Louis D. Brandeis

Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done.

— Louis D. Brandeis

The best of wages will not compensate for excessively long working hours which undermine heath.

— Louis D. Brandeis

We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we…

— Louis D. Brandeis

It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears.

— Louis D. Brandeis

The most important political office is that of the private citizen.

— Louis D. Brandeis

Those who won our independence... valued liberty as an end and as a means. They believed liberty to be the secret of…

— Louis D. Brandeis

The function of the press is very high. It is almost holy. It ought to serve as a forum for the people,…

— Louis D. Brandeis

To declare that in the administration of criminal law the end justifies the means to declare that the Government may commit crimes…

— Louis D. Brandeis

Democracy rests upon two pillars: one, the principle that all men are equally entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness;…

— Louis D. Brandeis

If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the…

— Louis D. Brandeis

“We must make our choice. We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but…

— Louis D. Brandeis

Fear of serious injury alone cannot justify oppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burnt women. It is the…

— Louis D. Brandeis

What are the American ideals? They are the development of the individual for his own and the common good; the development of…

— Louis D. Brandeis

The makers of our Constitution . . . conferred, as against the government, the right to be let alone - the most…

— Louis D. Brandeis

Ways may someday be developed by which the government, without removing papers from secret drawers, can reproduce them in court, and by…

— Louis D. Brandeis

Behind every argument is somebody's ignorance. Rediscover the foundation of truth and the purpose and causes of dispute immediately disappear.

— Louis D. Brandeis

The old idea of a good bargain was a transaction in which one man got the better of another. The new idea…

— Louis D. Brandeis

The general rule of law is, that the noblest of human productions knowledge, truths ascertained, conceptions and ideas become, after voluntary communication…

— Louis D. Brandeis

The goose that lays golden eggs has been considered a most valuable possession. But even more profitable is the privilege of taking…

— Louis D. Brandeis

What I have desired to do is to make the people of Boston realize that the most important office, and the one…

— Louis D. Brandeis

I used to oppose women's suffrage and I've come to support it because these women have convinced me that we need full…

— Louis D. Brandeis

Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric…

— Louis D. Brandeis

Ownership has been separated from control; and this separation has removed many of the checks which formerly operated to curb the misuse…

— Louis D. Brandeis

At the foundation of our civil liberties lies the principle that denies to government officials an exceptional position before the law and…

— Louis D. Brandeis