William O. Douglas Quotes

Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

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

Only when there is a wilderness can man harmonize his inner being with the wavelengths of the earth. When the earth, its products, its creatures, become his concern, man is caught up in a cause greater than his own life and more meaningful. Only when man loses himself in an endeavor of that magnitude does he walk and live with humanity and reverence.

To be whole and harmonious, man must also know the music of the beaches and the woods. He must find the thing of which he is only an infinitesimal part and nurture it and love it, if he is to live.

The way to combat noxious ideas is with other ideas. The way to combat falsehoods is with truth.

The Constitution is not neutral. It was designed to take the government off the backs of people.

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