Hugo Lafayette Black (1886–1971) was an American politician and jurist. A member of the Democratic Party, Black represented Alabama in the United States Senate from 1927 to 1937, and served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1937 to 1971. Black was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 63 to 16 He was first of nine Roosevelt nominees to the Court, and he outlasted all except for William O. Douglas. Black is widely regarded as one of the most influential Supreme Court justices in the 20th century.
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The public welfare demands that constitutional cases must be decided according to the terms of the Constitution itself, and not according to judges’ views of fairness, reasonableness, or justice.
—Hugo Black
Topics: Welfare
A man’s inner nature is revealed by what he praises-a man is self-judged by what he says of others. Thus a man is judged by his standards, by what he considers the best. And you can’t find a more crucial test. It reveals the soul.
—Hugo Black
Topics: Praise
It is the paradox of life that the way to miss pleasure is to seek it first. The very first condition of lasting happiness is that a life should be full of purpose, aiming at something outside self. As a matter of experience, we find that true happiness comes in seeking other things, in the manifold activities of life, in the healthful outgoing of all human powers.
—Hugo Black
Topics: Goals, Aspirations, Happiness
Criticism of government finds sanctuary in several portions of the 1st Amendment. It is part of the right of free speech. It embraces freedom of the press.
—Hugo Black
Topics: Criticism
The United States has a system of taxation by confession.
—Hugo Black
Topics: Taxes
When I was 40, my doctor advised me that a man in his forties shouldn’t play tennis. I heeded his advice carefully and could hardly wait until I reached 50 to start again.
—Hugo Black
Topics: Aging
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