Former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer on solving problems through compromise
November 14, 2024 – The key to dealing with challenging issues is finding common ground with others—even if you’re at odds with them, according to former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
Breyer spoke on Nov. 8 to a packed house in Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Snyder Auditorium. The event, which also drew more than 150 online attendees, was moderated by Andrea Baccarelli, dean of the faculty.
Breyer served as an associate justice on the nation’s high court from 1994 until 2022, and is currently the Byrne Professor of Administrative Law and Process at Harvard Law School. During the discussion, he noted that many situations require reaching a consensus with people who have differing opinions—from deciding the result of a legal case, to passing a bill in Congress, to tackling public health issues.
“Try to see where [other people are] coming from,” he advised the audience. “What is it that’s bothering them? What can you say that, given that point of view, can help bring several people to agreement? Maybe not perfectly, but maybe better than nothing.”
– Jay Lau
Photo: Kent Dayton
