In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief read more

In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.

The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people read more

The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.

Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.

Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.

The principles of a free constitution are irrecoverably lost, when the legislative power is nominated by the executive.

The principles of a free constitution are irrecoverably lost, when the legislative power is nominated by the executive.

"The liberties of our country, the freedoms of our civil Constitution are worth defending at all hazards; it is our read more

"The liberties of our country, the freedoms of our civil Constitution are worth defending at all hazards; it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors. They purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood. It will bring a mark of everlasting infamy on the present generation – enlightened as it is – if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of designing men." -Samuel Adams

A lawyer's primer: If you don't have the law, you argue the facts; if you don't have the facts, you read more

A lawyer's primer: If you don't have the law, you argue the facts; if you don't have the facts, you argue the law; if you have neither the facts nor the law, then you argue the Constitution

We have seen that the American Constitution has changed, is changing, and by the law of its existence must continue read more

We have seen that the American Constitution has changed, is changing, and by the law of its existence must continue to change, in its substance and practical working even when its words remain the same.

The Bill of Rights -- The Original Contract With America. Accept no substitutes. Beware of imitations. Insist on the genuine read more

The Bill of Rights -- The Original Contract With America. Accept no substitutes. Beware of imitations. Insist on the genuine articles.

I confess that there are several parts of this Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am read more

I confess that there are several parts of this Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them. For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise.