William J. Brennan Jr. Quotes

The Constitution of the United States is not a suicide pact.

The Constitution is a list of things the government may not do.

The whole point of the Constitution is to limit at some point and in some way popular will.

The Framers (of the Constitution) were not concerned primarily with favoring one type of government over another, but with limiting the power of government, regardless of its source.

The founders did not trust human beings, and that is what the Constitution is about.

The Constitution is simply a sign that says “keep off the grass.”

The Constitution was essentially an economic document based upon the concept that the fundamental rights of private property are anterior to government and morally beyond the reach of popular majorities.

The great object in view is to limit and qualify the powers of government.

The Constitution is not just a legal argument. It is a set of norms and practices and it’s a political document…

The Constitution is not about restricting the people; it is about restricting the government.

The layman's constitutional view is that what he likes is constitutional and that which he doesn't like is unconstitutional.

The Constitution is government's stop sign. It says, you - the three branches of government - can go so far and no farther.

The Constitution was about a limitation on power.

Power's not what the Constitution was about.

We are not at liberty to add one jot of power to the national government beyond what the people have granted by the constitution

The Constitution lies at the core of our civil religion.

The Constitution is a document that SHOULD be beyond argument.

The federal constitution is perhaps the greatest of human experiments.

What's the Constitution between friends?

The Constitution is the sole source and guaranty of national freedom.

The Constitution is still the object of our reverence, the bond of our Union, our defense in danger, the source of our prosperity in peace.

The Constitution of the United States [is] the result of the collected wisdom of our country.

It was to guard against the encroachment of power, the insatiate ambition of wealth that this government was instituted by the people themselves.

The Constitution of the United States is a law for rulers and people, equally in war and peace.

We can’t trust government to limit its powers to the Constitution.