Quote#Speech
As men, whose intentions require no concealment, generally employ the…
Quote byJohn Marshall · 1755–1835
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), 22 U.S. (9 Wheaton) 1, 188.
English (original)
As men, whose intentions require no concealment, generally employ the words which most directly and aptly express the ideas they intend to convey, the enlightened patriots who framed our constitution, and the people who adopted it, must be understood to have employed words in their natural sense, and to have intended what they have said.
— John Marshall
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It is the peculiar province of the legislature to prescribe general rules for the government of society; the application of those rules to individuals in society would seem to be the duty of other departments.
The people made the Constitution, and the people can unmake it. It is the creature of their own will, and lives only by their will.
A constitution is framed for ages to come, and is designed to approach immortality as nearly as human institutions can approach it.
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