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
political-revolution rights-in-america freedom-of-speech
Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.
constitution court keepers
The court is really the keeper of the conscience, and the conscience is the Constitution.
constitution nations conscience
The conscience of this nation is the Constitution.
common-sense church unions
The First Amendment, however, does not say that in every and all respects there shall be a separation of Church and State. Rathe, it studiously defines the manner, the specific ways, in which there shall be no concert or union or dependency one on the other. That is the common sense of the matter. Otherwise the state and religion would be aliens to each other.
heart daggers wilderness
A road is a dagger placed in the heart of a wilderness.
party technology air
Inanimate objects are sometimes parties to litigation. A ship has legal personality...The corporation...is an acceptable adversary and large fortunes ride on its cases...So it should be as respects valleys, ridges, groves of trees, swampland, or even air that feels the destructive pressures of modern technology and modern life.
moral-leadership court ability
The Court's great power is its ability to educate, to provide moral leadership.
medicine use patents
No patent medicine was ever put to wider and more varied use than the Fourteenth Amendment.
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.
legislation
We do not sit as a superlegislature to weigh the wisdom of legislation.
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.
sunlight
Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
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.