Marriage is treated by all civilized societies as a peculiar and favored contract. It is in its origin a contract of natural law . . . . It is the parent, and not the child of society the source of civility and a sort of seminary of the republic.

The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered as the palladium of the liberties of a republic.

How much more do they deserve our reverence and praise, whose lives are devoted to the formation of institutions, which, when they and their children are mingled in the common dust, may continue to cherish the principles and the practice of liberty in perpetual freshness and vigour.

It is important also to consider, that the surest means of avoiding war is to be prepared for it in peace.

How easily men satisfy themselves that the Constitution is exactly what they wish it to be

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

To secure integrity there must a lofty sense of duty and a deep responsibility to future times as well as to God.

Be brief, be pointed, let your matter standLucid in order, solid and at handSpend not your words on trifles but condenseStrike with the mass of thought, not drops of sensePress to close with vigor, once begun,And leave, (how hard the task!) leave off, when done.

There is not a truth to be gathered from history more certain, or more momentous, than this: that civil liberty cannot long be separated from religious liberty without danger, and ultimately without destruction to both. Wherever religious liberty exists, it will, first or last, bring in and establish political liberty.

It was under a solemn consciousness of the dangers from ecclesiastical ambition, the bigotry of spiritual pride, and the intolerance of sects... that is was deemed advisable to exclude from the national government all power to act upon the subject.

A new invention to poison people ... is not a patentable invention.

In the next place, the state governments are, by the very theory of the constitution, essential constituent parts of the general government. They can exist without the latter, but the latter cannot exist without them.

Every successive generation becomes a living memorial of our public schools, and a living example of their excellence.

This provision (the 4th Amendment) speaks for itself. Its plain object is to secure the perfect enjoyment of that great right of the common law, that a man's house shall be his own castle, privileged against all civil and military intrusion.

Human wisdom is the aggregate of all human experience, constantly accumulating, and selecting, and re-organizing its own materials.

I will not say with Lord Hale, that The Law will admit of no rival . . . but I will say that it is a jealous mistress, and requires a long and constant courtship. It is not to be won by trifling favors, but by lavish homage.