All the great utterances of man have to be judged not by the letter but by the spirit — the spirit which unfolds itself with the growth of life in history.

You did in your twenties what you knew how to do, and when you knew better you did better. And you should not be judged for the person that you were, but for the person that you're trying to be and the woman that you are now.

it is absurd … to hope that maybe another Newton may some day arise, to make intelligible to us even the genesis of but a blade of grass ("Dialectic of Teleological Judgment" §75)

Judicial judgment must take deep account...of the day before yesterday in order that yesterday may not paralyze today.

Measure a man by his actions fully, through his whole life, from the beginning to the end.

Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?

The European view point of exploitation of women in Europe compared to the African American women shows an inaccurate judgment.

A truly enlightened ruler uses the law to select men for him; he does not choose them himself. He uses the law to weigh their merits; he does not attempt to judge them for himself.

Shame is not in the beatings, not in the rape. Shame is in being asked to stand judgment.

Who are you to judge the life I live?
I know that I'm not perfect and that I don't claim to be,
so before you point your fingers make sure your hands are clean.

From your place of darkness observe the defects of others. See but do not appear to see; listen but do not seem to listen; know but do not let it be known that you know. When you perceive the trend of a man's words, do not change them, do not correct them, but examine them and compare them with the results.

There will always be some people who think for themselves, even among the self-appointed guardians of the great mass who, after having thrown off the yoke of immaturity themselves, will spread about them the spirit of a reasonable estimate of their own value and of the need for every man to think for himself.