William O. Douglas

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

There have always been grievances and youth has always been the agitator.

— William O. Douglas

Since when have we Americans been expected to bow submissively to authority and speak with awe and reverence to those who represent…

— William O. Douglas

It is better, so the Fourth Amendment teaches us, that the guilty sometimes go free than the citizens be subject to easy…

— William O. Douglas

Racial discrimination against a white is as unconstitutional as race discrimination against a black.

— William O. Douglas

Man is whole when he is in tune with the winds, the stars, and the hills... Being in tune with the universe…

— William O. Douglas

I do not know of any salvation for society except through eccentrics, misfits, dissenters, people who protest,

— William O. Douglas

One who comes to the Court must come to adore, not to protest. That's the new gloss on the 1st Amendment.

— William O. Douglas

Those in power need checks and restraints lest they come to identify the common good for their own tastes and desires, and…

— William O. Douglas

The Free Exercise Clause protects the individual from any coercive measure that encourages him toward one faith or creed, discourages him from…

— William O. Douglas

Thus if the First Amendment means anything in this field, it must allow protests even against the moral code that the standard…

— William O. Douglas

I have the same confidence in the ability of our people to reject noxious literature as I have in their capacity to…

— William O. Douglas

The 5th Amendment is an old friend and a good friend. one of the great landmarks in men's struggle to be free…

— William O. Douglas

Power that controls the economy should be in the hands of elected representatives of the people, not in the hands of an…

— William O. Douglas

Hiking a ridge, a meadow, or a river bottom, is as healthy a form of exercise as one can get. Hiking seems…

— William O. Douglas

The use of violence as an instrument of persuasion is therefore inviting and seems to the discontented to be the only effective…

— William O. Douglas

We recognize the force of the argument that the effects of war under modern conditions may be felt in the economy for…

— William O. Douglas

The concept of the public welfare is broad and inclusive ... the values it represents are spiritual as well as physical, aesthetic…

— William O. Douglas

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

The First Amendment...does not say that in every respect there shall be a separation of Church and State…Otherwise the state and religion…

— William O. Douglas

Among the liberties of citizens that are guaranteed are ... the right to believe what one chooses, the right to differ from…

— William O. Douglas

Realization of this need means adults must awaken to the urgency of the young people's unrest-in other words there must be created…

— William O. Douglas

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

I learned early that the richness of life is found in adventure. Adventure calls on all the faculties of mind and spirit.…

— William O. Douglas

Marriage is a coming together for better or for worse, hopefully enduring, and intimate to the degree of being sacred.

— William O. Douglas

No patent medicine was ever put to wider and more varied use than the Fourteenth Amendment.

— William O. Douglas

Hiking a ridge, a meadow, a river bottom, is as healthy a form of exercise as one can get.

— William O. Douglas

We do not sit as a superlegislature to weigh the wisdom of legislation.

— William O. Douglas

Freedom of movement is the very essence of our free society -- once the right to travel is curtailed, all other rights…

— William O. Douglas

Free speech is not to be regulated like diseased cattle and impure butter. The audience that hissed yesterday may applaud today, even…

— William O. Douglas

Motion pictures are of course a different medium of expression than the public speech, the radio, the stage, the novel, or the…

— William O. Douglas

Man must be able to escape civilization if he is to survive. Some of his greatest needs are for refuges and retreats…

— William O. Douglas

The struggle is always between the individual and his sacred right to express himself and... the power structure that seeks conformity, suppression…

— William O. Douglas

“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

Security can only be achieved through constant change, through discarding old ideas that have outlived their usefulness and adapting others to current…

— William O. Douglas

Ideas are indeed the most dangerous weapons in the world. Our ideas of freedom are the most powerful political weapons man has…

— William O. Douglas

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

The most important aspect of freedom of speech is freedom to learn. All education is a continuous dialogue - questions and answers…

— William O. Douglas

“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

The association promotes a way of life, not causes; a harmony in living, not political faiths; a bilateral loyalty, not commercial or…

— William O. Douglas