---
title: "No amount of repetition of historical errors in judicial opinions can… — William Rehnquist Quote #5 | QuotesBy.net"
description: "No amount of repetition of historical errors in judicial opinions can make the errors true. The 'wall of separation between church and State' is a me… — a quote by William Rehnquist."
image: "https://quotesby.net/wp-content/themes/quotesby-editorial/assets/og-default.png"
---

> # No amount of repetition of historical errors in judicial opinions can make the errors true. The 'wall of separation between church and State' is a metaphor based on bad history, a metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging. It should be frankly and explicitly abandoned.

[William Rehnquist](https://quotesby.net/William-Rehnquist)\#5[WhatsApp (opens in a new tab)](https://wa.me/?text=%E2%80%9CNo%20amount%20of%20repetition%20of%20historical%20errors%20in%20judicial%20opinions%20can%20make%20the%20errors%20true.%20The%20%27wall%20of%20separation%20between%20church%20and%20State%27%20is%20a%20metaphor%20based%20on%20bad%20history%2C%20a%20metaphor%20which%20has%20proved%20useless%20as%20a%20guide%20to%20judging.%20It%20should%20be%20frankly%20and%20explicitly%20abandoned.%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%94%20William%20Rehnquist%20https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FWilliam-Rehnquist%2F5%2F)[X (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%E2%80%9CNo%20amount%20of%20repetition%20of%20historical%20errors%20in%20judicial%20opinions%20can%20make%20the%20errors%20true.%20The%20%27wall%20of%20separation%20between%20church%20and%20State%27%20is%20a%20metaphor%20based%20on%20bad%20history%2C%20a%20metaphor%20which%20has%20proved%20useless%20as%20a%20guide%20to%20judging.%20It%20should%20be%20frankly%20and%20explicitly%20abandoned.%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%94%20William%20Rehnquist&url=https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FWilliam-Rehnquist%2F5%2F)[Facebook (opens in a new tab)](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FWilliam-Rehnquist%2F5%2F)

## More from William Rehnquist

1. > The Supreme Court is an institution far more dominated by centrifugal forces, pushing toward individuality and independence, than it is by centripetal forces p…

[Permalink to quote \#4](https://quotesby.net/William-Rehnquist/4/ "Permalink to quote 4")
2. > The considered professional judgment of the Air Force is that the traditional outfitting of personnel in standardized uniforms encourages the subordination of …

[Permalink to quote \#6](https://quotesby.net/William-Rehnquist/6/ "Permalink to quote 6")
3. > The Constitution requires that Congress treat similarly situated persons similarly, not that it engage in gestures of superficial equality.

[Permalink to quote \#3](https://quotesby.net/William-Rehnquist/3/ "Permalink to quote 3")

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