
Thomas has been criticized
own, especially on abortion: "I
don't want the court making
they're treating him. I don't
for forgetting his roots.
Savannah
decisions for the women of this
like their tone," says Viola
"As one who participated in
204
Martin, 42, Thomas' cousin and
the civil rights struggle, I find
country. On that issue alone, I'd
childhood playmate. "But he's
that his record is not one that
vote against him."
95
answering them very well.
I'm proud of," U.S. Rep. John
Clarence Thomas refused
He's going to make a great Su-
Lewis, D-Ga., says.
Georgia
during the hearings to express
preme Court justice. Just wait."
But in the town where his
Pin Point
his views on abortion, saying it
Support for Thomas - who
mother still returns for Sunday
"would undermine my ability
left Pin Point as a child but has
church services, Thomas is a
to sit in an impartial way on a
USA TODAY
a sister still living here - is as
point of pride. Folks say Thom-
case like that."
overwhelming as the humidity.
as, like Pin Point's other chil-
and watching Thomas on C-
Students in an 11th-grade
Says one resident, Gail
dren, learned the value of hard
SPAN, the cable system of pub-
constitutional law class dis-
Smith, 33, "He's been dragged
work in the marshes where
lic affairs networks, she re-
carded books for a riveting les-
in the mud and slung around.
most worked at a now-closed
flects on the old values.
son, live and in color.
To see him handle it so well is
crab processing plant.
"We were taught - and we
They watched Thomas, dig-
wonderful. He's still holding his
"We all grew up family,"
taught our children - man-
nified and well-spoken, with his
head up. If it was me, I'd be
says Adelle Anderson, 58, who
ners and respect," Anderson
mother, Leola Williams, and
down their throats."
raised seven children here and
says. "We try to walk the right
sister, Emma Mae Martin, sit-
Here, in a humble town 250
sent five of them off to college.
road. That's what makes him
ting behind him at the hearing
miles southeast of Atlanta,
Sitting in her living room
SO good, his background. A
And they cut him no slack
when it came to the stern ques-
Outside the hearing room,
House chief lobbyist, who's
tions posed by the committee.
guided Thomas' relations with
"He'll have tough cases
the battle of the sound bite
Congress since he was nomi-
when he gets to the Supreme
nated in July, said he thinks the
Court," says Tanisha Williams,
hearings are helping Thomas
15, "so he should get tough
to win confirmation.
By Judi Hasson
the hearings, Thomas' oppo-
questions now."
USA TODAY
nents had the microphones vir-
"We are hoping that senators
Adds Moriah McCrossin, 17:
tually to themselves.
are watching the tube," he said.
"If he's going to be a Supreme
The White House fought
But Wednesday, both sides
Court justice, it's important we
back Wednesday in the battle angled to get on-camera.
Thomas rules
have an opportunity to know
about him."
for
media
attention
at
Clarence
At
a
midday
break,
Sen.
Thomas' Supreme Court con- John Danforth, R-Mo., raced to
in Redskins
"My Dallas Cowboys, for ex-
firmation hearings.
the microphones and cameras
ample, played the Redskins on
Spokeswoman Judy Smith to defend Thomas' refusal to
VS. Cowboys'
Monday night, and I am totally
was dispatched to play traffic state his views on abortion, a
convinced that every referee
cop outside the confirmation key issue at the hearings.
By Tony Mauro
in (the game) is a Redskins
hearing room for reporters Right behind him, Faye
fan," said Thomas. "But none
USA TODAY
seeking information.
Wattleton, president of
would admit to it."
The most controversial con-
And a half dozen high-level Planned Parenthood, stood
fession made by Supreme
Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo.,
administration officials ready to announce the organi-
Court nominee Clarence
applauded Thomas for his in-
showed up to offer their opin- zation's opposition to Thomas.
Thomas Wednesday has noth-
dependence. "To have you in
ions about the nominee for doz- Moments after she was fin-
ing to do with the law: He is a
this nest of Redskin fans, to be
ens of microphones and TV ished, Constance Newman, di-
Dallas Cowboys fan.
a Dallas Cowboy fan certainly
cameras.
rector of the Office of Person-
Thomas let the fact slip as he
discloses a degree of indepen-
"Groups are working really nel Management, pushed
was explaining to the Senate
dence which will serve you
hard to get into the media," through the crowd of reporters
Judiciary Committee how it is
very well on the court."
said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. to speak in support of Thomas.
possible for judges to hold
He later told reporters that
On Tuesday, the first day of Fred McClure, the White
strong opinions privately, yet
he was first drawn to the Cow-
still rule impartially.
boys after the franchise re-
Lobbying
not
as
in
cruited former Olympian and
as
world record sprinter Bob
Hayes as a split end in 1964.
By Judi Hasson
over what impact a special in-
USA TODAY
Bork case
tee. "Yes, if they really bring
terest lobby has on their vote.
you something new and are
"I've gotten a good number
willing to share it, it makes a
The confirmation hearing
of letters, but not nearly what
difference, but if it's a single is-
for Supreme Court nominee
Bork was," said Sen. Howell
sue agenda, not as much."
Clarence Thomas is testing
Heflin, D-Ala., an undecided
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.,
whether senators really listen
committee member who could
another undecided and crucial
when a lobbyist comes to call.
prove to be a crucial vote on
vote, says he listens to what lob-
The National Abortion
the nomination. Heflin, a high-
could affect future funding by
byists have to say. But "You
Rights Action League has sent
ly respected former judge,
special interests.
have to weigh a constituent's
600,000 hot pink and hot green
could sway other undecided
"They are getting bombard-
view in terms of the complex-
anti-Thomas postcards to
Southern Democrats.
ed by calls, letters and post-
ity of the issue."
members of the Senate.
Even the office of Sen. Jo-
cards a huge grass-roots ef-
During the Bork battle, Spec-
In support of Thomas, the
seph Biden Jr., D-Del., the com-
fort,' says NARAL's Kate
ter said he found himself work-
Christian Coalition, founded by
mittee chairman, hasn't re-
Michelman, a Thomas foe.
ing to convince constituents
TV evangelist Pat Robertson,
ceived the volume of calls it
Sen. Dennis DeConcini, D-
that Bork should be defeated.
began making 75,000 tele-
logged in past hearings.
Ariz., who's undecided, says
This time, abortion rights
phone calls urging its members
In the first day-and-a-half of
he's met with Thomas support-
supporters in his home state
to call and write their senators.
the Thomas hearing, his office
ers and opponents and plans to
are hoping he'll listen to them.
So far, it's no comparison to
counted 177 calls supporting
meet next week with a Hispan-
"We've taken on the chal-
the intensive campaign four
Thomas and 353 opposed.
ic group opposed to Thomas.
lenge to let him know we're out
PAGE
or
48
years ago by liberal groups
But lobbyists vow they are
Can they have influence?
here," says Carol Silvestre,
against nominee Robert Bork,
working hard to put pressure
"It really depends on how
NARAL's Pittsburgh, Pa. orga-
who was defeated.
on the senators to scrutinize
they present it," says DeConci-
nizer, who is orchestrating lob-
And senators are divided
Thomas' record. How they vote
ni, a swing vote on the commit-
bying efforts around the state.
The Washington Times
DATE: 9/13/91
Caucus reiterates
PAGE:
IA
Thomas opposition
tus of Ethiopian Jews, the congress-
man's spokesman said.
The caucus was formed in 1970 by
By Ronald A. Taylor
a handful of black members of Con-
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
gress in what former journalist
The Supreme Court nomination of
Judge Thomas as a "collective posi-
Thomas Johnson, who wrote exten-
Judge Clarence Thomas was barely
tion reflecting an unimpeachable
sively about black affairs for the
a day old when the Congressional
portfolio of experience."
New York Times in the 1960s and
'70s, called "a great crusade" when
Black Caucus stirred the first rum-
"Among us are chairs of five full
the tone of the black congressional
bles of organized opposition to Pres-
committees including Government
presence was a mix of the flamboy-
ident Bush's choice to succeed retir-
Operations, Ethics, Post Office and
ance of Harlem's Rep. Adam Clayton
ing Justice Thurgood Marshall.
Civil Service, the Select Committee
Powell, New York Democrat, and the
Yesterday, on the second day of
on Narcotics Abuse and Control, and
quiet diligence of now-retired Rep.
the caucus' annual five-day gather-
the Committee on the District of Co-
Augustus Hawkins, California Dem-
ing in Washington, its fund-raising
lumbia," he said.
ocrat.
entity, the Congressional Black Cau-
Mr. Towns also said their ranks
Now, the old guard of members
cus Foundation Inc., restated that
include "13 subcommittee chairs as
such as John Conyers Jr., Michigan
opposition in a report titled "In Op-
well as some of the most senior
Democrat, Charles B. Rangel: New
position to Clarence Thomas: Where
members of the House Judiciary
York Democrat, and Julian C. Dixon,
We Must Stand and Why."
Committee, Ways and Means, Educa-
California Democrat, have been
While other black leaders ner-
tion and Labor, and the House Rules
joined by newcomers to Congress
vously eyed opinion polls that
Committee. Among us is a former
such as caucus chairman Towns and
showed solid support for Judge
member of the Equal Employment
Democratic Reps. Cardiss Collins of
Thomas among blacks, the caucus in
Opportunity Commission and sea-
Illinois, Alan Wheat of Missouri.
July staked out a bold, and briefly
soned veterans of state legislative
Kweisi Mfume of Maryland, and
solitary, position against the black
bodies and the bar.
John Lewis of Georgia. a civil rights
conservative.
"We are qualified to draw the con-
veteran and recently elected House
Its early reaction to the Thomas
clusions and to make this case," Mr.
majority whip.
nomination - on the eve of the cau-
Towns said.
The newcomers reflect a broader
cus' 21st anniversary - reflected a
That glittering list of congres-
spectrum of the political landscape
tone of self-assured independence
sional posts has had little impact on
than their predecessors. While Rep.
that was sounded in a news confer-
black public opinion on the Thomas
William L. Clay, Missouri Democrat,
ence to explain the caucus decision.
nomination, according to caucus
is considered a vestige of the New
Caucus Chairman Edolphus
aides. "The caucus has a loud bark
Deal labor-liberal coalition, Gary
Towns, New York Democrat, charac-
but very little bite on such ques-
Frank I black conservative from
terized the group's conclusion on
tions," said one black caucus staffer
Conne cut, is the first black Re-
privately.
publican in the House since 1928 and
Still, the 25 Democrats and one
Rep. Mike Espy, Mississippi Demo-
Republican are viewed by Capitol
crat, did an endorsement advertise-
Hill lawmakers as key votes to be
ment for the National Rifle Associ-
wooed.
ation.
What's more, the annual caucus
Some of the newcomers are not
legislative week, climaxing Satur-
intimidated by the trappings of
day with a black-tie dinner honoring
Capitol Hill either. When Rep. Max-
Justice Marshall, is considered a
ine Waters, California Democrat, in-
mandatory stop on the itineraries of
sisted that House Veteran Affairs
corporations that want their share of
Committee Chairman G.V. "Sonny"
black middle-class buyers and com-
Montgomery, Mississippi Demo-
panies eager to attract black execu-
crat; addressed her "too familiarly,"
tive employees.
according to a House staffer, she
Although African ancestry is still
blasted with blunt language - in a
the key requirement for full mem-
public session of the committee.
bership in the black caucus, 45 white
The current black caucus still has
members of Congress - including
detractors. Southern Christian
Democrats Gary L. Ackerman of
Leadeship Conference President Jo-
New York, Steny H. Hoyer of Mary-
seph Lowery criticized the group for
land, Joseph P. Kennedy II of Massa-
reacting to the Thomas nomination
chusetts and Tom Lantos of Califor-
without consulting the rest of black
nia - hold associate caucus mem-
leadership.
berships.
