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.
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.
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.
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.
expression freedom-of-speech firsts
The censor is always quick to justify his function in terms that are protective of society. But the First Amendment, written in terms that are absolute, deprives the States of any power to pass on the value, the propriety, or the morality of a particular expression.