Samuel Freeman Miller Quotes

20 quotes in 347 categories

• The value of a decision as a precedent is very much enhanced by the care with which it has been considered, and if the opinion…
• Louisiana commenced her existence as a state under a code of laws differing from all the other states which were founded on the common law,…
• It is a very great mistake, common to counsel, and especially to young counsel, to consider that a decision of any court must necessarily command…
• It is a very great mistake, and a very common one, even for well-read persons, to adopt the idea that the progress of the human…
• Man is essentially a selfish creature. The differences in the degree with which this developed are infinite.
• The Constitution of the United States, like all systems of government which are permanent, had its origin in the history and necessities of the people…
• Custody and guardianship by the parent of his child does not arise under the Constitution, laws or treaties of the United States and is not…
• Of all the powers conferred upon government, that of taxation is most liable to abuse.
• A vile and overbearing temper becomes sometimes, in one long accustomed to the exercise of power, unendurable to those who are subject to its humors.
• May it be long before the people of the United States shall cease to take a deep and pervading interest in the Fourth of July,…
• History teaches us, in no mistaken language, how often customs and practices, which were originated without lawful warrant, and opposed to the sound construction of…
• A constitution, in the American sense of the word, is a written instrument by which the fundamental powers of the government are established, limited, and…
• No branch of the law is of more importance to the counsellor, the statesman, or the citizen, than a thorough acquaintance with the Constitution and…
• Of the powers conferred upon the General Government by the Constitution of the United States much the most important are those given to the legislative…
• The United States being a limited form of government, one of the restrictions to which it is subject is in regard to its power to…
• Naturalization is the process by which a citizen, or subject of a foreign nation or kingdom, is made a citizen of the United States. It…
• The Supreme Court, once in existence, cannot be abolished, because its foundation is not in an act of the legislative department of the Government, but…
• Of the judicial department of the Government, the Supreme Court is the head and representative, and to it must come for final decision all the…
• No one familiar with the common law of England can read the Constitution of the United States without observing the great desire of the Convention…
• As a general rule, governments are unlimited in their powers. All free governments, perhaps all other governments, are entitled in some shape or other to…

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