The Constitution is a pantheon of values, and a lot of hard cases are hard because the Constitution gives no simple rule of decision for the cases in which one of the values is truly at odds with another.
David SouterRead
The Constitution is no simple contract, not because it uses a certain amount of open-ended language, but because its language grants and guarantees many good things, and good things that compete with each other and can never all be realized, altogether, all at once.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The Constitution is complex due to its guarantees of competing rights and values.
David Souter's quote emphasizes that the U.S. Constitution is not merely a straightforward agreement; its intricate language embodies a multitude of rights and principles that can sometimes conflict with each other. This complexity requires careful interpretation and understanding, as fully realizing all the good things it promises simultaneously is an impossible task.
Themes
ConstitutionRightsValuesComplexityLawGovernance
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the importance of constitutional rights during a public forum.
More from David Souter
All quotes →For those whose exclusive norm of constitutional judging is merely fair reading of language applied to facts objectively viewed, 'Brown' must either be flat-out wrong or a very mystifying decision.
David SouterRead
The language of the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection of the laws did not change between 1896 and 1954, and it would be very hard to say that the obvious facts on which 'Plessy' was based had changed.
David SouterRead
There is a danger to judicial independence when people have no understanding of how the judiciary fits into the constitutional scheme.
David SouterRead
Similar quotes
I can believe things that are true and things that aren't true and I can believe things where nobody knows if they're true or not.
Neil GaimanRead
The way of Jesus cannot be imposed or mapped — it requires an active participation in following Jesus as he leads us through sometimes strange and unfamiliar territory, in circumstances that become clear only in the hesitations and questionings, in the pauses and reflections where we engage in prayerful conversation with one another and with him.
Eugene H. PetersonRead
I'm not very interested in people. I recognize it in myself - there is a basic indifference toward people.
Joan DidionRead
If you say, Well, OK, I don't believe in God. There's no evidence of God, then you're missing the stars in the sky and you're missing the sunrises and sunsets and you're missing the fact that bees pollinate all these crops and keep us alive and the way that everything seems to work together. Everything is sort of built in a way that to me suggests intelligent design.
Stephen KingRead
Spirit vibrated into matter; hence, both Spirit and matter exist. Matter, however, does not exist in the way that it appears to us. It exists as we see it owing to the delusive force of maya, which makes the indivisible Spirit seem finite and divisible to all appearances. Matter has existence in the same delusive way as does a mirage in the desert.
Paramahansa YoganandaRead
Let us not be blind to our differences-but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.
John F. KennedyRead