Constitution Quotes

It is difficult to maintain the illusion that we are interpreting a Constitution, rather than inventing one.

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

The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which this Constitution is founded.

Our union is now complete; our constitution composed, established, and approved. You are now the guardians of your own liberties.

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.

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.

The natural cure for an ill-administration, in a popular or representative constitution, is a change of men.

I am exceedingly distressed at the proceedings of the Convention-being ... almost sure, they will ... lay the foundation of a Civil War.

If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one.

The notion that Congress can change the meaning given a constitutional provision by the Court is subversive of the function of judicial review; and it is not the less so because the Court promises to allow it only when the Constitution is moved to the left.

The constitutions of Maryland and New York are founded in higher wisdom.

The civil libertarians among us would rather defend the constitution than protect our nation's security.

The constitution is the ultimate custodian of social will and its making should be accorded all due diligence.

A judge should be evaluated by whether he faithfully upholds his oath to God, not to the people, to the state or to the Constitution.

Its Constitution--the glittering and sounding generalities of natural right which make up the Declaration of Independence.

The framers of the Constitution were so clear in the federalist papers and elsewhere that they felt an independent judiciary was critical to the success of the nation.

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.

There is nothing in the Constitution that authorizes or makes it the official duty of a president to have anything to do with criminal activities.

The framers of our Constitution meant we were to have freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.

Our Constitution represents the work of the finger of Almighty God.

In the discharge of duties my guide will be the Constitution, which I this day swear to preserve, protect, and defend.

Among the expected glories of the Constitution, next to the abolition of Slavery was that of Rum.

No constitution is or can be perfectly symmetrical, what it can and must be is generally accepted as both fair and usable.

A legislative act contrary to the Constitution is not law.

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.

Civil liberty is only natural liberty, modified and secured by the sanctions of civil society. It is not a thing, in its own nature, precarious and dependent on human will and caprice; but it is conformable to the constitution of man, as well as necessary to the well-being of society.

Whenever you hear a man prating about the Constitution, spot him as a traitor.

I cannot find any authority in the Constitution for public charity.

[quoting someone else] the American constitution is a document designed by geniuses to be eventually interpreted by idiots

If the Constitution can be used against one, it can be used against all.

The Constitution doesn't belong to a bunch of judges and lawyers. It belongs to you.

The Constitution is only there to regulate matters.

Minorities have a right to appeal to the Constitution as a shield against such oppression.

Under the freest constitution ignorant people are still slaves.

What's the difference between a liberal and a conservative? A liberal will interpret the constitution, a conservative will quote it!

There is nothing stable but Heaven and the Constitution.

If I find the constitution being misused, I shall be the first to burn it.

The proposed Constitution is, in strictness, neither a national nor a federal constitution; but a composition of both.

As the Constitution endures, persons in every generation can invoke its principles in their own search for greater freedom.

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.

The American Constitution was designed to make it hard to have too much government.

Our Constitution gives to bigotry no sanction.

The Constitution that we have is an excellent one, if we can keep it where it is.

A constitution is framed for ages to come, and is designed to approach immortality as nearly as human institutions can approach it.

For my part, I sincerely esteem the Constitution, a system which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests.

Our Constitution rests on the good sense and the respect of the American people.

The Constitution does not just protect those whose views we share; it also protects those with whose views we disagree.

A Constitution is not the act of a Government, but of a people constituting a government, and a government without a constitution is a power without right.

But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain - that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist.

The Constitution is the sole source and guaranty of national freedom.