"The CBC set themselves up as
Mr. Ackerman even addressed a
the voice of black America. They
caucus meeting in June to explore a
were rounding third base before the
fact-finding trip to Israel on the sta-
umpire said play ball." he said.
PAGE
120r48
The Washington Post
DATE: 9/13/91
Judge Thomas and 'Roe v. Wade
PAGE:
A24
W
HEN JUSTICE Sandra Day O'Connor was
asked to comment on the constitutional aspects of
before the Senate Judiciary Committee for
the abortion question more than 70 times in three
her confirmation hearing in 1981, it was
days. A couple of senators have even threatened to
the Senate's leading opponent of Roe v. Wade who
vote against confirmation simply because of his
gave her a hard time. Sen. Jeremiah Denton pressed
failure to answer this provocative question. Has a
her repeatedly for her views on the controversial
new standard, to which no other nominee has been
abortion decision, but she held her ground. It would
held, been set for this man?
be improper, she maintained, "for me either to
We would hate to see Roe v. Wade overturned,
endorse or criticize that decision," since the matter
and we hope that if Judge Thomas is confirmed, he
was sure to come before the court again. That
will not vote to do SO. But we agree with his position,
response must have been frustrating for the Ala-
and that of his predecessors, that abortion is clearly
bama senator, but in the end he voted for confirma-
a question that will come before the court soon and
tion.
he should not signal how he would vote. This is true
Five years later, Justice Antonin Scalia took an
of a number of other subjects-church and state,
even harder line in resisting the questions of sena-
habeas corpus reform, victims' rights-that will
tors on the other side of the debate. Though he had
certainly come before the court and about which
published articles critical of the Roe decision, he
some Republican senators unwisely tried to draw
refused to discuss the subject on the grounds that to
him out.
do so would undermine his impartiality as a judge.
It is more than foolish to comment on matters
He even refused to give assurances that he would
such as these. It creates the impression that some-
never overrule a prior Supreme Court precedent.
thing is being given-a pledge to rule a certain
Sen. Edward Kennedy, who received those answers,
way-in exchange for a vote. Naturally, Judge
nevertheless did not oppose the nomination.
Thomas's opponents, no matter what their objection
More recently, Justices Anthony Kennedy and
to his candidacy, would like him to answer the
David Souter both agreed, as nominees before the
abortion question because no matter how he an-
committee, that the Constitution protects privacy,
swers he could alienate enough senators to kill his
but neither would comment specifically on the
nomination. Everyone knows that, but the pressure
abortion question. That reluctance did not disqualify
continues. The senators on the committee have
them. Why, then, in the face of this history, is the
reached the same impasse on this matter that they
pressure building on the current nominee for the
reached (and acquiesced in) in their previous hear-
Supreme Court, Judge Clarence Thomas? As of
ings. They should give it up, as they did with all
Thursday afternoon, his supporters said he had been
Judge Thomas's recent predecessors, and move on.
The Washington Times
DATE: 9/13/91
Planes, trains and tricycles
PAGE: F2
he House Democratic leadership is back in
alone to and from work." When city planners testify
I
town to push its "nickel for America" transpor-
before the Public Works Committee on the need for an
tation plan, which some cynics have labeled
intermodal transportation trust fund, they talk about
the "$153 billion for politicians" plan. Voters
the need for "highway strategies, transit options, HOV
already know that the higher gasoline tax on which the
lanes and more effective systems management tech-
proposal is based would buy them lots of monorails,
niques." Anyone that's been stuck in the HOV lane that
ferry boats, wooden bridges and other pork. But they
is I-66 can't help but smile at the mention of HOV lanes
may not realize it would effectively help pay for a $1
and "effective" in the same sentence.
billion Office of Intermodalism.
A new Office of Intermodalism would do a lot of
"Intermodalism," - or "intermodality" or whatever
studies to make getting from one place to another in
- may sound like something that's been banned in 14
this country more efficient. It would collect a lot of
states. A dictionary is not particularly reassuring on
data on the subject. And it would hand out a few million
this point because as far as Webster's is concerned, the
dollars here and there for intermodal plans. Moreover,
word doesn't exist. Actually it seems to be good old-
the transportation bill would create a new National
fashioned Beltway jargon describing a system that
Commission on Intermodal Transportation that would
links one form of transportation to another.
also do a lot of intermodal studies. It would study
In theory, a system that connects planes, trains and
capital investment needs for intermodal transpor-
automobiles sounds like a good one. But the more one
tation. It would study how to finance intermodal trans-
examines what federal planners mean by inter-
portation. It would study how rates, costs and eco-
modalism, the less automobiles seem to be a part of it.
nomic activity relate to intermodal transportation.
One tip-off is the introduction to the transportation's
Last, but not least, the bill creates a $1 billion slush
bill section on intermodalism, which calls for the fed-
fund from which Beltway types can dole out money to
eral government to promote energy efficiency, produc-
favored intermodal projects.
tivity growth and competitiveness, in that order. There
One wonders how many taxpayers think that inter-
may be nothing to the fact that energy efficiency was
modal handouts and studies of the sort envisioned in
first on this list, but it's no secret that in a town where
the bill would actually improve transportation in this
handouts to ethanol giants and bike paths are held out
country, or whether they would simply provide the
as transportation models, cars come off as public en-
employment of last resort for the anti-car crowd. "We
emy No. 1.
are going to have a secretary whose job it is to get
When the World Resources Institute talks about
Americans out of their private automobiles," says bill
making U.S. transportation "more efficient." it calls for
critic Rep. Robert Walker. If that's what the Democrats
policies "that encourage commuters to use van and car
mean by intermodalism, they're going to have a hard
pools, buses, trolleys and trains and discourage driving
time getting Americans to pay for it.
PAGE 30 OF 48
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Abroad at Home
ANTHONY LEWIS
DATE:
9/13/91
Doubting Thomas
PAGE:
AID
A Source of Ideas
The most disturbing trend in the
contemporary Supreme Court is its
The Clarence Thomas hearings
there are few Jewish boxers and few
exaltation of Presidential power. The
have fallen into a pattern. Through re-
black swimmers-this doesn't neces-
Court has tilted the constitutional bal-
petitive and subtle questioning, the
sarily mean that massive discrimina-
ance toward the executive, at the
Democratic Senators try to trick Mr.
tion is going on.
expense of Congress and individual
Thomas into uttering a conservative
Just as discrimination doesn't
rights.
Clarence Thomas will almost cer-
idea-on any issue from privacy to
come close to explaining group differ-
tainly intensify that trend if the Sen-
property rights. Such an utterance
ences, Mr. Sowell finds little evidence
ate confirms his nomination to the
would then be considered a "gaffe."
that government has played much of a
Court. For in his public comments
The Senators have even taken to
role in reducing them. In the U.S.,
over the last few years he has dis-
waving conservative books and arti-
Mr. Sowell has observed that blacks
played hostility toward Congress and
cles as if they were dangerous contra-
made more gains in the decade before
a worship of the Presidency going
band. Senator Kennedy accused Mr.
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 than in
beyond even this executive-minded
Court.
Thomas of cavorting in the intellec-
the decade after.
"There is little deliberation and
tual company of Thomas Sowell. This
In a world-wide survey of affirma-
even less wisdom in the manner in
is part of the project launched during
tive action called "Preferential Poli-
which the legislative branch conducts
the Bork hearings of redefining main-
cies: An International Perspective"
its business," he said in 1988.
stream conservative thinkers as deni-
the found that affirmative-action poli-
Congress is fair game for criticism,
zens of cloud cuckooland. Well, then,
cies mostly benefit the affluent mem-
and there was a basis for some of Mr.
let's take a look at the ideas of
bers of the group. Meanwhile it is the
Thomas's complaints. He was right,
Thomas Sowell.
for example, that some committee
poor members of the group who suffer
and subcommittee chairmen act as if
Mr. Sowell, like Mr. Thomas, was
the cultural backlash against those
they are entitled not just to scrutinize
born into a poor black family in the
groups perceived to be benefiting un-
executive agencies but to make their
South. He moved to Harlem as a boy,
fairly.
decisions.
got into trouble as a teen-ager, joined
Mr. Sowell stubbornly treats mem-
But the Thomas attacks went far
the Marines, became a Marxist in col-
bers of minorities as human beings,
beyond such particulars. He was
lege and then became a classical
who respond to cultural and economic
sweepingly contemptuous of Con-
economist.
incentives. He asked in a recent
gress.
"Ollie North did a most effective
Washington Post essay, "Is it possible
He has written on a dazzling array
job of exposing Congressional irre-
to din into the heads of a whole gener-
of topics, but by looking at racial is-
sponsibility," he said after Mr.
ation that their problems are all other
sues from an international perspec-
North's testimony to committees in-
people's fault: that the world owes
tive, he has managed to avoid the
vestigating the Iran-contra affair.
them an enormous debt; that every-
"He forced their hand, and revealed
charged rhetoric that-mars domestic
thing they have yet to achieve is an
the extent to which their public perso-
racial debate. He's come back from
injustice; that violence is excusable
na is a fake."
investigations in places ranging from
when the world is flawed-and yet ex-
Oliver North made one of the most
Fiji to Britain with a simple observa-
pect it all to have no effect on atti-
extreme claims of Presidential pow-
tion: "If blacks and whites in the
er in American history. It was that
tudes? Is the arduous process of ac-
United States were the same, they
he, as a Presidential agent, had a
quiring skills and discipline supposed
would be the only two groups on this
right to ignore the Constitution and
to be endured for years by people who
planet who are the same."
laws in order to carry out a policy
are told, by word and deed. that skills
that the President wanted: aiding the
This simple sentence undermines
are not the real issue?"
contra rebels in Nicaragua despite a
the entire liberal racial agenda of the
If Clarence Thomas said something
Congressional ban on aid.
past few decades. That agenda as-
like this in front of the Senate Judi-
In a series of speeches around the
sumes that when there is statistical
ciary Committee it would be consid-
country in 1987 and 1988, Mr. Thomas
praised Oliver North and ridiculed
disparity between groups it is neces-
ered a scandal. When common sense
Congress. He said the Congressional
sarily caused by discrimination, with
is taboo, the world is upside down.
investigation "beat an ignominious
government remedies being the only
For those interested in the ideas of
retreat before Colonel North's direct
solution. Mr. Sowell believes that in-
a leading conservative thinker, we of-
attack on it, and by extension [on] all
numerable factors go into making up
fer a Thomas Sowell reading list:
of Congress." He said Mr. North had
the characteristics of an ethnic group,
"The Economics and Politics of
made it "perfectly clear" that Con-
such as culture, history and economic
Race," "Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Re-
gress "is out of control."
background. Drawing on Mr. Sowell,
ality," "Markets and Minorities,"
Another striking example of his
worshipful preference for Presiden-
Clarence Thomas has pointed out that
"Knowledge and Decisions."
tial over Congressional power was his
attitude toward the statute calling for
judicial appointment of an independ-
Asides
ent counsel to investigate charges of
Fat Chance
wrongdoing by executive officials.
says, because the Agriculture Depart-
Congress passed the law after the
Rep. George Brown has targeted
ment doesn't know exactly what the
Watergate experience, when Presi-
the General Accounting Office to at-
kids are eating. In a perfect world.
dent Nixon tried to shut off the inves-
tack the federal school-lunch pro-
the government would turn it all over
tigation by firing special prosecutor
gram. The idea is that the govern-
to Rep. Brown who we're sure would
Archibald Cox.
ment should be offering a nutritionally
have no problem at all getting control
The radical right opposed the stat-
correct amount of cholesterol, fat and
of the nation's grade-school and high-
ute as an intrusion on Presidential
saturated fat, but it can't, Rep. Brown
school lunchrooms.
power. It claimed, among other
things, that appointment of the coun-
Board of Education" - the 1954 He gave such an answer when Sen- human nature and experience.
sel by judges was unconstitutional -
school segregation decision. He said ator Arlen Specter, Republican of A man who exalts Oliver North
an extraordinarily flimsy claim,
"conservative heroes such as the Pennsylvania, tried to explore his dis- must have a compelling belief in
sinçe an explicit clause of the Consti-
Chief Justice failed not only conser- paraging comments on Congress. Presidential supremacy. Oliver
tution allows Congress to vest ap-
vatives but all Americans" in uphold- "There may be disagreements when North was a dangerous subverter of
pointments in the courts.
ing the special prosecutor law.
one is in the executive branch," the Constitution. It seems to me ex-
In 1988 the Supreme Court resound-
On the witness stand before the Judge Thomas said, "but those dis- traordinary, and unacceptable, that a
ingly rejected the attack on the inde-
Senate Judiciary Committee, Judge agreements cease and policy-making promoter of his cause should be one
pendent counsel statute. The vote was
Thomas has tried to paint his past debates cease when one goes to the of the nine ultimate enforcers of the
7 to 1, the opinion by Chief Justice
speeches as irrelevant. They were judiciary."
