Richard Posner

“A good legal system should be predictable.”

“There is no such thing as a 'living Constitution' in any meaningful sense.”

“The true function of a judge is to be the mouth of the law.”

“The basic function of law is to preserve the status quo.”

“My judicial philosophy is pragmatism.”

“A constitution states or ought to state not rules for the passing hour, but principles for an expanding future.”

“Economics is the science of rational choice in a world of scarcity.”

“The law is a tool for social control, not a source of ultimate truth.”

“A judicial opinion has to be an explanation of a decision, not just a vote.”

“Higher education is a business.”

“Law is the enterprise of subjecting human conduct to the governance of rules.”

“The problem is not that there are too many lawyers, but that there is not enough justice.”

“The demand for justice is not infinite.”

“The cat is out of the bag. There is no such thing as a pure separation of powers.”

“The only reason for having a President is to have somebody who can make decisions.”

“Privacy is the right of the individual to be let alone.”

“I see the judge as an umpire.”

“We should not be slaves to the past, but we should also not be ignorant of it.”