Constitution Quotes

“The true significance of slavery in the United States to the whole social development of America lay in the ultimate relation of slaves to democracy. What were to be the limits of democratic control in the United States? If all labor, black as well as white, became free – were given schools and the right to vote – what control could or should be set to the power and action of these laborers? Was the rule of the mass of Americans to be unlimited, and the right to rule extended to all men regardless of race and color, or if not, what power of dictatorship and control; and how would property and privilege be protected? This was the great and primary question which was in the minds of the men who wrote the Constitution of the United States and continued in the minds of thinkers down through the slavery controversy. It still remains with the world as the problem of democracy expands and touches all races and nations.”
― W.E.B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America 1860-1880

“I can’t believe you would represent a killer like that Jake. I thought you were one of us.
xxx
‘Gotta have a lawyer, Helen. You can’t put the boy in the gas chamber if he doesn’t have a lawyer. Surely, you understand.’
xxx
‘...I can’t imagine doing that for a living, representing killers and child rapists and such.’
‘How often do you read the Constitution?’
‘...the Constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, says that a person accused of a serious crime must have a lawyer. And that’s the law of the land.”
― John Grisham, A Time for Mercy

“From the fact that the rule of law is a limitation upon all legislation, it follows that it cannot itself be a law in the same sense as the laws passed by the legislator. Constitutional provisions may make infringements of the rule of law more difficult. They may help to prevent inadvertent infringements by routine legislation. But the ultimate legislator can never limit his own powers by law, because he can always abrogate any law he has made. The rule of law is therefore not a rule of the law, but a rule concerning what the law ought to be, a meta-legal doctrine or a political ideal. It will be effective only in so far as the legislator feels bound by it. In a democracy this means that it will not prevail unless it forms part of the moral tradition of the community, a common ideal shared and unquestioningly accepted by the majority.”
― Friedrich A. Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty

“Even today, American political conflicts are defined by the limits of American citizenship and who is allowed to claim it. In this sense, [Frederick] Douglass understood that until Black Americans could claim full citizenship, the nation he envisioned could not exist.

"Men talk of the Negro problem. There is no Negro problem," Douglass declared in 1894, as the shadow of Jim Crow fell across the nation. "The problem is whether the American people have honesty enough, loyalty enough, honor enough, patriotism enough to live up to their Constitution." More than a century later, that problem is still with us.”
― Adam Serwer, Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019

“Be more receptive of your responsibility than you are of your rights.”
― Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words

“When the judiciary is the midwife of tyranny, the law becomes the most lethal weapon of a fascist state.”
― Suchitra Vijayan

“The founding fathers of America, if alive today, would be thrown in prison and be charged as domestic terrorist by todays government.”
― James Thomas Kesterson Jr

“All of anarchism, libertarianism, and anti-Statism can be traced back to the rise of Protestantism. The USA - founded by Protestants (often extremist Protestants expelled from their own countries) is where the love of the individual and hatred of the collective is practically written into its Constitution, which is extremely Protestant in its character.”
― Steve Madison, The Quality Agenda: The Search for Excellence

“I think that it is high time for the United States Senate and its members to do some real soul searching and to weigh our consciences as to the manner in which we are performing our duty to the people of America and the manner in which we are using or abusing our individual powers and privileges.

I think that it is high time that we remembered that we have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution.”
― Margaret Chase Smith

“To Lincoln's mind, the battle to save the Union contained an even larger purpose than ending slavery, which was after all sanctioned by the very Constitution he was sworn to uphold. "I consider the central idea pervading this struggle," he told Hay in early May, "is the necessity that is upon us, of proving that popular government is not an absurdity. We must settle this question now, whether in a free government the minority have the right to break up the government whenever they choose. If we fail it will go far to prove the incapability of the people to govern themselves.”
― Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

“Here were grown, sensible men arguing about a written form of government adopted ninety years before, when men did not believe that slavery could outlive their generation in this country, or that civil war could possibly be its result when no man foresaw the Industrial Revolution or the rise of the Cotton Kingdom; and yet now, with incantation and abracadabra, the leaders of a a nation tried to peer back into the magic crystal, and out of a bit of paper called the Constitution, find eternal and immutable law laid down for their guidance forever and ever, Amen!”
― W.E.B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America 1860-1880

“Understanding the Constitution is of critical importance for all Americans, for it is this brief document that protects our liberties and, by keeping our nation from falling into chaos, allows us to get on with our lives. Nothing matters so much as this.”
― Christopher Collier, Creating the Constitution: 1787

“He said that "strict constructionists" who would abide by the exact wording of the Constitution would "explain away the constitution of our country, and leave it a magnificent structure, indeed, to look at, but totally unfit for use.”
― Christopher Collier & James Lincoln Collier, The Jeffersonian Republicans: 1800-1823

“My definition of 'Freedom of Speech' is as follows. The right to speak freely anywhere at anytime about any subject without the fear of harm, reprimand, punishment, or other. Until this is true, we have no 'Freedom of Speech'.”
― James Thomas Kesterson Jr

“The 'Right to Bear Arms' has been grossly misunderstood and defined wrongly by people with unconstitutional motives. In order to understand why this 'Right' was written, you must understand the people who wrote it and their beliefs.

