There is an accuracy that defeats itself by the overemphasis of details. I often say that one must permit oneself... a certain margin of misstatement. Of course, one must take heed that the margin is not exceeded, just as the physician must be cautious in administering the poisonous ingredient which magnified will kill, but in tiny quantities will cure. On the other hand, the sentence may be so overloaded with all its possible qualifications that it will tumble down of its own weight. 'To philosophize,' says Holmes in one of his opinions--I am quoting him from uncertain and perhaps inaccurate recollection--"to philosophize is to generalize, but to generalize is to omit." The picture cannot be painted if the significant and the insignificant are given equal prominence. One must know how to select.
-- Cardozo, Benjamin. Law and Literature. (From "MacPherson v. Buick Motor Co.: Simplifying the Facts While Reshaping the Law," James A. Henderson, Jr. Torts Stories. Robert Rabin, Stephen Sugarman, eds.)
