Justice Robert Jackson (one of the great justices and writers in Supreme Court history and a former Solicitor General) once gave a parable about three stone masons, each of whom was asked what they were doing. The first answered, “Earning my living”; the second replied, “I am shaping this stone to pattern”; but the third said, “I am building a Cathedral.” Applying the parable to appellate advocates, Justice Jackson explained:
The attitude and preparation of some show that they have no conception of their effort higher than to make a living. Others are dutiful but uninspired in trying to shape their little cases to a winning pattern. But it lifts up the heart of a judge when an advocate stands at the bar who knows that he is building a Cathedral.
Seth P. Waxman, In the Shadow of Daniel Webster: Arguing Appeals in the Twenty-First Century, 3 J. App. Prac. & Process 521, 528 (2001)