Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds.
Thurgood MarshallRead
This is a great country, but fortunately for you, it is not perfect. There is much to be done to bring about complete equality. Remove hunger. Bring reality closer to theory and democratic principles.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of striving for equality and improvement in society.
Thurgood Marshall's quote underscores the ongoing struggles within a country that, while great, still has significant challenges to overcome, such as hunger and inequality. It advocates for continuous efforts to align reality with democratic principles, suggesting that perfection is unattainable without active participation and commitment to social justice.
Themes
EqualityChangeDemocracySocial JusticeHunger
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech advocating for social reforms in a community.
More from Thurgood Marshall
All quotes →The United States has been called the melting pot of the world. But it seems to me that the colored man either missed getting into the pot or he got melted down.
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I cannot accept this invitation [to celebrate the bicentenial of the Constitution], for I do not believe that the meaning of the Constitution was forever 'fixed' at the Philadelphia Convention... To the contrary, the government they devised was defective from the start. [Progressive]
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When in Gregg v. Georgia the Supreme Court gave its seal of approval to capital punishment, this endorsement was premised on the promise that capital punishment would be administered with fairness and justice. Instead, the promise has become a cruel and empty mockery. If not remedied, the scandalous state of our present system of capital punishment will cast a pall of shame over our society for years to come. We cannot let it continue.
Thurgood MarshallRead
If the First Amendment means anything, it means that a state has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his house, what books he may read or what films he may watch.
Thurgood MarshallRead
In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.
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