William O. Douglas
William O. Douglas
William Orville Douglaswas an American jurist and politician who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas was confirmed at the age of 40, one of the youngest justices appointed to the court. His term, lasting 36 years and 209 days, is the longest term in the history of the Supreme Court...
William O. Douglas quotes about
annoyed challenges needs
We who have the final word can speak softly or angrily. We can seek to challenge and annoy, as we need not stay docile and quiet.
expression ideas different
Motion pictures are of course a different medium of expression than the public speech, the radio, the stage, the novel, or the magazine. But the First Amendment draws no distinction between the various methods of communicating ideas.
legislation
We do not sit as a superlegislature to weigh the wisdom of legislation.
order law people
World federation is an ideal that will not die. More and more people are coming to realize that peace must be more than an interlude if we are to survive; that peace is a produce of law and order; that law is essential if the force of arms is not to rule the world.
religious real may
Religious experiences which are as real as life to some may be incomprehensible to others.
anniversary together sacred
Marriage is a coming together for better or for worse, hopefully enduring, and intimate to the degree of being sacred.
adventure men richness-of-life
I learned early that the richness of life is found in adventure. Adventure calls on all the faculties of mind and spirit. It develops self-reliance and independence. Life then teems with excitement. But man is not ready for adventure unless he is rid of fear. For fear confines him and limits his scope. He stays tethered by strings of doubt and indecision and has only a small and narrow world to explore.
abuse liberty speech
The framers of the constitution knew human nature as well as we do. They too had lived in dangerous days; they too knew the suffocating influence of orthodoxy and standardized thought. They weighed the compulsions for restrained speech and thought against the abuses of liberty. They chose liberty.
friendship struggle good-friend
The 5th Amendment is an old friend and a good friend. one of the great landmarks in men's struggle to be free of tyranny, to be decent and civilized.
writing eight liberty
The first opinion the Court ever filed has a dissenting opinion. Dissent is a tradition of this Court... When someone is writing for the Court, he hopes to get eight others to agree with him, so many of the majority opinions are rather stultified.
religious war political
The right to revolt has sources deep in our history.
sunlight
Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
yesterday history democracy
Free speech is not to be regulated like diseased cattle and impure butter. The audience that hissed yesterday may applaud today, even for the same performance.
violence use persuasion
The use of violence as an instrument of persuasion is therefore inviting and seems to the discontented to be the only effective protest.