Constitution.
Rehnquist.
politics, he has suggested, but now he It is a touching notion, that years of
Mr. Thomas bitterly attacked the
is a judge - and his public positions strongly expressed beliefs will be for-
decision, which he called "the most
will have no effect on how he decides gotten when someone goes on the
important Court case since Brown V. cases.
bench. But it defies common sense,
PAGE 320.48
George F. Will
Washington
DATE:
9/13/91
Fidelity to the Framers
PAGE: A25
Ted Kennedy sagged forward, his
Thomas has said some philosophic
are natural rights that exist prior to
face expressing both feigned and un-
things that were half-baked; he has
and independently of governments.
feigned puzzlement. Perhaps he was
occasionally changed his mind. A life
Legitimate governments are institut-
genuinely puzzled about why he was
of the mind involves changes of mind
ed to protect those rights. In 18th
supposed to act puzzled about the
as a result of reflection. That seems
century America, where land owner-
things he was asking Clarence Thom-
strange to some senators who use
ship was broadly enjoyed and univer-
as to discuss. But Kennedy plodded
consultants and "focus groups" to
sally aspired to, the right to acquire
through the business of bayoneting
stock their mental cupboards.
and dispose of property was the para-
the straw men that he, or more likely
Sen. Herbert Kohl (D-Wis.) is dis-
digmatic natural right.
his staff, had built for ritual slaying.
tressed that Thomas has said he does
The Framers who gathered at the
The senator from Boston said he was
not have "a fully developed constitu-
Constitutional Convention in 1787
worried, really, honest, no kidding, seri-
tional philosophy." Kohl sits on the
were alarmed by majoritarian excesses
ously worried about something Thomas
Judiciary Committee cheek-by-jowl
of state and local governments, includ-
once said about the Agriculture Depart-
with Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who wor-
ing debt relief and the devaluation of
ment not being necessary.
ries that Thomas is a "hard-line ideo-
debt by the issuance of paper money.
Thomas replied to Kennedy with
logue." This is yet more ritual. When
The convention designed our govern-
the patience of one who knows that
ment of limited, delegated and enumer-
the sins of his interlocutor do not
ated powers to protect, among other
include the sin of being sincere when
asking such silly questions. He said:
Perhaps Kennedy
things, the natural human right of
property. The Framers considered that
"Senator, in the statement in question
was genuinely
a fundamental human right because it
I was philosophizing that in a perfect
is indispensable to individual indepen-
world many government agencies
would not be necessary, but this is not
puzzled about why
dence, fulfillment and security.
The postulation of a "privacy right"
a perfect world
(defined in 1890 in an influential Har-
Indeed.
he was supposed to
vard Law Review article as "the right
Senate staffers, fresh from law
act puzzled.
to be let alone") was, Glendon says,
schools, their young minds, like their
provoked by new technologies of pho-
young faces, unmarked by life, are
tography and communications which
armed with Lexis and Nexis and the
Republican presidents keep their cam-
made possible forms of journalism
arrogance of their employers. They
paign promises to nominate conserva-
that invaded the privacy of the rich
have gathered 30,000 pages of docu-
tive justices, Democratic senators de-
and powerful. The privacy right was
ments (your tax dollars at what passes
nounce each nominee's vagueness as
extruded from, and by analogy with,
for work here) about Thomas. They
evasiveness and denounce each nomi-
the right to property, which is a
have been searching for a "smoking
nee's explicitness as "rigid ideology."
protected sphere of individual autono-
gun." The results are damp squibs,
Nowadays the confirmation ritual
my important to personal flourishing.
dribs and drabs of hypotheses and
invariably includes ideological incan-
Thomas was too timid, too con-
speculations about natural law and oth-
tation, the assertion that "human
cerned with the ill-informed anxieties
er categories that rarely are the com-
rights"-especially "privacy"-are
of many members of the Judiciary
mon currency of Senate discourse.
more "fundamental" than "property
Committee, to forcefully assert the
When Thomas said some of his past
rights." Well, now.
relevance of philosophy to constitu-
thoughts have been tentative and spec-
After digesting the 30,000 pages,
tional reasoning. He should have said:
ulative, Ralph Neas chortled. Neas is a
senators should read "Rights Talk:
A justice's obligation when construing
white man whose vocation is telling
The Impoverishment of Political Dis-
the Constitution is fidelity to the in-
blacks what is best for them (he heads
course" by Mary Ann Glendon, pro-
tentions of the Framers who created
a conglomeration of liberal lobbies). He
fessor of law at Harvard. She traces
its text and structure. That requires
cynically accused Thomas of cynicism,
the roots of the privacy right back to
taking seriously the Framers' natural
of having a "confirmation conversion."
the rich soil of property rights.
rights philosophy.
This, too, is ritual: First a nominee is
America's founding idea, expressed
Thomas does. Having heard the
caricatured, then when he disputes the
in its first constituting document, the
slovenly, trivializing questions from
caricature he is denounced for aposta-
Declaration of Independence, derives
Thomas's Senate critics, who can be-
sy and opportunism.
from natural law philosophy: there
lieve they do?
PAGE 330F 48
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
The Washington
DATE:
9/13/21
DATE: 9/13/91
PAGE:
A25
PAGE:
RID
Richard Cohen
come the consummate Senate insider. Only
Dixie Senators
such an insider could. as Mr. Heflin did,
chair a Senate ethics committee that ab-
solved the Keating Five.
An Abortion Agnostic?
Play It Safe
He proved his political. well, dexterity
during the Bork fight. He affected an ago-
Washington is a city of miracles. It
servative ideologue who-it goes al-
nized neutrality until the very end when he
was here during the 1970s that jurors
most without saying-would oppose Roe
With Thomas
opposed the conservative jurist. He then
were found who were so deaf in citi-
v. Wade. Moreover, this Thomas had all
explained to conservative Alabamans that
zenry that they swore they never
but said that. He had praised a speech
Mr. Bork had a "strange life style."
heard the rolling thunder of Water-
that was critical of the thinking behind
gate. Now something similar has hap-
Supreme Court nominations now resem-
Mr. Heflin even told one Alabama radio
the Roe decision. Of the 37 Episcopal
pened. Clarence Thomas, judge of the
ble heavyweight boxing spectacles. SO station that Judge Bork "refused to discuss
churches listed in the Washington area
appeals court, Reagan administration
think of Clarence Thomas this week as Mo- his belief in God, or lack thereof," accord-
Yellow Pages, he attends the very one
appointee, prodigious pamphleteer and
hammad Ali in his prime. He ducked and ing to Patrick McGuigan's book on the
that is best known for its implacable
after-dinner speaker, insists he has no
danced fast enough to make Senate Demo- nomination, "Ninth Justice." The senator
hostility to abortion. The fundamentalist
legal opinion about abortion.
crats miss punches like SO many palookas. knows such smears-lies-have political
Truro Episcopal has a bookstore that
It will now take an act of amazing brazen- uses; he could safely oppose the Reagan
Time and time again during his con-
sells antiabortion material.
ness to defeat him.
nominee only if Mr. Bork seemed, as Mr.
firmation hearings, Thomas was asked
Of course, anything is possible-es-
Such an act is not beyond the likes of Heflin also once said, "weird."
what be thought of Roe v. Wade, the
pecially in Washington. At the same time
Joe Biden, but it is unlikely because this Mr. Heflin is walking another high wire
1973 Supreme Court case legalizing
Thomas was testifying, so was Clark
time the South isn't rising again. The of hypocrisy in the Thomas nomination. He
abortion. His mind, he testified, was a
Southern Democrats who cast decisive affects a grand open mind: "To some you
blank on the subject. Better than that,
votes against Robert Bork risk paying a are the very embodiment of the American
it was a providential blank. To have an
much higher price to defeat the son of Pin dream.
opinion on the subject, Thomas said,
On other matters
To
others,
you
have
succeeded
Point, Ga. This is the political undercur- but forgotten your past and turned your
would somehow mean that he would
rent that explains liberal anxiety-and. in- back on others," he said Tuesday
prejudge an abortion case that might
creasingly. bitter frustration-with Mr. But his questioning has parroted the
come before the Supreme Court. He
both legal and
Thomas's refusal to debate Roe U. Wade or spin of the special-interest opposition.
would not want to do that.
Ralph Neas, the critics' resourceful rap-
This strange and fortuitous lack of
moral, Thomas has
"natural law."
Consider Wyche Fowler, the Georgia master, spun reporters in Senate corridors
either conviction or opinion on abortion
liberal whose voting record resembles Ted Tuesday that Judge Thomas had under-
turns out to be a singular thing. When it
opinions galore.
Kennedy's. Mr. Fowler joined conservative gone a "confirmation conversion," a can-
comes to affirmative action, habeas cor-
pus and other matters both legal and
Clifford. It was yet another miracle. The
Sen. Sam Nunn in introducing Mr. Thomas ard borrowed from the Bork fight. Sen. He-
to the Senate. saying he couldn't "think of flin used that line the next day.
moral, the judge has opinions galore.
trusted adviser to everyone, the most
a time of similar pride, both for myself He then led Judge Thomas on a prepos-
It's only when it comes to abortion,
sagacious and savvy man in town, a man
and for Georgians. except for the nomina- terously muddled discussion of natural
possibly the single most contentious and
so smart he knew double-breasted suits
tion of Georgian Martin Luther King Jr. law. He claimed the judge's answers some-
debated issue in American public life,
would make a comeback, said he did not
for the Nobel Peace Prize."
how put his "integrity" into question, an
that Thomas's mind is an empty lot.
know that the Bank of Credit and Com-
Such flattery is never without purpose. outrageous innuendo. In fact, Mr.
Even in law school, he told Sen. Patrick
merce International owned the bank of
Mr. Fowler knows his home-state mail is Thomas's response this week on natural
Leahy (D-Vt.), he did not discuss the
which he was president, First American.
