The law regards man as man, and takes no account of his surroundings or of his color when his civil rights as guaranteed by the supreme law of the land are involved.
John Marshall HarlanRead
Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of equality and unity among all citizens regardless of status or race.
John Marshall Harlan's quote articulates the fundamental principle of equality before the law as enshrined in the Constitution. It advocates for a society where no citizen is regarded as superior or inferior, highlighting that civil rights must be honored equally for all, thus creating a community where every individual's rights are protected without discrimination.
Themes
EqualityLawCivil RightsJusticeCitizenship
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech advocating for civil rights, one might use this quote to emphasize the need for equality in legislation.
More from John Marshall Harlan
All quotes βThe humblest is the peer of the most powerful.
John Marshall HarlanRead
But in view of the constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here.
John Marshall HarlanRead
The Constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.
John Marshall HarlanRead
Similar quotes
To ignore Scripture is to ignore Christ.
St. JeromeRead
I want people to remember me as someone whose life has been helpful to humanity.
Thomas SankaraRead
The fish in the water is silent, the animals on the earth is noisy, the bird in the air is singing. But man has in him the silence of the sea, the noise of the earth and the music of the air.
Rabindranath TagoreRead
If you need to visualize the soul, think of it as a cross between a wolf howl, a photon and a dribble of dark molasses. But what it really is, as near as I can tell, is a packet of information. It's a program, a piece of hyperspatial software designed explicitly to interface with the Mystery. Not a mystery, mind you - the Mystery. The one that can never be solved.
Tom RobbinsRead
. . . as to moral feeling, this supposed special sense, the appeal to it is indeed superficial when those who cannot think believe that feeling will help them out, even in what concerns general laws: and besides, feelings which naturally differ infinitely in degree cannot furnish a uniform standard of good and evil, nor has any one a right to form judgments for others by his own feelings. . . .
Immanuel KantRead
Welcome, Anne. I thought you'd come today. You belong to the afternoon so it brought you. Things that belong together are sure to come together. What a lot of trouble that would save some people if they only knew it. But they don't...and so they waste beautiful energy moving heaven and earth to bring things together that don't belong.
Lucy Maud MontgomeryRead