The quote database

a Constitution is not intended to embody a particular economic theory, whether of paternalism and the organic relation of the citizen to the state or of laissez faire

The only difference between the expression of an opinion and an incitement in the narrower sense is the speaker's enthusiasm for the result.

we ought to give our friend pain if it will benefit him, but not to the extent of breaking off our friendship; but just as we make use of some biting medicine, that will save and preserve the life of the patient

freedom in speech is friendly and has weight, but reproach is selfish and little

He who is wise tries to harmonise the wishes that seek for self-gratification with the wish for the social good, and only thus can he realise his higher self.

The laws of friendship are austere and eternal, of one web with the laws of nature and of morals.

Truth is the summit of being; justice is the application of it to affairs.

Work rather for those interests which the divinities honor and promote,--justice, love, freedom, knowledge, utility.

If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion

"Inherent differences" between men and women, we have come to appreciate, remain cause for celebration, but not for denigration of the members of either sex or for artificial constraints on an individual's opportunity.

neither federal nor state government acts compatibly with the equal protection principle when a law or official policy denies to women, simply because they are women, full citizenship stature -- equal opportunity to aspire, achieve, participate in and contribute to society based on their individual talents and capacities

We have long since made clear that a state of war is not a blank check for the President when it comes to the rights of the Nation's citizens.

It is during our most challenging and uncertain moments that our Nation's commitment to due process is most severely tested; and it is in those times that we must preserve our commitment at home to the principles for which we fight abroad.

I do not pretend to understand the moral universe, the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways. I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. But from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness

A constitution is a thing antecedent to a government, and a government is only the creature of a constitution.

It is never wrong to do the right thing.

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it

Extreme altruism is no better and no nobler than extreme selfishness; both are mistakes.

Marshall's statement cannot be read to mean in any sense that a President is above the law

We should make every effort to prevent humiliating and degrading prohibition against any of our citizens wishing temporarily to sojourn in foreign countries because of race or religion.

The public officials charged with executing the law might do injustice in heated controversy through unconscious pride of opinion and obstinacy of conclusion.

that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials

a punishment must not by its severity be degrading to human dignity

We do not consecrate the flag by punishing its desecration, for in doing so we dilute the freedom that this cherished emblem represents.