Quote #16

The Bill of Rights is not a suicide pact. (paraphrase and well-known misquote of There is danger that, if the court does not temper its doctrinaire logic with a little practical wisdom, it will convert the constitutional Bill of Rights into a suicide pact.)

More from Robert H. Jackson

  1. But we have grounds to assume also that the normal proportion of them are subject to that very human weakness, especially displayed in Wash…
  2. But when notice is a person's due, process which is a mere gesture is not 'due process.'
  3. Under these circumstances, except for any personal humiliation involved in admitting that I do not always understand the opinions of this C…
  4. But we must not forget that in our country are evangelists and zealots of many different political, economic and religious persuasions whos…
  5. No one will question that this power is the most dangerous one to free government in the whole catalogue of powers. It usually is invoked i…
  6. Our protection against all kinds of fanatics and extremists, none of whom can be trusted with unlimited power over others, lies not in thei…
  7. The Court's reasoning adds up to this: The Commission must be sustained because of its accumulated experience in solving a problem with whi…
  8. The priceless heritage of our society is the unrestricted constitutional right of each member to think as he will. Thought control is a cop…

All Robert H. Jackson quotes