Civil government cannot let any group ride roughshod over others simply because their consciences tell them to do so.
Robert H. JacksonRead
The priceless heritage of our society is the unrestricted constitutional right of each member to think as he will. Thought control is a copyright of totalitarianism, and we have no claim to it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of free thought in a democratic society and warns against totalitarianism.
Robert H. Jackson's quote underscores the significance of individual freedom of thought as a fundamental right in a society governed by constitutional principles. By stating that thought control represents totalitarianism, he highlights the dangers of any system that seeks to suppress or regulate personal beliefs, making a case for the necessity of protecting this liberty as an essential aspect of a free and open society.
Themes
FreedomThoughtTotalitarianismSocietyRight
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about civil liberties at a university event.
More from Robert H. Jackson
All quotes →While the Nation has forbidden monopoly by one set of laws it has been creating them by another. Patent laws, valuable as they may be in some respects, often father monopoly.
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Freedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order.
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To believe that patriotism will not flourish if patriotic ceremonies are voluntary and spontaneous instead of a compulsory routine is to make an unflattering estimate of the appeal of our institutions to free minds.
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In our country are evangelists and zealots of many different political, economic and religious persuasions whose fanatical conviction is that all thought is divinely classified into two kinds - that which is their own and that which is false and dangerous.
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We must make clear to the Germans that the wrong for which their fallen leaders are on trial is not that they lost the war, but that they started it. And we must not allow ourselves to be drawn into a trial of the causes of the war, for our position is that no grievances or policies will justify resort to aggressive war. It is utterly renounced and condemned as an instrument of policy.
Robert H. JacksonRead
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