60% favorable to Judge Thomas. A politi- law was virtually word-for-word the same.
case, and has not discussed it since.
The Clifford affair is both sexy and
cian who won his Senate seat in 1986 by a as the one he delivered 18 months ago at
It could be that Thomas's agnosti-
interesting, but it will pass. Not so
whisker will not want to take any undue his Senate hearing
cism is sincere. It's necessary to say
Thomas. He is a mere 43 and could be
risks before 1992. His safer vote now is to for the federal ap-
this because the man strikes me as a
on the Supreme Court well into the
support Judge Thomas.
peals court.
strange duck whose behavior is some-
next century. It goes without saying
The slipperiest Southerner to track is
Judge Thomas,
times inexplicable. I have never fath-
that his abortion position (should one
Howell Heflin, the Alabaman who sits on taking mentor John
omed why, when talking about welfare,
ever occur to him), might have an
the Judiciary Committee and looks like a
Danforth's
advice,
he had to make pejorative references
impact on the lives of American women
character from "Gone with the Wind,' was nonetheless re-
to his own sister. She was indeed on
and (dare I mention it?) on the men who
which come to think of it also well de- strained.
though
if
the dole for a time but only, she says,
might also be affected by an unwanted
such distortions con-
so she could stay home and tend to a
pregnancy. Given the odd rules of con-
tinue it wouldn't
dying aunt. Otherwise, the lady held a
firmation hearings, Thomas may be
Potomac Watch
hurt to play more of-
job, sometimes more than one. She is
within his rights to decide which of his
fense. He knows, as
hardly an example of indolence, and it
ideological or legal positions he will
By Paul A. Gigot
one Thomas adviser
was wrong, if not just plain cruel, to
discuss and which he will not. When it
puts it. that Sen. He-
talk about her that way.
comes to abortion, though, he says
flin "wants to make
Howell Heflin
But if Thomas really does have no
something unexpected: There is noth-
him seem like a
scribes his principles. Mr. Heflin may be
opinion about abortion, then he is not
ing to discuss.
weirdo who's outside the mainstream.
the wiliest poseur in the Senate, which is
the man President Bush said he was-
The U.S. Senate is not a court of the
saying something.
Mr. Heflin knows that only such a por-
and not the man he himself pretended
Spanish Inquisition. It lacks the neces-
His drawl, as slow as a muddy river,
trayal will change Alabama polls that now
to be. Bush said his nominee was the
sary tools to compel testimony-and a
seems to get even slower the closer he gets
show overwhelming support for Judge
best person for the Supreme Court. But
good thing, too. But senators can decide
to a TV camera. He affects a fair-minded
Thomas, among both blacks and whites. In
the best person would have a restless
for themselves what to make of Thom-
folksiness. but is really the most calculat-
the Bork fight, the assumption was that
mind, a probing intellect. He would
as's testimony about abortion. At one
ing of politicians. He came to Washington
liberal opponents threatened Mr. Heflin
approach the rock of the abortion issue
time, the question of where he stood on
in 1978 running as an outsider. but has be-
with a Democratic primary challenge, es-
and wonder what lies beneath it-the
pecially from a black. But this time Ala-
this matter was of utmost importance.
reasoning of the Roe decision itself.
Thomas has now framed the issue dif-
bama blacks are divided. The state's high-
Thomas, though, says he hasn't even
est black office holder, Attorney General
ferently: Is he a fool who had not even
Jimmy Evans. is a vocal supporter. A
read it-as if knowledge doesn't illumi-
thought about abortion or a knave who's
prominent 44-year-old black professor. W.
nate, but prejudices instead.
not being candid about his beliefs? Ei-
James Ellison, chairs the Citizens Commit-
All this comes as something of a
ther one is reason to wonder about
tee to Confirm Clarence Thomas, a grass-
surprise and amounts to a feint. The
Clarence Thomas and the sort of Su-
roots lobbying campaign led by the Ala-
Thomas we were promised is a con-
preme Court member he would make.
bama Family Alliance.
Such pressure explains why Mr. Heflin
asked that Judge Thomas meet privately
last week with 16, mostly liberal Alabama
blacks. The group has not declared its po-
sition yet, but one of its members said
Mr. Thomas had helped himself in the
meeting. The ever-timorous Mr. Heflin
knows the group of 16 may provide politi-
cal cover for his own vote.
Democrats griping about Mr. Thomas's
lack of "openness" have a point. but what
do they expect? They created the environ-
ment in which any incautious phrase will
be broadcast and distorted to show a nomi-
nee IS. as Mr. Heflin likes to say.
"strange." Mr. Thomas's cool. reasonable
PAGE
performance this week showed Americans
34
that he isn't the one with the credibility
problem.
Charles Krauthammer
The Washington
Required Groveling
HAYNES JOHNSON
DATE: 9/13/91
PAGE:
A25,2
"The higher-law background of the
American Constitution provides the
only firm basis for a just, wise and
constitutional decision.
Thomas Is Reflective of the Era
-Clarence Thomas, 1988
"At no point did I or do I believe that the
approach of natural law or that natural
n Clarence Thomas, America has
justify controversial actions. Not so,
rights has a role in constitutional
found the perfect symbol for these
according to Thomas's answers to
adjudication."
times. He fits a niche, but no one
repeated questions from senators. "I
-Clarence Thomas, 1991
can say which one. Ambiguity, not
don't see a role for the use of natural
For several years in many forums,
consistency, is his hallmark. Just when
law in constitutional adjudication,' he
Clarence Thomas stressed the impor-
you think you know who he is and what
testified Tuesday.
tance of natural law-meaning a high-
he wants, he suddenly shifts course. He
Which is the real Thomas? Who
er moral law beyond man-made
holds strong beliefs but not really. He's
knows? The Thomas of times past
law-in American law and ethics.
sternly ideological but judiciously
repeatedly gave strong opinions on
Yet, within 90 minutes of the start of
impartial.
divisive national issues before intensely
questioning before the Senate Judicia-
Thomas is either the ultimate
committed conservative groups. The
ry Committee, Thomas was ready to
right-wing revenge, a black man of the
Thomas of the hearings dismisses those
give it up.
rural South who turned from George
very opinions as the mere philosophical
Natural law? Just the musings of a
McGovern Democrat to Ronald Reagan
musings of a man in search of answers
"part-time political theorist," he told
Republican and will complete
not yet found. He asks the senators and
the committee.
destruction of the liberal agenda by
the nation to believe that he holds no
What about his praise of a magazine
rendering conservative Supreme Court
views about, and has never even
article arguing that on the basis of
rulings. Or he's the secret hope of the
discussed, America's single most
natural rights abortion could and
poor and powerless battered by the
explosive issue, abortion.
should be outlawed, an article he once
conservative tide that has radically
The contradictions are more than
called "a splendid example of applying
altered the nation's social compact over
philosophical; they are personal. For all
natural law? "A throwaway line," he
the last decade.
of the controversy surrounding him,
now explained. Indeed, Thomas as-
All of these contradictions, and more,
Thomas in person bears no
sured Sen. Kennedy, "to the extent
are being drawn sharply by Thomas
resemblance to the strident right-wing
that [the article] uses natural law to
during his confirmation hearings before
ideologue depicted by some critics
make a constitutional adjudication
the Senate Judiciary Committee.
before the hearings. The Thomas now
or to provide a moral code of some
Unlike David H. Souter a year ago,
on view appears thoughtful and
sort, I disagree with it."
Thomas arrived on Capitol Hill bearing
fair-minded, albeit an artful dodger, if
Come again? It is one thing for
a seemingly clear ideological record.
not dissembler; a man of warmth,
Thomas to deny now that he would
Little doubt existed about where he
compassion and eloquence who
use natural law for constitutional ad-
stood. As he remarked, in a humorous
possesses, as his mentor, Sen. John C.
judication. But to say that natural law
aside to the Senate panel, he told his
Danforth (R-Mo.) signaled, an appealing
should not even "provide a moral code
wife before the hearings that, if Souter
sense of humor.
was the stealth nominee with no paper
In one sense, all sides should be able
of some sort" is to make nonsense of
record, then he, Thomas, was the Big
to agree that Thomas has given the
the whole idea.
Foot of the paper trail.
nation a gift. He is forcing Americans to
This humble pie may or may not
So Thomas is-perhaps.
rediscover and reexamine their
have won Thomas liberal absolution
for his natural law heresies. But it did
Nowhere are these contradictions
grandparents.
serve to devalue the idea of natural
more striking than in the differences
That may be a mixed blessing
between Thomas's ideological record,
because the nation may not like what it
law and the seriousness of the man
who had so vigorously defended it.
compiled over years in numerous
learns about them. Were they, like his
articles and speeches, and the Thomas
grandfather, strong, self-reliant types
This was not self-deprecation, a quali-
who lived in the belief that the Lord
ty Sen. John Danforth rightly praised
of the confirmation hearings. On the
in Thomas. This was surrender.
issue of "natural law," for example,
helps those who help themselves? Were
Thomas was equally unwilling to
Thomas's prior statements strongly
they people of principle or prejudice,
racists or atheists, scoundrels or
rise in defense of his own intellectual
suggest that he holds committed views
that would motivate him to reach
sexists, rugged individualists or joiners,
past on the issue of property rights,
educated or ignorant, rich or poor, of
which, he had once told the American
beyond legal precedent to render
old or new stock?
Bar Association, deserved as much
ideological judgments on controversial
Or, more likely, were they a mixture
protection as other rights. Sen. Jo-
public issues.
of all these traits and more?
seph Biden, like any good liberal, was
Three years ago, writing in the
None of this clarifies the central
appropriately sharp in challenging
Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy,
question about Thomas: What kind of
Thomas's placing such a high value on
Thomas gave this view of what natural,
Supreme Court justice is he likely to be
property rights. Thomas offered a
or higher, law means when applied to
over the decades in which he might
quick and preemptive capitulation.
judicial rulings: "Rather than being a
serve? But for a nation that worships
Thomas's White House handlers
justification of the worst type of judicial
youth, is in constant flux, lives for the
have undoubtedly told him to roll over
activism, higher law is the only
moment and has lost its sense of place
for the Senate. Fine. But could he not
alternative to the willfulness of both run
and past, a little introspection about
at least have offered a modest de-
amok majorities and run amok judges."
what makes Americans distinctive and
fense of his previously stated views?
Clearly, that articulates Thomas's
how they got that way can't be bad.
Could he not have said, "Senator, with
belief that a judge can or should go
That doesn't mean that Thomas
respect, a mere three weeks ago the
beyond the written law, to paraphrase
should be confirmed. It does mean that
people of Russia overthrew a system
Fawn Hall's memorable remark in the
in viewing him, this contradictory
founded on the denial of property
Iran-contra congressional hearings, to
nation is getting a useful look at itself.
rights, a system that offered defini-
tive historical proof of our Founders'
offer Biden his sword. But at least it Yet a Supreme Court nominee is re-
belief in the value of property as a
would have been a surrender withquired to run away from these propo-
bulwark against tyranny. We live in a
dignity.
sitions if he is to be confirmed by the
Intellectual groveling has become
What is so odd about Thomas's Senate.
part of the required ritual for Senate
time when the whole world from Mos-
reversals is that he probably has a So Thomas will continue to say that
confirmation for the Supreme Court.
cow to Madagascar is recognizing
that the protection of property rights
majority of Americans with him on he really has no "prejudged" opinion
Robert Bork, who declined to grovel,
is one of the highest achievements of
most of his controversial views. Ason Roe v. Wade, which probably
learned that the hard way. David
any society, that property is the very
indicated by their votes against taxa-makes him the only sentient adult in
Souter was exempted from the game.
basis for civil society because it gives
tion over the last decade, most Amer- country who doesn't. He will con-
He was not required to undergo ritual
the individual a sphere of autonomy
icans value property rights very high- to say that property rights are
self-denial because there was no self
ly. And in this, the most deeply not half as important as he implied
to deny. He came before the Senate
and privacy from which to confront an
religious country in the West, most they were just a few years ago. And
as an intellectual non-entity. Thomas
all-powerful government. Let us not
citizens would agree that there is a he will continue to say that he did not
did not. It is sad to see him pretend to
be too quick to devalue it"?
higher law beyond the Constitution really mean what he, a mere amateur
be one now.
