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About this quote

What does it mean?
Americans should not be expected to bow submissively to authority or speak with undue reverence to leaders.
In plain terms
Don't be afraid to question leaders or authority.
What can you take from it?
Question authority rather than worshipping it.

Where it applies

  • citizen leadership
  • public policy
  • democratic process

Putting it to work

  • ask questions
  • challenge leaders
  • engage civically

Questions to consider

  • How much should we respect authority?
  • Is submissiveness ever appropriate?

Another view

Some traditions value respect for authority over questioning.

More from William O. Douglas

  1. No patent medicine was ever put to wider and more varied use than the Fourteenth Amendment.

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  2. Tell the FBI that the kidnappers should pick out a judge that Nixon wants back.

    Permalink to quote #36
  3. Literature should not be suppressed merely because it offends the moral code of the censor.

    Permalink to quote #33

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