The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom. — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
The free state offers what a police state denies - the privacy of the home, the dignity and peace of mind of… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
The liberties of none are safe unless the liberties of all are protected. — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
Absolute discretion is a ruthless master. It is more destructive of freedom than any of man's other inventions. — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
Freedom of movement is the very essence of our free society -- once the right to travel is curtailed, all other rights… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedoms. — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
A people who extend civil liberties only to preferred groups start down the path either to dictatorship of the right or the… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
Christianity has sufficient inner strength to survive and flourish on its own. It does not need state subsidies, nor state privileges, nor… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
“Big Brother in the form of an increasingly powerful government and in an increasingly powerful private sector will pile the records high… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
“We are rapidly entering the age of no privacy, where everyone is open to surveillance at all times; where there are no… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
The right to work, I had assumed, was the most precious liberty that man possesses. Man has indeed as much right to… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
The most important aspect of freedom of speech is freedom to learn. All education is a continuous dialogue - questions and answers… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
“The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom." [ Public Utilities Commission v. Pollak , 343 U.S. 451, 467 (1952) (dissenting)]” — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
The First and Fourteenth Amendments say that Congress and the States shall make "no law" which abridges freedom of speech or of… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
“These examples and many others demonstrate an alarming trend whereby the privacy and dignity of our citizens is being whittled away by… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
What we must remember, however, is that preservation of liberties does not depend on motives. A suppression of liberty has the same… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
Once the government can demand of a publisher the names of the purchasers of his publication, the free press as we know… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
The challenge to our liberties comes frequently not from those who consciously seek to destroy our system of government, but from men… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
Among the liberties of citizens that are guaranteed are ... the right to believe what one chooses, the right to differ from… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
These unwritten amenities have been in part responsible for giving our people the feeling of independence and self-confidence, the feeling of creativity.… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
This freedom of movement is the very essence of our free society, setting us apart. Like the right of assembly and the… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
Any test that turns on what is offensive to the community's standards is too loose, too capricious, too destructive of freedom of… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
“Once the government can demand of a publisher the names of the purchasers of his publications, the free press as we know… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
“Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
But our society - unlike most in the world - presupposes that freedom and liberty are in a frame of reference that… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
We have a system which, though far from perfect, is strong with idealism. It gives elbow room for men of all races… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
The people, the ultimate governors, must have absolute freedom of, and therefore privacy of, their individual opinions and beliefs regardless of how… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
“The framers of the constitution knew human nature as well as we do. They too had lived in dangerous days; they too… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
The framers of the constitution knew human nature as well as we do. They too had lived in dangerous days; they too… — William O. Douglas Copy Share Image
The First Amendment makes confidence in the common sense of our people and in the maturity of their judgement the great postulate of our… — William O. Douglas Copy Share
Inanimate objects are sometimes parties to litigation. A ship has a legal personality, a fiction found useful for maritime purposes. The corporation sole -… — William O. Douglas Copy Share
Any test that turns on what is offensive to the community's standards is too loose, too capricious, too destructive of freedom of expression to… — William O. Douglas Copy Share
I've often thought that if planners were botanists, zoologists, geologists, and people who know about the earth, we would have much more wisdom in… — William O. Douglas Copy Share
I have the same confidence in the ability of our people to reject noxious literature as I have in their capacity to sort out… — William O. Douglas Copy Share
The liberties of none are safe unless the liberties of all are protected. — William O. Douglas Copy Share
A function of free speech under our system of government is to invite dispute. It may indeed best serve its high purpose when it… — William O. Douglas Copy Share
At the constitutional level where we work, 90 percent of any decision is emotional. The rational part of us supplies the reasons for supporting… — William O. Douglas Copy Share
To be whole and harmonious, man must also know the music of the beaches and the woods. He must find the thing of which… — William O. Douglas Copy Share
We deal with a right of privacy older than the Bill of Rights-older than our political parties, older than our school system. — William O. Douglas Copy Share
It is our attitude toward free thought and free expression that will determine our fate. There must be no limit on the range of… — William O. Douglas Copy Share
The interests of the corporation state are to convert all the riches of the earth into dollars. — William O. Douglas Copy Share
There have always been grievances and youth has always been the agitator. — William O. Douglas Copy Share
![“Big Brother in the form of an increasingly powerful government and in an increasingly powerful private sector will pile the records high with reasons why privacy should give way to national security, to law and order [...] and the like.” quote by William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/18a/william-o-douglas-2931_control_big-brother-in-the-form-of-an-increasing_2127861.jpg)
![“We are rapidly entering the age of no privacy, where everyone is open to surveillance at all times; where there are no secrets from government." [ Osborn v. United States , 385 U.S. 323, 341 (1966) (dissenting)]” quote by William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/48a/william-o-douglas-2931_cybersecurity_we-are-rapidly-entering-the-age-of-no-pr_3029383.jpg)
![“The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom." [ Public Utilities Commission v. Pollak , 343 U.S. 451, 467 (1952) (dissenting)]” quote by William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/c9a/william-o-douglas-2931_freedom_the-right-to-be-let-alone-is-indeed-the_2882209.jpg)
![“Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us." [ The One Un-American Act , Speech to the Author's Guild Council in New York, on receiving the 1951 Lauterbach Award (December 3, 1952)]” quote by William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/2ab/william-o-douglas-2931_democracy_restriction-of-free-thought-and-free-spe_550325.jpg)
