Quotessence
Home / Authors / Louis D. Brandeis
Louis D. Brandeis

Louis D. Brandeis Quotes

Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

Filter quotes by topic

AllGovernmentMenLibertyIfsFree SpeechLiberty And JusticeDemocracyCitizensConflicting OpinionsFreedom Of SpeechLawMayLaw CourtsPeoplePoliticalPoliticsFirst AmendmentJustifyMeanSpeech

Famous Louis D. Brandeis Quotes

“Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill it teaches the whole people by example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To declare that in the administration of the criminal law the end justifies the means - to declare that the Government may commit crimes in order to secure the conviction of a private criminal - would bring terrible retributions.”

PeopleIfsMenMayMeanEndsWholeGovernmentLawOrderLibertyTeachTeacherCrimeExampleTerribleIllConvictionCriminalsEvery ManCommitSecureAdministrationJustifyAnarchyContemptInvitesContagiousRetributionLiberty And JusticeCriminal LawEnds Justify The MeansConflicting Opinions
Author:Louis D. Brandeis
Create image

“The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.”

MenWellsWarStatesGovernmentPeaceUnderstandingFreedomLibertyDangerCitizensLibertarianPrivacyAnti WarAntiwarAmendmentsRulersFirst AmendmentGoverningZealFreedom And LibertyFreedom LibertyCivil LibertiesProperty RightsLimited GovernmentRight To Bear ArmsBearing ArmsInsidiousLimiting GovernmentRights And FreedomsLibertarian PartyFounding Fathers GunLimited Freedom2 AmendmentUnited States GovernmentEncroachmentEternal VigilanceGreat LibertarianLiberty And JusticeAmerica FreedomPrice Of FreedomSupreme Court JusticeLimiting FreedomGreat FreedomAmendment 1Government PolicyFourth AmendmentGovernment And PoliticsFreedom To ReadLaw CourtsAmendment 4Controlling GovernmentLiberty And Justice For AllSecurity And FreedomJustice TruthDivided GovernmentConflicting OpinionsWrits Of Assistance
Author:Louis D. Brandeis
Create image

“Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.”

MenShouldWellsGovernmentPurposeEvilPoliticsUnderstandingBornFreedomLibertyTeachDangerProtectIndependentPrivacyAmendmentsRulersInvasionZealFreedom And LibertyFreedom LibertyCivil LibertiesBearing ArmsInsidiousLurkingRights And FreedomsGuardingEncroachmentLiberty And JusticePrice Of FreedomBeneficenceInvasion Of PrivacyFourth AmendmentSecurity And FreedomRulershipEvil GovernmentConflicting OpinionsRepelling
Author:Louis D. Brandeis
Create image

“The constitutional right of free speech has been declared to be the same in peace and war. In peace, too, men may differ widely as to what loyalty to our country demands, and an intolerant majority, swayed by passion or by fear, may be prone in the future, as it has been in the past, to stamp as disloyal opinions with which it disagrees.”

MenMayHas BeensWarCountryPastPassionFreedomLibertyOpinionDemandSpeechMajorityLoyaltyOur CountryNationalismDisagreeFree SpeechStampsDisloyal
Author:Louis D. Brandeis
Create image

“Those who won our independence believed that the final end of the state was to make men free to develop their faculties... They valued liberty both as an end and as a means. They believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty... that public discussion is a political duty; and that this should be a fundamental principle of the American government.”

MenShouldMeanEndsStatesGovernmentPoliticalSecretLibertyPrinciplesDemocracyDutyIndependenceFundamentalsCourtFinalsDiscussionFacultyAmendmentsFree SpeechFreedom Of SpeechFirst AmendmentAmerican GovernmentFundamental PrinciplesLiberty And JusticeLiberty Of Speech
Author:Louis D. Brandeis
Create image