From what court decision does the following quote come from and who wrote it:
"Wisdom seldom comes to man so it should not be rejected if it comes a little late."

The exact quote is "Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not
to reject it merely because it comes late." Its author was former U.
S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter, dissenting in
Henslee v. Union Planters Bank, 335 U.S. 600 (1948).

From the Legal Information Institute: 

The Court held in Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994), that a state
prisoner may not maintain an action under 42 U.S. C. §1983 if the
direct or indirect effect of granting relief would be to invalidate
the state sentence he is serving. I joined the Court?s opinion in
Heck. Mindful of ?real-life example[s],? among them this case, cf.
id., at 490, n. 10, I have come to agree with Justice Souter?s
reasoning: Individuals without recourse to the habeas statute because
they are not ?in custody? (people merely fined or whose sentences have
been fully served, for example) fit within §1983?s ?broad reach.? See
id., at 503 (Souter, J., concurring in judgment); cf. Henslee v. Union
Planters Nat. Bank & Trust Co., 335 U.S. 595, 600 (1949) (Frankfurter,
J., dissenting) (?Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not
to reject it merely because it comes late.?).

Legal Information Institute
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/96-7171.ZC1.html

The case in which this quote was originally issued was this one:

Mr. Justice FRANKFURTER, dissenting. 
Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely
because it comes late. Since I now realize that I should have joined
the dissenters in the Merchants Nat. Bank of Boston case, 320 U.S. 256
, I shall not compound error by pushing that decision still farther. I
would affirm the judgment, substantially for the reasons given below.

FindLaw: Supreme Court Opinions
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=335&invol=595

Locating the quote was made easier by my awareness that Justice
Frankfurter was its source. I did not recall the precise wording of
the quote; this is the Google search string that brought me the best
results:

Google Web Search: "frankfurter" + "wisdom" + "comes" + "late"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=frankfurter+wisdom+comes+late

I hope this information is useful. If anything is unclear, or if a
link does not function, please request clarification; I'll gladly
offer further assistance before you rate my answer.

Best regards,
pinkfreud

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Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 23 Mar 2004 16:54 PST

Please excuse a typographical error in my answer.

I wrote:

"Its author was former U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Felix
Frankfurter, dissenting in Henslee v. Union Planters Bank, 335 U.S.
600 (1948)."

I should have written:

"Its author was former U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Felix
Frankfurter, dissenting in Henslee v. Union Planters Bank, 335 U.S.
600 (1949)."

The case was argued Dec. 4, 1948, and was decided Jan. 3, 1949. 

~pinkfreud

Dear Pinkfreud-ga:  Thank you so very very much.  I am an attorney and
my mentor quoted this all the time.  And now, after practicing law for
almost 25 years I find myself using the quote more and more.  You've
opened a door for me that long has been closed.  How very lovely of
you and how much I appeciate your insight and wisdom.  Bless
you....Ronnie

Thank you very much for the kind words, the five stars, and the generous tip!

~pinkfreud

Thank you also for reminding me of this quote, which I had not
encounted since my university days, more than thirty years ago. Felix
Frankfurter was a remarkable man, and his words are likely to live for
a long time.

~pinkfreud