The 'Right to Bear Arms' means that every U.S. citizen has a right to own firearms in order to protect this country from their government and themselves from each other. This law has nothing to do with owning firearms for the purpose of protecting this country from foreign attacks; although, it would be a huge benefit in such an attack.”
― James Thomas Kesterson Jr

“The one right that no founding father ever fought for was 'equality'. When I discovered this, I was appalled that these great men could not understand that 'equality' should come before all else because without 'equality' the other rights are useless. It's like giving someone a crippled horse.”
― James Thomas Kesterson Jr

“A people, not a parchment, and not a Supreme Court, must be the Constitution. The people are the walking, talking, living Constitution. Positive liberty is all about enshrining the Constitution in the citizens themselves. They live and breathe it, and always know how to do right by it.”
― Steve Madison, The Quality Agenda: The Search for Excellence

“. Checks and balances had left the building, along with the ghost of Elvis, the U.S. Constitution, Jefferson, Hamilton, and Washington. The transformation from a hypocrisy based façade of government to mob rule was complete.”
― Kenneth Eade, An Evil Trade

“If the [Supreme] Court's job is to interpret the Constitution, then by definition, it must be open to interpretation.”
― David Litt, Democracy in One Book or Less: How It Works, Why It Doesn’t, and Why Fixing It Is Easier Than You Think

“On similar ground it may be proved that no society can make a perpetual constitution, or even a perpetual law. The earth belongs always to the living generation. They may manage it then, and what proceeds from it, as they please, during their usufruct.”
― Thomas Jefferson

“Nigeria can't be united until there is restitution in our constitution. Let the power be decentralized because Nigeria doesn't belong to the northerners alone.”
― Olawale Daniel

“Populist constitutions are designed to limit the power of nonpopulists, even when the latter form the government. Conflict then becomes inevitable. The constitution ceases to be a framework for politics and instead is treated as a purely partisan instrument to capture the polity.”
― Jan-Werner Müller, What Is Populism?

“As John Adams said, ‘Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
― Dan Crenshaw, Fortitude: American Resilience in the Era of Outrage

“The constitutional right of today may be a violation of human rights tomorrow, hence, no constitution, and in fact, no text is to be taken as gospel… they must be scrutinized by each new generation and if found incompatible with the new society, must be either amended or discarded altogether.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Solo Standing on Guard: Life Before Law

“If you treat the constitution the same way fundamentalists treat the bible, you are going to have a very sick society on your hands.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Solo Standing on Guard: Life Before Law

“Each citizen must become a government unto themselves - each citizen must become law unto themselves. In other words, each citizen must become a living constitution unto themselves, with the emphasis on living, which means ever-evolving and never-rigid. Be an example of growth in the world and the world will start to grow around you out of its disparities, biases and prejudices.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Solo Standing on Guard: Life Before Law

“And even in 1996, I in speeches propose the following amendments to the Constitution:
Article XXVIII: Every newborn shall be sincerely welcomed and cared for until maturity.
Article XXIX: Every adult who needs it shall be given meaningful work to do, at a living wage.”
― Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Timequake

“For example, under the Articles of Confederation, the national government could not tax people directly, as we do today, but must ask for money from the states, which could raise it however they wanted.”
― Christopher Collier, Creating the Constitution: 1787

“The principle of nationalism was not merely implied in the Constitution; it was set forth explicitly in what is known as the Supremacy clause, Article VI of the Constitution, which says:

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution and Laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

The supremacy Clause is quite clear: States cannot pass laws against the laws of the national government. Even state constitutions are limited not just by the U.S. Constitution, but also by laws passed by congress. The delegates saw that it had to be this way, for the national government would be of no use at all if the states could pass laws contrary to national ones.”
― Christopher Collier, Creating the Constitution: 1787

“Unfortunately, we do not always understand the Bill of Rights as well as we might. Many people seem to think that it guarantees us the right to do almost anything we want. That is not the case; there are limits. For example, the right to free speech does not give us the right to say slanderous things about others, to cry fire in a crowded theater as a joke, or to discuss military secrets with our friends. The right to peaceable assembly does not permit us to gather a crowd of demonstrators in the middle of a busy street. As interpreted by the Supreme Court, the rights of the individuals must be balanced against the needs of the society as a whole.”
― Christopher Collier, Creating the Constitution: 1787