Thomas could then have gone on,
as instructed by the White House, to
and the laws of Congress that estab- political theorist, once said about nat-
PAGE 35
OF
lishes a moral framework for society. ural law.
ALAN KEYES
The Mashington Times
DATE: 9/13/91
PAGE:
FI
Advantage of
the Constitution isn't to represent
blacks or whites: it's to seek justice
the pride effect
for all.
These favorable impressions
have come through unequivocally
during the hearings. I believe they
will further strengthen the positive
A
fter the first few days of his
his performance has confirmed the
judgments people, and especially
hearings before the Sen-
president's opinión of his intelli-
blacks, have made about Judge
ate Judiciary Committee,
gence, his thoughtfulness, his fair-
Thomas.
it has become increas-
ness. his knowledge of the law, his
Whatever litmus tests the biased
ingly clear that Judge Clarence
respect for the Constitution.
leadership of the black establish-
Thomas' critics are going to have a
As an individual, he is clearly
ment may try to impose, regular
very hard time denying him Senate
highly qualified to join the justices
foiks will respond to the inevitable
confirmation as a Supreme Court
already serving on the court. As his
sense of pride Judge Thomas' pre-
justice.
chief leftist inquisitor, Sen. Howard
sentation has to inspire.
This isn't because of his up-from-
Metzenbaum, Ohio Democrat, has
Up against senators backed by
poverty background, or because he
admitted, he'll fit right in.
staffs. thumbing through volumi-
has satisfied his critics that he will
Of course, Mr. Metzenbaum was
nous notes and memos, he sits
vote their way on controversial is-
expressing his objection to the fact
calmly, without notes or aides, artic-
sues like abortion that may come be-
that Judge Thomas might share the
ulately drawing upon his own knowl-
fore the Supreme Court. It's because
generally conservative leanings of
edge and experience. As that image
the majority of justices already on
is beamed across the country, into
the court. Despite Judge Thomas'
classrooms and homes in poor black
obvious qualifications. Mr. Metzen-
neighborhoods and communities.
baum believes confirmation should
our young learn an object lesson
be denied because Judge Thomas
more important and powerful than
refuses to ally himself with the left-
all the rhetoric the so-called civil
wing agenda.
rights leaders can muster. They
This refusal is in fact one indica-
learn that they can make it. that they
tion of his most important qualifica-
have the potential. the spirit. the in-
tion - his unwillingness to prejudge
cases and issues based on a precon-
nate capacity to serve their commu-
ceived political agenda. Because
nity and their country at whatever
Judge Thomas refuses to be biased,
level they choose.
Mr. Metzenbaum says he is un-
Beyond this, there is an impor-
qualified.
tant lesson for the country as a
I doubt that many fair-minded
whole. Anemic and discouraged
Americans will agree with him. I be-
souls sometimes disparage this
lieve that in any case the general
country's future prospects because,
impression Judge Thomas makes on
they say, we haven't the wherewithal
the public will be more important
to compete with Japan and other
than his specific answers to the
countries now nipping at our eco-
questions put to him. Most of us re-
nomic heels. They cite with dismay
alize that we can't know or control
the fact that more and more of our
how he will vote on future cases.
work force in the future will be com-
However, he comes across as a
posed of minorities.
highly decent, knowledgeable man,
Clarence Thomas' performance
confident of his own judgment with-
reminds us that quality is not a func-
out being arrogant or overbearing.
tion of background or material cir-
Though his experiences as a black
cumstances. Great souls exist
American have deeply influenced
among the poor. among the strug-
and sensitized his heart and mind, he
gling working people who are the
has also made the effort to think as
backbone of this nation's strength.
an American about the great princi-
One result of Judge Thomas'
ples of our republic.
hearings will be his confirmation.
But beyond that, they offer us the
He will be able to see all sides,
chance to celebrate the human
making his decisions with respect
riches America has developed. It
for the fact that a justice's role under
just feels good to know that people
of this caliber are available to enrich
and secure our country's future.
Thanks to that good feeling, senators
who vote to confirm this nomination
will do so with the same pride their
constituents are feeling as they
watch the process unfold.
PAGE
360.48
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
Background and Ability
DATE:
9/12/91
PAGE:
Qualify Thomas for Court
At a time when the war against
confirmation will advance the
life." Lobbyists who fuel this in-
By Stephen M. Shapiro
drugs and violent street crime are
cause of civil rights. In Dean Cal-
ferno may well do more harm to
of nationwide concern, it is reas-
abresi's words, "He is a decent
their own credibility than to the
suring to see Judge Thomas's
human being, who cares pro-
nominee.
mastery of criminal law. His opin-
foundly for his fellows
[He]
HE Supreme Court's work
Clarence Thomas's career as a
T
ions show a reluctance to reverse
does know the deep need of the
extends to every facet of
public servant and his personal
criminal convictions on, legal
poor
and
especially
of
poor
life in the United States.
triumph over poverty and dis-
technicalities, but a readiness to
blacks, and wants to help."
Each year the high court consid-
crimination make it impossible to
set aside convictions that are un-
As chairman of the EEOC, Cla-
ers more than 4,000 applications
credibly characterize him as a re-
supported by the evidence. Judge
rence Thomas went to court on
for review and renders decisions
actionary jurist insensitive to
Thomas has dealt sternly with
behalf of victims of racial discrim-
in approximately 160 cases.
racial justice.
drug dealers in several opinions,
ination far more often than his
Plainly, a Supreme Court nomi-
predecessors. He adopted a new
nee's qualifications must be con-
including his affirmance of a.con-
Stephen M. Shapiro, a part-
policy of bringing every meritori-
sidered against the broad range of
viction of drug traffickers plying
ner at Mayer, Brown & Platt in
ous case to litigation and insisted
issues that the justice will con-
their wares in an "open am drug
Chicago, is a former deputy so-
on tough new sanctions for viola-
front, not only this year but for
bazaar" in the nation's capital (US
licitor general. He has argued
tors. During his tenure as EEOC
many years to come.
V. Rogers). A judge who is-tough
cases for the federal govern-
Because of these realities, the
on crime but alert to unfairness in
chairman, he collected nearly $1 ment in the Supreme Court and
Senate confirmation hearings on
the criminal justice system will
billion on behalf of American is co-author of "Supreme Court
Clarence Thomas should not be
not appear outside the main-
workers. And he chastised the Practice" by Stern, Gressman &
focused exclusively on abortion
stream of American opinion.
Reagan administration for what Shapiro.
or racial quotas. They should ex-
The Supreme Court sits atop a
he believed to be tardiness in pur-
plore Judge Thomas's judicial fit-
pyramid of agencies and bureaus
suing voting rights reform.
ness, measured by his independ-
that regulate the private enter-
Significantly, Thomas's own
ence, integrity, ability, and life
prise system, and it makes law in
experience with racial discrimina-
experience. Evaluated under
business disputes under a host of
tion is not confined to abstract
these traditional standards, Cla-
constitutional and statutory pro-
theory. As he explained in a re-
rence Thomas is an excellent
visions. Because its jurisdiction
cent interview, "I've showed up in
choice for the Supreme Court.
as a business regulator is nation-
some of the nicest places in this
Diversity of experience is an
wide and its word final, the Su-
city [Washington, D.C.]. You walk
important qualification for a
preme Court has much to do with
in one of the top-of-the-line
judge on any court. Thomas's
the competitiveness and prosper-
restaurants, people look at you
story is an impressive one. Raised
ity of our economy. Thomas has
like you're out of your mind In
in an environment of discrimina-
delivered a series of thoughtful
my own neighborhood, I used to
tion and deprivation, but edu-
opinions in business cases. In one
get stopped by the cops." Ex-
cated by family members and
widely publicized antitrust case
periences such as these are not
teachers committed to the values
(US V. Baker Hughes Inc.), he
likely to be forgotten by a newly
of discipline and scholarship, he
thoroughly refuted the Bush ad-
appointed Supreme Court justice,
attended Holy Cross and Yale Law
ministration's economic analysis.
nor are they likely to be dupli-
School. In a course on federal tax-
Some critics have found trou-
cated by another nominee if
ation - among the most daunting
bling Thomas's scholarly writing
Thomas is rejected.
courses a law student faces -
on constitutional interpretation,
Thomas's opposition to quotas
Thomas's examination answers
including his references to "natu-
and racial preferences arises not
ral-law" reasoning, a legacy of the
from a reluctance to challenge
were held up by the professor as
framers of the Declaration of In-
discrimination, but from an hon-
a model for the rest of the stu-
dependence, who believed certain
est disagreement over the best
dents.
fundamental principles of liberty
means to achieve racial equality.
After law school, Thomas
and equality to be self-evident.
Racial preferences, in his view, re-
worked as a lawyer in the private
Thomas's sympathy for nat-
sult in unfair reverse discrimi-
sector, served as an assistant at-
ural-law reasoning derives from
nation, while perpetuating de-
torney general in Missouri, joined
the founders of the Constitution
pendence upon a welfare state.
Sen. John Danforth's staff in
and the writings of Abraham Lin-
Only the most rigid advocates
Washington, and served as assist-
coln. If special-interest advocates
of racial quotas and preferences
ant secretary in the Department
are uneasy about this tradition, it
would suggest that Thomas's
of Education. As chairman of the
is a reflection of their own dis-
views are disqualifying for a posi-
Equal Employment Opportunity
tance from the American main-
tion on the Supreme Court. Most
Commission (EEOC), Thomas
stream.
Americans, who support the goal
rehabilitated an agency that had
Thomas's sharpest opposition
of a color-blind legal system,
earned harsh criticism from the
comes from certain leaders of the
agree with his assessment.
General Accounting Office,
civil rights movement who have
boosting both the efficiency and
criticized his views on quotas and
morale of his staff.
racial preferences. But this differ-
Perhaps the best measure of
P
ERSONAL attacks on Judge
Thomas, voiced in the press
ence over one facet of the civil
in recent weeks, do little to
Thomas's judicial fitness is his
rights agenda should not obscure
advance the search for the nomi-
record as a judge on the Court of
Thomas's accomplishments as a
nee's judicial qualifications. Flor-
Appeals for the District of Colum-
crusader for racial justice. As he
ence Kennedy, a pro-choice advo-
bia Circuit, second in importance
explained in one of his prior Sen-
cate, is quoted as stating that
only to the Supreme Court. Al-
ate confirmation hearings: "The
"we're going to Bork him. We're
though he has served for only one
reason I became a lawyer was to
going to kill him politically."
year, Thomas has participated in
make sure that minorities. indi-
Thomas himself appears to be
deciding more than 100 appeals
viduals who did not have access
braced for the worst. As he com-
and has written majority opinions
to the society, gained access."
mented in a recent interview,
in more than 20 cases.
Those who know him best.
