All quotes

that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth

If our sense of duty forbids this, then let us stand by our duty fearlessly and effectively.

The case before us illustrates better than most that the judicial power is often difficult in its exercise.

For the fourth time the officer elected by the people and ordained by the Constitution to fill a vacancy so created is called to assume the Executive chair.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex

as it must be the supreme purpose of all free men, so it must be the dedication of their leaders, to save humanity from preying upon itself

A grave responsibility confronts this Court whenever in course of litigation it must reconcile the conflicting claims of liberty and authority.

It is neither to do everything yourself nor to appoint a number of people to each duty, but to ensure that each does that duty to which he is appointed.

Let your doubt be to yourself, your decision to them.

A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position.

it has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just appreciation of every circumstance by which it might be affected

I have not sought this enormous responsibility, but I will not shirk it.

I have learned already in this office that the difficult decisions always come to this desk.

I accept with humility the honor which the American people have conferred upon me.

Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place.

If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.

A President may sense and proclaim that new spirit, but only a people can provide it.

There is no act which more imperatively requires to be performed under a strong sense of individual responsibility than the nomination to employments.

it must be from one man that it receives its institutions at first, and upon one man that all similar reconstruction must depend

there is no surer or more necessary restraint on the violence of an unruly multitude, than the presence of some one whose character and bearing command respect

It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with.

Presidential powers are not fixed but fluctuate, depending upon their disjunction or conjunction with those of Congress.

With all its defects, delays and inconveniences, men have discovered no technique for long preserving free government except that the Executive be under the law, and that the law be made by parliamentary deliberations.

It is during our most challenging and uncertain moments that our Nation's commitment to due process is most severely tested; and it is in those times that we must preserve our commitment at home to the principles for which we fight abroad.

Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us.