Tut, man, decide promptly, but never give any reasons for your decisions. Your decisions may be right, but your reasons are sure to be wrong.

William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield (1705–1793) British barrister, politician, judge, legal reformer

Quoted in John Cordy Jeaffreson, A Book About Lawyers, Vol. 1, ch. 12 (1867)
    (Source)

When asked by the new governor of a West Indies island how to apply the law.