QuoteProject
I cannot agree with those who think of the Bill of Rights as an 18th century straitjacket, unsuited for this age...The evils it guards against are not only old, they are with us now, they exist today.
Hugo Black
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The Bill of Rights remains relevant and essential for protecting freedoms in today's society.

Hugo Black emphasizes that the Bill of Rights, often seen as outdated, is in fact critical for addressing ongoing threats to liberties. He argues that the issues it addresses are not confined to the past but continue to be present in contemporary society, highlighting the need for these fundamental rights to be upheld.

Themes

Bill Of RightsFreedomRelevanceLibertiesProtection

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech advocating for civil liberties, one might quote Hugo Black to reinforce the importance of the Bill of Rights in modern governance.

More from Hugo Black

Criticism of government finds sanctuary in several portions of the 1st Amendment. It is part of the right of free speech. It embraces freedom of the press
Hugo BlackRead
Loyalty must arise spontaneously from the hearts of people who love their country and respect their government.
Hugo BlackRead
Paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell.
Hugo BlackRead
The public welfare demands that constitutional cases must be decided according to the terms of the Constitution itself, and not according to judges views of fairness, reasonableness, or justice. I have no fear of constitutional amendments properly adopted, but I do fear the rewriting of the Constitution by judges under the guise of interpretation.
Hugo BlackRead
The Press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of the government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people.
Hugo BlackRead
It is my belief that there are "absolutes" in our Bill of Rights, and that they were put there on purpose by men who knew what words meant and meant their prohibitions to be "absolutes."
Hugo BlackRead

Similar quotes

We have a tendency to think of war as this quasi-mystical thing, and that interpretation flattens the experience - by using different perspectives, I wanted to open a place for readers to compare and contrast, to make judgments, to engage.
Phil KlayRead
Human language can but imperfectly describe God's ways. I am sensible of the fact that they are indescribable and inscrutable. But if mortal man will dare to describe them, he has no better medium than his own inarticulate speech.
Mahatma GandhiRead
What did I really think fifteen years ago? A nonbeliever, I felt guilty in the midst of all those believers. And since it seemed to me that they were in the right, I decided to believe, as you might decide to take an aspirin: It can't hurt and you might get better.
Umberto EcoRead
Human need is really a great spiritual vacuum which God seeks to fill... With one hand in the hand of a fellow man in need and the other in the hand of Christ, He could get across the vacuum.
George Washington CarverRead
The final goal ... is to grasp the native's point of view, _x000D_ his relation to life, to realise his vision of his world.
Bronislaw MalinowskiRead
I mean, after all, you have to consider we're only made out of dust. That's admittedly not much to go on and we shouldn't forget that. But even considering, I mean it's sort of a bad beginning, we're not doing too bad. So I personally have faith that even in this lousy situation we're faced with we can make it. You get me?
Philip K. DickRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.