Law cannot stand aside from the social changes around it.
William J. BrennanRead
If our free society is to endure, those who govern must recognize human dignity and accept the enforcement of constitutional limitations on their power conceived by the Framers . . . . Such recognition will not come from a technical understanding of the organs of government, or the new forms of wealth they administer. It requires something different, something deeper-a personal confrontation with the wellsprings of our society.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Governance should prioritize human dignity and constitutional limits to sustain a free society.
The quote from William J. Brennan emphasizes the importance of recognizing and respecting human dignity as a fundamental principle within governance. It suggests that true understanding of societal values and the responsibilities of power goes beyond mere technical knowledge; it demands a profound and personal engagement with the core ideals that uphold democracy and freedom.
Themes
GovernanceHuman DignityConstitutional LimitsSocietyPower
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of ethical governance.
More from William J. Brennan
All quotes →At bottom, the battle has been waged on moral grounds. The country has debated whether a society for which the dignity of the individual is the supreme value can, without a fundamental inconsistency, follow the practice of deliberately putting one of its members to death.
William J. BrennanRead
There can be no doubt that our Nation has had a long and unfortunate history of sex discrimination. Traditionally, such discrimination was rationalized by an attitude of "romantic paternalism" which, in practical effect, put women, not on a pedestal, but in a cage.
William J. BrennanRead
Use of a mentally ill person's involuntary confession is antithetical to the notion of fundamental fairness embodied in the due process clause.
William J. BrennanRead
The Framers of the Bill of Rights did not purport to 'create' rights. Rather, they designed the Bill of Rights to prohibit our Government from infringing rights and liberties presumed to be preexisting.
William J. BrennanRead
Congress acknowledged that society's accumulated myths and fears about disability and disease are as handicapping as are the physical limitations that flow from actual impairment.
William J. BrennanRead
Similar quotes
The Devil' is, historically, the God of any people that one personally dislikes... This serpent, SATAN, is not the enemy of Man, but He who made Gods of our race, knowing Good and Evil; He bade 'Know Thyself!' and taught Initiation. He is 'The Devil' of the Book of Thoth, and His emblem is BAPHOMET, the Androgyne who is the hieroglyph of arcane perfection... He is therefore Life, and Love.
Aleister CrowleyRead
It is curious to note how fragile the memory is, even for the important times in one's life. This is, moreover, what explains the fortunate fantasy of history.
Marcel DuchampRead
Each one of us is a custodian of India's well-being and of the legacy that we will pass on to coming generations.
Ram Nath KovindRead
Every one interprets everything in terms of his own experience. If you say anything which does not touch a precisely similar spot in another man's brain, he either misunderstands you, or doesn't understand you at all.
Aleister CrowleyRead
Into this wild-beast tangle these men had been born without their consent, they had taken part in it because they could not help it; that they were in jail was no disgrace to them, for the game had never been fair, the dice were loaded. They were swindlers and thieves of pennies and dimes, and they had been trapped and put out of the way by the swindlers and thieves of millions of dollars.
Upton SinclairRead
My real dwelling _x000D_ Has no pillars _x000D_ And no roof either _x000D_ So rain cannot soak it _x000D_ And wind cannot blow _x000D_ it down.
IkkyuRead