Antonin Scalia
Judge
"It is difficult to maintain the illusion that we are interpreting a Constitution, rather than inventing one."
Constitution quotes
Constitution
485 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Michel Foucault
Philosopher, Social Theorist
"There is no power relation without the correlative constitution of a field of knowledge, nor any knowledge that does not presuppose and constitute at the same time power relations"
Samuel Adams
Politician
"Our union is now complete; our constitution composed, established, and approved. You are now the guardians of your own liberties."
Barbara Jordan
Politician, Lawyer
"My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total, and I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminuation, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution. It is reason and not passion which must guide our deliberations, guide our debate, and guide our decision."
Barbara Jordan
Politician, Lawyer
"Today, I am an inquisitor. I shall not sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution."
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Browse quotes that often appear alongside constitution — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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Constitution quotes (page 1 of 25)
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"The Founders never intended for Americans to trust their government. Our entire Constitution was predicated on the notion that government was a necessary evil, to be restrained and minimized as much as possible."
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"The framers of our Constitution meant we were to have freedom of religion, not freedom from religion."
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"I prefer a man who will burn the flag and then wrap himself in the constitution to a man who will burn the constitution and then wrap himself in the flag."
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"I cannot find any authority in the Constitution for public charity."
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"The Constitution doesn't belong to a bunch of judges and lawyers. It belongs to you."
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"We are under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the judges say it is, and the judiciary is the safeguard of our property and our liberty and our property under the Constitution."
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"As the Constitution endures, persons in every generation can invoke its principles in their own search for greater freedom."
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"Our Constitution gives to bigotry no sanction."
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"The Constitution that we have is an excellent one, if we can keep it where it is."
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"The Constitution does not just protect those whose views we share; it also protects those with whose views we disagree."
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"The Constitution is the sole source and guaranty of national freedom."
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"Our new Soviet constitution will, in my opinion, be the most democratic constitution of all those existing in the world."
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"Well for one, the 13th amendment to the constitution of the US which abolished slavery - did not abolish slavery for those convicted of a crime."
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"What I am for is justice for everyone, just like it says in the Constitution."
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"Constitutions have to be written on hearts, not just paper."
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"Precedents are dangerous things; let the reins of government then be braced and held with a steady hand, and every violation of the Constitution be reprehended: If defective let it be amended, but not suffered to be trampled upon whilst it has an existence."
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"Interpreted as it ought to be interpreted, the constitution is a Glorious Liberty Document!"
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"The Central Bank is an institution of the most deadly hostility existing against the principles and form of our Constitution."
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"The British Constitution has always been puzzling and always will be."
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"We seek not to overthrow the constitution, but to overthrow those who would prevert it."
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