Harvard Law School - Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

Page 24 text:

MR. JUSTICE BRANDEIS by PAUL A. FREUND I-IE achievements of Mr. justice Brandeis were so various, his learning so profound, his resourcefulness so formidable, that it would be easy to mis- take these for the measure of the man. These were, indeed, the marks of a dedicated life, but it was the dedication that gave it greatness. To realize the promise of America through law - that men might share to the limit of their capacity in the American adventure - was for him the lawyer's supreme task. In him the 1awyer's genius was dedicated to the prophet's vision. In his hand the sword and the flame were one. Thus dedicated, his life had the simplicity of greatness. He believed that responsibility is the developer of men, and that excessive power is the great corrupter. Care is taken, he liked to quote, that the trees do not scrape the skies. These beliefs unified and illuminated all his labors. They gave direction to his tireless mastery of detail. They are revealed in the measures he advocated at the bar: an increased share for labor in the problems and rewards of manage- mentg a limit on corporate pyramids, the maintenance of competition. They gave coherence and moral intensity to his judgments on the bench: the strengthening of federalism, freedom of expression, the fallibility of judges exercising supreme power. They gave profound meaning to his advice to young lawyers: that this country is not simply Washington, much less New York, that talents and training should be carried back to the service of one's own community. Fidelity to his beliefs cost him ease but never serenity. His faith in the moral awareness of men gave him strength and unquenchable courage. To flag- ging spirits he would hold up the banner that could never be struck: brains, rectitude, singleness of purpose, and time. For no man do the words of the good gray poet come more fittingly: The pride of the United States leaves the wealth and finesse of the cities and all returns of commerce and agriculture and all the magnitude of geography or shows of exterior victory to enjoy the breed of full-sized men or one full-sized man unconquerable and simp1e. 22

Page 23 text:

0 O 7 DY Y f Before turning fo fgc curve: gear, fe! ug FCll1S5,CU18 Fax fvig nfs fo gina Q80 uiogefx go MF fge ibcvlfg for Qgicg fgig OCLIQ PfaXc5 a guggfcudiafy Pav! in as jugfingw foci, lo Ciobcvg Fifi gcc Gnagef 0. ccagefcgg fig! if Scgoofj glmbg. 865 Qvig3om Pr againgf fgs injugficcg offgc amber Frcvaif7ir13w Suringw gig Xoutg, Gl1b 5aGv 185 CX7Cl1flldfCgs1!138 in lgcxf ovbcr. Sfcmivfar of jugficc 0 dlib gunianifx, Qs ig cu geacog fo tge mcg of 8'CavGav3 gcaffv fgtl Qvovh over. 805 namt, - o - Ocouig Ecmgifsg Afranscig 0 o 1

Page 25 text:

Louis DEM1s1Tz BRANDEIS 23