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Quotes by Judge
"In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute."
44
"The Covenant of the League of Nations had envisaged sponsoring only the protection of certain categories of men: national minorities and populations of territories controlled by other countries."
44
"My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent."
44
"The mid-day sun is too much for most eyes; one is dazzled even with its reflection. Be careful that too broad and high an aim does not paralyze your effort and clog your springs of action."
44
"All respect for the office of the presidency aside, I assumed that the obvious and unadulterated decline of freedom and constitutional sovereignty, not to mention the efforts to curb the power of judicial review, spoke for itself."
44
"We are more casual about qualifying the people we allow to act as advocates in the courtroom than we are about licensing electricians."
44
"In examining the evidence of the Christian religion, it is essential to the discovery of truth that we bring to the investigation a mind freed, as far as possible, from existing prejudice, and open to conviction."
44
"The Constitution is not neutral. It was designed to take the government off the backs of people."
43
"I think that if there are positions that you can't argue... then the responsibility is probably to resign. If one's own conscience is opposed to the requirements and responsibilities of the job, then it's time to leave the job."
43
"Similarly, the problem of the rights of the state in the disposition of inheritances left by individuals presents social aspects of the first importance."
43
"The only compensation, gained through the influence of nongovernmental organizations, consisted in slightly broadening for private individuals the possibility of access and appeal to the agencies enforcing the Covenant concerned with civil and political rights."
43
"As a member of this court I am not justified in writing my private notions of policy into the Constitution, no matter how deeply I may cherish them or how mischievous I may deem their disregard."
43
"I'm a great believer in the competitive system, and think that competition will bring us greater innovation and put American industry in information ahead of everyone also."
43
"People are intimidated in court, and I try to make them more comfortable."
43
"The learned are not agreed as to the time when the Gospel of John was written; some dating it as early as the year 68, others as late as the year 98; but it is generally conceded to have been written after all the others."
43
"Independence means you decide according to the law and the facts."
43
"We current justices read the Constitution in the only way that we can: as 20th-century Americans."
43
"I've always been very interested in the struggle for human rights, not just here but abroad, and I wanted to be an inside player in that struggle. I wanted to make the laws reflect our ideals and ideas in this democracy that is America."
43
"It matters enormously to a successful democratic society like ours that we have three branches of government, each with some independence and some control over the other two. That's set out in the Constitution."
43
"Having family responsibilities and concerns just has to make you a more understanding person."
43
"Justice is not to be taken by storm. She is to be wooed by slow advances."
43
"I shall confess at the outset that it was only shortly after the beginning of this century that I entered active life - with a somewhat precocious capacity for involvement."
43
"People have to be educated and they have to stick to it. If people lose that respect, an awful lot is lost."
43
"Our Constitution was not written in the sands to be washed away by each wave of new judges blown in by each successive political wind."
42
"Arizona presents no specific reason for excepting capital defendants from the constitutional protections extended to defendants generally, and none is readily apparent."
42
"Anger may be kindled in the noblest breasts: but in these slow droppings of an unforgiving temper never takes the shape of consistency of enduring hatred."
42
"I owe a debt of gratitude to two other living Justices. Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg paved the way for me and so many other women in my generation. Their pioneering lives have created boundless possibilities for women in the law. I thank them for their inspiration and also for the personal kindnesses they have shown me."
42
"So far I go with the Socialists as to think it a pretty general rule that, where monopoly is necessary, it is better in public hands."
42
"It is not like I have gone crazy, I just don't want to take any chances. You never know what could happen."
Want,
42
"The art of publicity is a black art; but it has come to stay, and every year adds to its potency."
42
"A union of government and religion tends to destroy government and degrade religion."
42
"The abortion cases produced an enormous amount of mail to my chambers, vastly more than to the other chambers, I am sure. I sometimes thought there wasn't a woman in the United States who didn't write me a letter on one side or the other of that issue."
42
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