"When you're up before those
His
opinions
are
concise
and
such as the liberal dean of the
confirmation hearings, it's like
clear, written with recognition
Yale Law School. Guido Calabresi.
going through Dante's Inferno.
that the public is entitled to prac-
and Margaret Bush Wilson.
When you get up there. you
tical
guidance
from
appellate
former
national
chair
of
the
just hope that you don't get de-
judges.
NAACP. predict that Thomas's stroyed so that even if you don't
make it. you can go on with your
PAGE
37
OF
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
DATE:
9/12/91
PAGE:
Judge Thomas Is Locked in to Laissez Faire
law. I think he was right in 1968 and that
empted. How is this question to be an-
By James Boyle
his words have some profound implica-
swered about Judge Thomas?
tions for Judge Thomas.
In comments that have often been
All judges have an ideology, a set of
quoted since his nomination to the Su-
values and criteria that they use to "illu-
preme Court, Judge Thomas once por-
A
S Judge Clarence Thomas's confir-
minate" the meaning of the law. For some,
trayed his sister, Emma Mae Martin, as
mation hearings proceed, some
the intent of the framers is what counts;
welfare-dependent, trapped in a cycle of
senators will object to scrutiny of
for others it is economic efficiency. Some
weakness and reliance on the govern-
his beliefs. After all, they will say, this is
judges think the words of the law alone
ment. This is the picture that his laissez
a judge. His job is to apply the law, not
will decide the case; others think that you
faire philosophy tells him "must" be there.
make it. The Senate should be concerned
must look to its purpose, or to some gen-
But as Joel Handler pointed out in a letter
with his competence, not his empathy for
eral set of principles underlying our social
to the New York Times, the reality is en-
the powerless or his view of the world.
order. This issue cuts across party lines.
tirely different.
There is an answer to this objection.
Conservatives habitually browbeat lib-
Ironically, it comes from another contro-
erals with charges of "judicial legislation,"
but they, too, cannot agree among them-
preme Court, Judge Robert Bork. "It is
selves on the right way to interpret the
I
N fact, Ms. Martin's story is that of a
versial conservative nominee to the Su-
woman who, unlike her brother, was
not sent to live with their business-
naive to suppose that the [Supreme]
law. (Judge Bork, for example, has at one
man grandfather. Instead, she finished
Court's present ills could be cured by ap-
time or another believed each of the
high school, married, had children, and
pointing justices determined to give the
above views to be "undeniably" correct.)
worked hard to support her family at a
Constitution 'its true meaning, to work at
Judge Thomas apparently favors natu-
variety of grueling minimum-wage jobs. a
'finding the law' instead of reforming so-
ral-law philosophy and laissez faire politi-
task made all the more difficult after her
ciety. The possibility implied by these
cal theory as his guides to the meaning of
husband left her. She went on welfare for
comforting phrases does not exist
The
the law. Should this disqualify him from
a time only to take care of a sick relative.
question is not whether courts should
confirmation? Not at all. But if all judges
Ms. Martin is now working as a cook. Of
make the law, but how and from what ma-
have an ideology, then the Senate should
her three children. one is employed. one
terials."
reconsider the questions it wants to ask.
has been laid off. and the third is in
Judge Bork wrote these words in 1968.
One important question is whether this
school.
Then, it seemed obvious to him that the
particular judge would ever modify his
Professor Handler concludes that this
vagaries of language and history made it
creed because of compassion or contrary
story is not one of welfare dependency.
impossible for a judge simply to "apply"
evidence, or whether it shapes his percep-
but of courage in the face of racism.
the law. Things are clearer to him now. He
tions so strongly that contrary evidence
structural poverty. sexism. and lousy
says he has no difficulty in "finding" the
will be explained away, compassion pre-
health care - all problems to which Judge
Thomas seems remarkably indifferent.
Judge Thomas deserves sympathy,
The nicest thing one could say about
these comments is that Judge Thomas's
philosophy is SO ingrained that he insists
F you watched Clarence
Thomas tell the story of
COMMENTARY
but
on it even when it is contradicted by the
facts, even when Horatio Alger could not
his early life and didn't
feel a catch in your throat,
Justice Thomas.
have overcome the structural barriers in-
then you have a problem. If
When the time came for
of questions about recent
volved. Even when it is his own sister. Can
court decisions, Thomas
that story becomes the rea-
questioning, Thomas
ap-
peared decidedly uncomfort-
seemed almost eager to give
we doubt he would do the same thing as
son for his confirmation,
his views on them.
a Supreme Court justice when the people
then we have a problem.
able with some of the probes
Sen. Joe Biden sent his way.-
The point is that Clarence
whose lives depended on his decisions
His vividly painted portrait
of growing up poor and black
Why did he praise a pub-
Thomas has some tough, le-
were strangers?
gitimate questions to answer,
Twenty years ago, Robert Bork told us
in the apartheid South of the
lished "natural law" theory
that would forbid all abor-
and those questions have to
1950s was touching and en-
do with his sense of what the
that the question was not whether judges
tions? It was, he said, a
raging. We will not soon for-
Constitution means. They are
would have to make law, but how. The
"throwaway" line, a murmur
get the image of two small
of politeness to the author
not questions that can be an-
greatest judges have made law with rever-
boys, with all their belong-
whose large checkbook had
swered by a resort to the ven-
ence, with an understanding for the pow-
ings in shopping bags, being
underwritten
erable political tradition of
conservative
erless that illuminates the legal materials.
sent to live with their grand-
It
pointing to the log cabin you
causes.
was
a
to
parents because their
way
get
were
born
in
to
They have had a skepticism about power
conservatives to look kindly
prove
your
mother could not afford to
link to ordinary folks.
- all forms of power, whether governmen-
raise them.
on civil rights.
What did he mean by sug-
Because the nominating
tal or corporate or entrenched in a com-
I have absolutely no doubt
process has indeed become
gesting
that
"economic
munity. They have had a respect for un-
about the authenticity of
rights" needed to be elevated
"political" in recent years,
ruly facts and a willingness to doubt.
Judge Thomas' memories,
both sides have resorted to
or the force those memories
to a higher level of constitu- tactics once thought unimag-
Thurgood Marshall was such a justice.
tional respect? Nothing inable in confirmation pro-
The record indicates that Mr. Thomas is
have on his life. I have a
great deal of doubt, however,
much; under the gentle prod- ceedings.
not. The confirmation hearings should
about whether any of this
ding of Orrin Hatch, Judge
Thomas assured the com-
Television ads are one sign;
ask whether he falls below not only the
JEFF
mittee he had no intention of
the recruitment of Washing-
standard of greatness. but the standard of
going back to the pre-New
ton consultant Kenneth Du-
the acceptable.
GREENFIELD
Deal days of striking down
berstein to organize a public
government regulation of
relations campaign and to
James Boyle is a Visiting Professor
tells us anything about
the economy.
"prep" nominees for their
whether he should become
Senate appearances is an-
of Law (II Boston University Lau
Is there a constitutional
right to privacy? Yes, but other.
School.
Judge Thomas would not
It's understandable, given
sketch out even a hint of
the fate of Robert Bork, that
what that might mean -
the White House has sought
that would, he said, affect his
to "sell" this latest nominee
impartiality in future cases.
as if he were running for of-
But when Sen. Strom Thur-
fice. And it is true that some
mond read. apparently un-
of Thomas' likely opponents
comprehendingly, a long list
are prepared to use just
about any club they can find
with which to belabor him.
These excesses, however,
success story. which he
seem to have spawned the
surely is, that alone will
idea that if Thomas can pre-
prove he belongs on the
sent himself as an inspiring
highest court in the land. It
doesn't - and it shouldn't.
PAGE
380.48
The Washington Times
DATE: 9/13/91
PAGE:
A4
PRUDEN ON
POLITICS
By
Wesley Pruden
Slipping a noose
in the Senate
Clarence Thomas is giving the Senate's Burning-
Bra Patrol, mostly Democrats, a lesson in basic
constitutional law, and it hurts.
Several times yesterday Judge Thomas was asked
to say what he thinks about a woman's constitu-
tional right, if there is one, to an abortion.
Every time, Judge Thomas, who earlier had said
he finds a right of privacy for married folks in the
Constitution but wouldn't say whether this includes
the right to an abortion, replied: "Whether or not I
have a view is irrelevant."
And so it is, since the duty of a justice of the U.S.
Supreme Court is to interpret the Constitution, not
his own congeries of opinions, summer wishes, win-
ter dreams, hunches, prejudices and whims.
This common-sensical view was once the settled
norm in American law, and one day it may be again,
but the rule of judicial whims and theoretical
wishes, hardly questioned for decades, has so indoc-
trinated a generation of Americans that basic con-
stitutional principles often sound quaint, like the
throaty roar of a Duesenberg.
that his own considerable avoirdupois is made up
The judge sat alone at the witness table, neither
not of cornmeal mush and blubber but of rectitude
scribbling notes nor thumbing reference books, and
and sobriety, sneered at Judge Thomas' candor and
he declined to talk about what he might have said
caution, Ifis willingness to consider everything
in speeches and articles, when he was free to be an
anew as he takes on the unique duties of a Supreme
advocate, and before he subjected himself to the
Court justice. This, he said, gives the judge the
discipline of a written Constitution.
"appearance of a confirmation conversion." Without
If this is stressful to the judge, he isn't showing
so much as blushing, Mr. Heflin says he may now
it. The strain of trying to conduct a lynching with a
have questions about the judge's "integrity and tem-
man skilled in bobbing his head just enough to slip
perament."
the noose, on the other hand, is beginning to show
Howard Metzenbaum of Ohio, the most oleagi-
on the Democratic tormentors. Joe Biden of Dela-
nous senator since the late Theodore G. Bilbo of
ware, trying to get Judge Thomas to say something
Mississippi prowled the corridors of the Capitol,
he doesn't want to say about the theory of natural
proclaimed, with his usual unctuousness, that since
law, finally told the nominee: "That's the most
Judge Thomas did not give the answers he wants he
unartful dodge I've heard."
finds it "more difficult to vote for him." This doesn't
Poor Joe. He had no
make sense, since Mr. Metzenbaum had said even
doubt picked up somebody
before the hearings started that he would vote
else's questions and notes
against confirming Judge Thomas.
and, left on his own,
The television camera has given the average
couldn't find the right
American a glance at the way we choose and con-
page.
firm our Supreme Court nominees, but only a
The Democratic obses-
glance. There are no cameras on the chaos outside
sion with abortion contin-
the hearing room, where pols and pressies, together
ues, which is the one topic
with "spokespersons" for groups of every hue and
we wouldn't imagine it
cry, jostle for a chance to launch a sound bite.
possible that any of these
The National Organization for Women feels in-
old geezers still has a per-
sulted by Judge Thomas, the Women's Legal De-
sonal stake in. When the
fense Fund says the judge treats women as second-
session recessed someone
class citizens. Why these women with so much
asked Paul Simon of Illi-
contempt for men in their hearts imagine they'll
Alan Simpson
nois what he thought of
ever need the services of an abortionist is one of
the judge's persistent refusal to say he had an opin-
the enduring mysteries of American politics.
ion. "If that's so," said Mr. Simon, "he's the only per-
At day's end, Alan Simpson of Wyoming, a Repub-
son gathered in the room who does not have an
lican, summed up the growing bipartisan sentiment.
opinion."
"You've got 'em," he told Clarence Thomas. "They're
Howell Heflin of Alabama, who tries to suggest
very frustrated by you."
