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.