Quote#Freedom
We are under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the judges…
Quote byCharles Evans Hughes · 1862–1948
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Speech before the Chamber of Commerce, Elmira, New York (3 May 1907); published in Addresses and Papers of Charles Evans Hughes, Governor of New York, 1906–1908 (1908), p. 139.
English (original)
We are under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the judges say it is, and the judiciary is the safeguard of our liberty and of our property under the Constitution.
— Charles Evans Hughes
More from Charles Evans Hughes
No greater mistake can be made than to think that our institutions are fixed or may not be changed for the worse.
A man has to live with himself, and he should see to it that he always has good company.
The most ominous spirit of our times, as it seems to me, is the indication of the growth of an intolerent spirit.
While democracy must have its organizations and controls, its vital breath is individual liberty.
The peril of this Nation is not in any foreign foe! We, the people, are its power, its peril, and its hope!
When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free.