William O. Douglas Quotes

Quotes about:

• The liberties of none are safe unless the liberties of all are protected.

  William O. Douglas

  Freedom, Atheism, Liberty

  "A Living Bill of Rights". Book by William O. Douglas, 1961.

  54 Copy quote

• I do not know of any salvation for society except through eccentrics, misfits, dissenters, people who protest.

  William O. Douglas

  People, Misfits, Salvation

  28 Copy quote

• 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.

  William O. Douglas

  Teaching, Rights In America, Political Revolution

  "The One Un-American Act". William O. Douglas' speech to the Author's Guild Council in New York on receiving the 1951 Lauterbach Award, December 3, 1952.

  83 Copy quote

• As night-fall does not come at once, neither does oppression...It is in such twilight that we all must be aware of change in the air - however slight - lest we become victims of the darkness.

  William O. Douglas

  Fall, Twilight, Night

  44 Copy quote

• Those in power need checks and restraints lest they come to identify the common good for their own tastes and desires, and their continuation in office as essential to the preservation of the nation.

  William O. Douglas

  Power, Office, Desire

  43 Copy quote

• The Constitution and the Bill of Rights we designed to get the government off the backs of the people -- all the people. Those great documents guarantee to us all the rights to personal and spiritual self-fulfillment. But that guarantee is not self-executing. As nightfall does not come all at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such a twilight that we all must be most aware of the change in the air -- however slight -- lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.

  William O. Douglas

  Spiritual, Twilight, Rights

  57 Copy quote

• To be whole and harmonious, man must also know the music of the beaches and the woods. He must find the thing of which he is only an infinitesimal part and nurture it and love it, if he is to live.

  William O. Douglas

  Beach, Nature, Journey

  WILLIAM O. DOUGLAS (1960). “My Wilderness THE PACIFIC WEST”

  56 Copy quote

• Common sense often makes a good law.

  William O. Douglas

  Law, Common Sense, Common

  "Peak v. United States, 353 U.S. 43". U.S. Supreme Court case, supreme.justia.com. March 25, 1957.

  7 Copy quote

• 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.

  William O. Douglas

  Adventure, Men, Richness Of Life

  41 Copy quote

• The way to combat noxious ideas is with other ideas. The way to combat falsehoods is with truth.

  William O. Douglas

  Ideas, Way, Combat

  Interview with Mike Wallace, November 4, 1958.

  38 Copy quote

• The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom.

  William O. Douglas

  Freedom, Liberty, Libertarian

  "Public Utilities Commission v. Pollak, 343 U.S. 451". U.S. Supreme Court case, supreme.justia.com. May 26, 1952.

  23 Copy quote

• A function of free speech under our system of government is to invite dispute. It may indeed best serve its high purpose when it invites a condition of unrest, creates dissatisfaction with conditions as they are, or even stirs people to anger. Speech is often provocative and challenging. It may strike at prejudices and preconceptions and have profound unsettling effects as it passes for acceptance of an idea.

  William O. Douglas

  Acceptance, Ideas, Government

  "Terminiello v. Chicago, 337 U.S. 1". U.S. Supreme Court case, supreme.justia.com. May 16, 1949.

  37 Copy quote

• Since when have we Americans been expected to bow submissively to authority and speak with awe and reverence to those who represent us?

  William O. Douglas

  Fear, History, Bows

  "Colten v. Kentucky, 407 U.S. 104". U.S. Supreme Court case, supreme.justia.com. June 12, 1972.

  47 Copy quote

• If discrimination based on race is constitutionally permissible when those who hold the reins can come up with "compelling" reasons to justify it, then constitutional guarantees acquire an accordion-like quality.

  William O. Douglas

  Compelling Reason, Race, Quality

  "DeFunis v. Odegaard, 416 U.S. 312". U.S. Supreme Court case, supreme.justia.com. April 23, 1974.

  8 Copy quote

• 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

  Struggle, Power, Sacred

  "Go East, Young Man: The Autobiography of William O. Douglas". Book by William O. Douglas, March 12, 1974.

  4 Copy quote

• Realization of this need means adults must awaken to the urgency of the young people's unrest-in other words there must be created an adult unrest against the inequities and injustices in the present system. If the government is in jeopardy, it is not because we are unable to cope with revolutionary situations. Jeopardy means that either the leaders or the people do not realize they have all the tools required to make the revolution come true. The tools and the opportunity exist. Only the moral imagination is missing.

  William O. Douglas

  Mean, Opportunity, Government

  WILLIAM O. DOUGLAS (1970). “POINTS OF REBELLION”

  7 Copy quote

• Only when there is a wilderness can man harmonize his inner being with the wavelengths of the earth. When the earth, its products, its creatures, become his concern, man is caught up in a cause greater than his own life and more meaningful. Only when man loses himself in an endeavor of that magnitude does he walk and live with humanity and reverence.

  William O. Douglas

  Meaningful, Men, Humanity

  46 Copy quote

• When a legislature undertakes to proscribe the exercise of a citizen's constitutional right to free speech, it acts lawlessly; and the citizen can take matters into his own hands and proceed on the basis that such a law is no law at all.

  William O. Douglas

  Exercise, Rights, Hands

  "Poulos v. New Hampshire, 345 U.S. 395". U.S. Supreme Court case, supreme.justia.com. April 27, 1953.

  44 Copy quote

• One aspect of modern life which has gone far to stifle men is the rapid growth of tremendous corporations. Enormous spiritual sacrifices are made in the transformation of shopkeepers into employees... The disappearance of free enterprise has led to a submergence of the individual in the impersonal corporation in much the same manner as he has been submerged in the state in other lands.

  William O. Douglas

  Spiritual, Sacrifice, Men

  William O. Douglas' speech at annual dinner of Fordham University Alumni Association in New York City, February 9, 1939.

  17 Copy quote

• A people who extend civil liberties only to preferred groups start down the path either to dictatorship of the right or the left.

  William O. Douglas

  People, Liberty, Groups

  20 Copy quote

• 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

  Support, Inner Strength, Atheism

  "The Bible and the Schools". Book by William O. Douglas, 1966.

  7 Copy quote

• 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

  Spring, Sleep, Journey

  5 Copy quote

• The function of the prosecutor under the federal Constitution is not to tack as many skins of victims as possible against the wall. His function is to vindicate the rights of the people as expressed in the laws and give those accused of crime a fair trial.

  William O. Douglas

  Wall, Rights, Law

  35 Copy quote

• Men need to know the elemental challenges that sea and mountains present. They need to know what it is to be alive and to survive when great storms come. They need to unlock the secrets of streams, lakes, and canyons and to find how these treasures are veritable storehouses of inspiration. They must experience the sense of mastery of adversity. They must find a peak or a ridge that they can reach under their own power alone.

  William O. Douglas

  Inspiration, Adversity, Men

  WILLIAM O. DOUGLAS (1960). “My Wilderness THE PACIFIC WEST”

  7 Copy quote

• The Constitution is not neutral. It was designed to take the government off the backs of people.

  William O. Douglas

  Government, Libertarian Party, America

  "The Court years, 1939-1975: The Autobiography of William O. Douglas‎". Book by William O. Douglas, 1980.

  29 Copy quote

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