PAGE
41
or
What's
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
*
*
News-
Air Force Secretary Rice dropped a po-
tential bombshell in the debate over the B-2
bomber by acknowledging that the plane
DATE: 9/13/91
can be detected more easily by certain long-
range radars than the Pentagon has said.
PAGE:
IA
(Story on Page B6)
World-Wide
Rep. Boxer or moderate Rep. Levine would
*
be a stronger candidate. Levine is the best-
CIA records raised questions as to when
financed but has done little with a strong po-
BUSH WARNED he would use his veto to
Robert Gates was warned that profits from
sition, and doubts persist about the nega-
delay approval of Israeli loan guarantees.
U.S. arms sales to Iran were being diverted
tive-campaign style of his consulting firm,
to aid Nicaragua's Contra rebels. Gates is
The president declared that "nothing
Berman D'Agostinoto.
should be done that might interfere" with a
Bush's nominee to head the CIA. Separately,
Some California Democrats are relieved
ex-CIA aide Clair George pleaded innocent
Mideast peace initiative as he appealed for
that Brown is out of the Senate contest. "His
to 10 criminal charges tied to the Iran-Con-
a 120-day delay in congressional consider-
negatives are still SO high that he'd have
ation of the $10 billion in loan guarantees.
tra affair. (Story on Page B2)
trouble winning a race,' says Democratic
Bush also said he wouldn't promise unequiv-
consultant Paul Maslin, who is working for
A Cuban emigre was sentenced to 12
ocal support for the aid package even if
Dianne Feinstein's bid for the other Senate
years in prison for his role in the 1976 car-
Congress postpones action on it. In Jerusa-
seat. Conservatives fear that Republicans
bomb killing of Chilean diplomat Orlando
lem, the official reaction to Bush's position
will nominate two moderates for the Senate
Letelier in Washington. Virgilio Paz Ro-
was low-key. Israel received the body of a
races, but can't seem to do much about it.
mero, 39, received the maximum term al-
soldier missing in Lebanon and allowed a
There is a glimmer of hope for ad-
Palestinian deportee to return home. The
lowed under a plea-bargain agreement.
vancing the state's presidential primary.
*
*
*
trade improved chances for a comprehen-
"There is majority sentiment for mov-
sive hostage swap. (Story on Page A8)
House members took 4,000 privately
ing the primary," says newsletter editor
funded trips in 1989 and 1990, two-thirds of
A Lebanese government minister told
Bill Bradley, but a plan is elusive.
which were paid for by corporations and
Reuters news agency that an American
hostage and a European captive will be
trade associations, according to a report by
DRAFT CHOICE? Texas Sen. Bentsen
released within a week.
Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group.
leaves open the option that he could be a
The leading trip sponsors were the Chicago
*
*
*
Democratic presidential candidate. Though
Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile
The Kremlin expects a Soviet troop with-
he says "I don't have any plans to run,"
Exchange, the report said.
drawal from Cuba to be matched by the re-
friends say he doesn't want to close the door
moval of U.S. forces from Guantanamo Bay
completely. One potential plus: He already
and a halt to U.S. military maneuvers in the
Washington Wire
has a nationwide fund-raising base that
region, Foreign Minister Pankin told re-
could move quickly.
porters in Moscow. He said that visiting Sec-
retary of State Baker indicated Washington
A Special Weekly Report From
STEALTH MESSAGE: White House
would consider the demands.
Chief of Staff Sununu insisted on TV last
The Wall Street Journal's
The Security Council recommended that
weekend that Bush has plugged a capital
the three newly independent Baltic republics
Capital Bureau
gains tax cut in every other speech during
be admitted to the U.N. Meanwhile, the EC
his presidency. But according to White
said it would study a Soviet request for $7.25
House transcripts, Bush has made only one
billion of food to help ease expected winter
RISING TENSIONS on Israeli aid por-
passing reference to capital gains in 45
tend a confrontation nobody wants.
shortages. In Soviet Georgia, the opposition
speeches and remarks since June 4.
"Both sides realize this could be a bloody
held more protests to press for the resigna-
tion of President Gamsakhurdia.
fight that should be avoided," says a top Is-
COMPTROLLER CLARKE faces new
raeli diplomat. Pro-Israeli groups say they
*
*
*
blasts as his confirmation hearing nears. A
Some Senate Democrats criticized Su-
can live with a delay in $10 billion of housing
coming GAO report critical of his handling
loan guarantees if Bush will promise to back
preme Court nominee Clarence Thomas for
of Bank of New England's problems charges
the aid. But Bush, who yesterday vowed tc
avoiding the topic of abortion during his con-
that regulators were inattentive to $300 mil-
veto an aid bill now, would lose all leverage
firmation hearings while answering ques-
lion in real-estate loans to the failed bank's
on Israeli settlements.
tions about a number of other important
insiders. The Senate Banking Committee
constitutional issues. (Story on Page A12)
Lawmakers are unhappy with having to
will fault Clarke for not conducting enough
support the aid now. Democrats face the di-
*
*
on-site bank exams to catch problems.
Philippine guerrillas declared a unilat-
lemma .of complaining there isn't enough
money for domestic problems such as health
eral truce to celebrate the Philippine Sen-
EXPERTS WARN the Soviets face a ma-
ate's expected rejection of a new military
care while supporting the high-profile aid.
jor health crisis. Visiting Project Hope
Republicans don't want to cross Bush. "I
base treaty with the U.S. The rebels an-
teams find serious shortages of basic drugs
am personally disappointed that the Israeli
nounced the cease-fire in their 22-year-old
and medical supplies, exacerbated by a lack
government didn't heed" his request for de-
insurgency after President Aquino met with
of hard currency to import the goods. U.S.
senators and conceded defeat in her effort
lay, says GOP Sen. Kassebaum of Kansas.
foundations and religious organizations look
Privately, many lawmakers support
to keep U.S. forces in the Philippines.
to step up relief efforts.
Bush's stance but fear opposing the po-
*
*
litically powerful Israeli lobby.
The Senate passed legislation revoking a
THE SEC CHAIRMAN moves quickly to
ban on abortion counseling by federally
capitalize on the Salomon scandal.
FRUSTRATED DEMOCRATS move to
funded clinics, and allowing taxpayer-paid
Chairman Breeden, eager to broaden
abortions for women who are victims of
break last fall's budget agreement.
SEC powers in the wake of abuses in Treas-
Democratic lawmakers chafe under the
rape or incest. The measure, adopted 78-22,
ury-bond auctions, plays up his agency's
faced a veto threat from Bush. -
five-year budget accord's separate limits for
lack of jurisdiction over the bidding. At
domestic, defense and foreign aid. In what
hearings, he calls the bidding processes at
Zulu leader Buthelezi expressed doubts
Massachusetts Rep. Frank calls "Operation
the Treasury and Fed "by no means state of
about whether a peace pact he is due to sign
Jericho," they want to tear down the walls
the art. Lawmakers on the securities com-
tomorrow with the South African govern-
between the three SO they can take money
mittees blast the other two agencies and
ment and the African National Congress
from defense to pay for domestic items such
praise the SEC's law-enforcement unit.
would work. Buthelezi, head of the Inkatha
as unemployment compensation and farm-
New legislation would give the SEC
ers' disaster aid.
movement, accused the ANC of hypocrisy in
broader powers to use the securities laws
agreeing to sign the accord while failing to
Most members of both parties expect the
against false bidders. Other measures would
accept an Inkatha request for talks.
real showdown to occur early next spring.
widen its mandate by forcing securities
But the first breach in the agreement may
firms to put new monitoring devices in
come this fall in final work on the next fiscal
The shuttle Discovery rocketed into
place. Even the Treasury turns to the SEC.
space from Cape Canaveral. Fla., with five
year budget. Under this scenario, Bush
involving the agency for the first time in its
astronauts and a research observatory de-
would have to accept added domestic spend-
plan to automate the bidding process.
signed to study the shrinkage of the Earth's
ing and a defense cut in exchange for for-
The SEC also is asked to join a regu-
protective ozone layer.
eign aid to the Soviet Union. But the White
latory panel to beef up surveillance in
House and even House Democratic leaders
*
*
the Treasurys market.
Yugoslavia's defense minister rejected
oppose changing the accord for now.
President Stipe Mesic's calls for the federal
MINOR MEMOS: Peter. Paul and
army to pull back in Croatia. and two Croats
BROWN'S DECISION to run for presi- George? A Stanford University centennial
quit the national cabinet out of frustration
dent roils California politics.
celebration show will feature both 60s folk
that fighting persists. Mesic. meanwhile. ac
With the former governor dropping his singer Joan Baez and a speech by former
cused the Serb-dominated army of staging
Senate bid. Lt. Gov. McCarthy leads polls in Secretary of State Shultz on "the New World
what amounted to a coup by defying his or-
the Democratic race to replace retiring Sen. Order.
He's
no
Joe
Montana:
New
der to return to barracks in Croatia.
Cranston. But most experts think liberal York Fed president Corrigan says of the $23-
million-a-year pay of a Salomon Brothers
trader. "This guy probably can't even throw
a forward pass.
-Compiled by RONALD SHAFER
ing. Chief among these, however, is the
requirement that judges recognize the
udges and
limits of their own authority out of
The Washington Post
respect for the rule of law.
The scope of a judge's authority is
settled not by natural law but by the
DATE:
8/12/91
Natural
constitutional allocation of political au-
PAGE:
A17
thority among the judicial and other
branches of government. Belief in natu-
Law
ral law, therefore, is perfectly consistent
homas
with fidelity to the Constitution as the
supreme law of the land and with a
commitment to judicial restraint.
Supreme Court nominee Clarence
The answer to liberals is simpler still.
Thomas has expressed a belief in natural
A belief that good law honors natural
law and natural rights. In the overheat-
human rights does not resolve the ques-
ed, brightly lit arena of Supreme Court
tion of what those rights are or who has
politics, that simple allegiance has
them. Thomas's endorsement of natural
caused consternation at both ends of the
law theory, and (contrary to some re-
political spectrum.
ports) even his praise for Lewis Lehr-
Some conservatives, who insist that
man's article applying natural law theo-
judges should stick to the "original un-
ry to the question of fetal rights, does
derstanding" of the Framers and ratifiers
not commit him to the proposition that
of constitutional provisions, wonder
laws permitting abortion are unconstitu-
whether Thomas might eschew "judicial
tional (or even that they are morally
restraint" and look beyond the Constitu-
wrong). Natural law arguments have
tion to natural law as a primary source of
been made by thoughtful people on both
principles for resolving constitutional cas-
sides of the abortion question.
es.
For example, University of Pennsyl-
Some liberals, who applaud when judg-
vania Prof. Michael Moore, probably the
es of their own stripe purport to discover
leading exponent of explicit natural law
"unenumerated" rights in background
theory among American legal scholars,
principles not spelled out in the Constitu-
vigorously defends Roe v. Wade on the
tion, worry about how Thomas might
very principle that abortion rights are
exercise that prerogative. They are con-
natural rights. What Thomas praised in
cerned that his ideas about what natural
Lehrman's article could also be praised
rights people have and when they come to
in Moore's writings, namely, an under-
have them could turn out to be distress-
standing of the Constitution as protect-
ingly different from their own.
ing true human rights and as constitut-
The fretful on both the left and the
ing, in the words of Justice Brennan, "a
right misunderstand the basic idea of
grand location on human rights and.
natural law. Believers in natural law and
dignity."
natural rights hold that there are true
Whatever may be Thomas's view of
standards or principles of morality that
the rights and wrongs of abortion, his
human beings are bound in reason to
commitment to natural law and natural
respect and that among these are norms:
rights neither requires nor permits him
of justice and human rights that may not
to treat the Constitution as a vehicle for
be sacrificed for the sake of social utility.
imposing his own ideas about morality
These beliefs should alarm neither liber-
and public policy. A Supreme Court
als nor conservatives. While a few more
justice with the firm moral foundation of
skeptics and hard-core utilitarians can
a belief in natural law and a responsible
be found in both camps, most liberals
judicial philosophy that prevents him
and conservatives share a belief in "nat-
from confusing his own judgments of
ural" (i.e., true, not merely conventional)
morality and policy with the mandates of
principles of justice and right, however
the Constitution, is the best protector of
much they disagree about the exacts
law and liberty that Americans, liberal
content and implications of some of
or conservative, could wish for.
these principles.
