Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds.
Thurgood MarshallRead
I'm the world's original gradualist. I just think ninety-odd years is gradual enough.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Thurgood Marshall emphasizes the importance of patience and gradual change over time.
In this quote, Thurgood Marshall reflects on the concept of gradualism, suggesting that meaningful progress in life takes time and cannot be rushed. He implies that after a lifetime of experiences and changes over nearly a century, one should appreciate the slow, steady advancements rather than expect immediate outcomes.
Themes
GradualChangeProgressPatienceExperience
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of persistence in social justice movements.
More from Thurgood Marshall
All quotes βThe 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.
Thurgood MarshallRead
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]
Thurgood MarshallRead
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.
Thurgood MarshallRead
Similar quotes
I remember when people used to think I was smart. I remember when people used to think my brain was useful. Damaged by water, sure. And ready to seizure at any moment. But still useful, and maybe even a little bit beautiful and sacred and magical.
Sherman AlexieRead
We should be as careful of our words as of our actions.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
. . . the enemy of righteousness also works in little steps, so small that they are hard to notice if you are thinking only about yourself and how great you are. Just as truth is given to us line upon line and the light brightens slowly as we obey, even so, as we disobey our testimony of truth lessens almost imperceptibly, little by little, and darkness descends so slowly that the proud may easily deny that anything is changing.
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The goal of forecasting is not to predict the future but to tell you what you need to know to take meaningful action in the present
Paul SaffoRead
You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind is a palace.
Frank MccourtRead
I consider looseness with words no less of a defect than looseness of the bowels.
John CalvinRead