William O. Douglas Quotes

85 Sourced Quotes

The Court's great power is its ability to educate, to provide moral leadership.

William O. Douglas
The whole, though larger than any of its parts, does not necessarily obscure their separate identities.

William O. Douglas
The search…for ways and means to make the machine—and the vast bureaucracy of the corporation state and of government that runs that machine—the servant of man. That is the revolution that is coming.

William O. Douglas
When man ventures into the wilderness, climbs the ridges, and sleeps in the forest, he comes in close communion with his Creator. When man pits himself against the mountain, he taps inner springs of his strength. He comes to know himself.

William O. Douglas
One who comes to the Court must come to adore, not to protest. That's the new gloss on the First Amendment, Potter.

William O. Douglas
The critical point is that the Constitution places the right of silence beyond the reach of government.

William O. Douglas
All executive power – from the reign of ancient kings to the rule of modern dictators – has the outward appearance of efficiency.

William O. Douglas
Christianity has sufficient inner strength to survive and flourish on its own. It does not need state subsidies, nor state privileges, nor state prestige. The more it obtains state support the greater it curtails human freedom.

William O. Douglas
That seems to us to be the common sense of the matter; and common sense often makes good law.

William O. Douglas
The struggle is always between the individual and his sacred right to express himself and the power structure that seeks conformity, suppression, and obedience.

William O. Douglas