If you believe that, say, slavery is
The writer, a member of the
inherently unjust and should therefore-
Department of Politics at Princeton
have been abolished regardless of who or
University, is a graduate of Harvard
how many people benefited from it, then
Law School and holds a doctorate in
you are a natural lawyer of some sort.
legal philosophy from Oxford
As Laurence Tribe, one of Thomas's
University.
most vociferous liberal critics, has con-
ceded, the philosophy of natural law and
natural rights was the philosophy of the
Framers of our Constitution. And long
after the founding generation had passed
into history, America's greatest states-
men and moral leaders, from Abraham
Lincoln to Martin Luther King Jr., contin-
ued to invoke this philosophy when they
demanded the overthrow of slavery, seg-
regation and other injustices in the name
of "higher law" and "natural justice."
How odd, therefore, to declare that
Clarence Thomas's belief in natural law
and natural rights makes him unfit to
interpret the Constitution.
Nevertheless, conservatives ask:
How can someone who believes in natu-
ral law practice judicial restraint? And
liberals ask: Isn't someone who believes
in natural rights bound to oppose abor-
tion and to read his opposition to abor-
tion into the Constitution?
The answer to conservatives is sim-
ple. The existence of principles of natu-
ral justices does not entail the proposi-
tion that judges are authorized to
substitute their own understanding of
these principles for the understanding
set out in the Constitution. True, the
tradition of natural law theorizing in-
cludes elements of a philosophy of judg-
PAGE
16
OF
45
Miller 317
wrote the
In regard to environmental issues, Marshall spoke for
practice. In 1881, after the resignation of Associate Justice
), holding
the Court in both Hodel V. Indiana and Hodel V. Virginia
Noah Swayne, Matthews was nominated to the Supreme
le jeopardy
Surface Mining and Reclamation Association (1981), hold-
Court by Pres. James Garfield.
1 as federal
ing that federal strip mining reclamation requirements did
Matthews's nomination to the Court in 1881 was actu-
the Court's
not infringe on the powers reserved to the states by the 10th
ally his second; in 1880, his nomination by President Hayes
He was the
Amendment and were a legitimate exercise of the constitu-
had been rejected by the Senate on the grounds that
:h held that
tional power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce.
Matthews's former railroad and corporate clients might exert
e criminal
undue influence on his judicial decisions. His subsequent
d with the
nomination was confirmed by a majority of only one vote.
supporting
MATTHEWS, STANLEY
During his eight-year tenure on the Court, Matthews
e dissented
b. July 21, 1824; various legislative and judicial positions
ruled on several important commercial and economic issues.
v. Oregon
in Ohio; U.S. senator (1877-1879); associate justice, U.S.
In Yick Wo V. Hopkins (1886) he wrote the Court's opinion
iry convic-
Supreme Court (1881-1889); d. March 22, 1889.
holding that a city licensing scheme that was administered
lefendant'
in a racially discriminatory way was unconstitutional. He
beyond
wrote the majority opinion in Bowman V. Chicago and North
Western Railway Company (1888), in which the Court over-
nting opin-
turned a state law prohibiting the shipment of alcoholic
tes should
beverages as a restriction of interstate trade. His most impor-
ot only in
tant constitutional decision came in the case of Hurtado V.
to prison,
California (1888), which held that states may charge private
ithorizes
a
citizens with crimes without the prior indictment of a grand
n Furman
jury. His opinion was one of the Court's most important
ate capital
discussions of the meaning of "due process of law."
as (1976),
Matthews served on the Court until his death in
shment is
Washington, D.C., in 1889.
rohibition
oted to set
il crimes
MILLER, SAMUEL FREEMAN
mendment
b. April 5, 1816; associate justice, U.S. Supreme Court
Stanley
(1862-1890); d. October 13, 1890.
laws that
Born in Richmond, Kentucky, and having received a
a criminal
medical degree from Transylvania University in 1838, Miller
landmark
began a law career relatively late in life. While practicing
ich estab-
medicine in Barborville, Kentucky, he studied law in his
determine
spare time and was admitted to the bar in 1847, at age
and thus
thirty-one. As an opponent of slavery, he moved his family
nendment
to Keokuk, Iowa, in 1850, becoming a partner in a local law
ement in
firm. After the Dred Scott decision (Scott V. Sandford, 1857),
1 Employ
Miller became active in the Iowa Republican Party and was
held that
Stanley Matthews
a candidate for governor in 1861. In 1862, Miller was
property if
appointed to the Supreme Court by Pres. Abraham Lincoln
S decision
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of the president of
to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Associate Jus-
Woodward College, Matthews was educated at Kenyon Col-
tice John Campbell of Alabama.
landmark
lege (Class of 1840) and studied law in Cincinnati. In 1842,
Miller's career on the Court was long and influential.
stitutional
he moved to Tennessee and was admitted to the bar, later
He was described by Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase as
Harris
establishing a private practice in Columbia. A supporter of
"beyond question the dominant personality" on the Court in
caid fund-
James Polk, Matthews edited the weekly Tennessee Demo-
his steadfast support of individual rights against vested
ts of indi
crat in 1843 and after his return to Ohio the following year,
interests. In the Reconstruction period he was a strong advo-
Taylor E
he edited the Cincinnati Morning Herald. In 1848, he was
cate of federal power. He wrote the dissenting opinion in Ex
selection
elected clerk of the Ohio House of Representatives. He later
parte Garland (1867), in which Chief Justice Chase, Jus-
violation
served in the Ohio Senate (1855-1857) and as U.S. attorney
tices Swayne and Davis joined, supporting the requirement
Rostker K
for the southern district of Ohio (1858-1861). In 1863, after
of loyalty oaths for lawyers, teachers, and ministers during
men from
active service in the 23rd Ohio Infantry and 51st Ohio
the period immediately following the Civil War. Justice
violates
Volunteers, Matthews served as judge of the Cincinnati supe-
Miller wrote the dissent in Hepburn V. Griswold (1870) and
rior court, resigning two years later to pursue his private law
was joined by Justices Swayne and Davis, arguing the right
marshall TP of Tom C. clark TP of
Frank nurphy TP to Pierce
B:
Butler Tp of william R. Day
TP of George Shras Jr. TP of
Joseph P. Bradley TP00 James
wayne TP of willram Johnson
TP if Alfred Moore TP 00
James Iredell
who was apt. by washington
Brief Biographies 875
civil and constitutional rights. He won Supreme Court
to
approval of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, voluntarily in-
he
formed the Court that the government had used electronic
Carolyn
eavesdropping devices in two cases, and joined in a suit
that successfully overturned a California constitutional
profes
amendment that prohibited open housing legislation.
gener
On June 13, 1967, President Johnson chose Marshall
Deal in
aca-
Thurgood Marshall
to become the first black justice of the Supreme Court.
(1967-)
jobs in
le-
curities
dminis-
U.S. Supreme Court
of
the
le Har-
Born: July 2, 1908, Baltimore, Maryland.
Education: Lincoln University, A.B., cum laude, 1930;
Warren Earl Burger
the law
Howard University Law School, LL.B., 1933.
(1969-1986)
became
Official Positions: judge, Second Circuit Court of Ap-
tutions.
peals, 1961-1965; U.S. solicitor general, 1965-1967.
embers,
Supreme Court Service: nominated associate justice by
President Lyndon B. Johnson June 13, 1967, to replace
portant
Tom C. Clark, who retired; confirmed by the Senate
aber of
August 30, 1967, by a 69-11 vote.
allenge
Family: married Vivian Burey, September 4, 1929, died
U.S. Supreme Court
c sena-
February 1955, two sons; married Cecelia Suryat, Decem-
Born: September 17, 1907, St. Paul, Minnesota.
during
ber 17, 1955.
Education: attended the University of Minnesota, 1925-
one of
1927; St. Paul College of Law (now Mitchell College of
Personal Background
Law), LL.B., magna cum laude, 1931.
rtas in
Official Positions: assistant U.S. attorney general, Civil
y gen-
Marshall was the son of a primary school teacher and a
Division, Justice Department, 1953-1956; judge, U.S.
Idberg
club steward. In 1926 he left Baltimore to attend the all-
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, 1956-1969.
B U.S.
black Lincoln University in Chester, Pennsylvania, where
Supreme Court Service: nominated chief justice by Pres-
a va
he developed a reputation as an outstanding debater. After
ident Richard Nixon May 21, 1969, to replace Chief
ortas's
graduating cum laude in 1930, Marshall decided to study
Justice Earl Warren, who retired; confirmed by the Sen-
law and entered Howard University in Washington, D.C.
ate June 9, 1969, by a 74-3 vote; retired September 26,
ention
During his law school years, Marshall developed an
1986; replaced as chief justice by William H. Rehnquist,
to the
interest in civil rights. After graduating first in his law
named by President Ronald Reagan.
events
school class in 1933, he began a long and historic involve-
Family: married Elvera Stromberg, November 8, 1933;
Ding.
ment with the National Association for the Advancement
one son, one daughter.
18 and
of Colored People (NAACP). In 1940 he became the head
ed to
of the newly formed NAACP Legal Defense and Education
vealed
Fund, a position he held for more than twenty years.
Personal Background
local
Over those two decades, Marshall coordinated the
Burger was the fourth of seven children of Swiss and
fund's attack on segregation in voting, housing, public ac-
German parents. Financially unable to attend college full
since
commodations, and education. The culmination of his ca-
time, Burger spent the years following his 1925 graduation
n
reer as a civil rights attorney came in 1954 as chief counsel
from high school attending college and law school evening
itable
in a series of cases grouped under the title Brown v. Board
classes-two years at the University of Minnesota and four
stock
of Education. In that historic case, which Marshall argued
at St. Paul College of Law, now Mitchell College of Law. To
before the Supreme Court, civil rights advocates convinced
support himself, Burger sold life insurance.
pro-
the Court to declare segregation in public schools uncon-
After graduating with honors from law school in 1931,
ron
atitutional.
Burger joined a respected law firm in Minnesota, where he
He
practiced until 1953. He also taught part time at his alma
in
nain.
Public Career
mater, Mitchell College of Law, from 1931 to 1948.
Burger developed a deep interest in art and is an
In 1961 Marshall was appointed by President Kennedy
accomplished sculptor; as chief justice, he served as chair-
to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, but because of
man of the board of the National Gallery of Art. He is also
heated opposition from southern Democratic senators, he
an antiques buff and a connoisseur of fine wines. He also
was not confirmed for a year.
served as chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution.
Four years after he was named to the appeals court,
Marshall was chosen by President Lyndon B. Johnson to
be the nation's first black solicitor general. During his years
Public Career
is the government's chief advocate before the Supreme
Soon after beginning his law career in Minnesota, Bur-
Court, Marshall scored impressive victories in the areas of
ger became involved in Republican state politics. In 1938