Constitution quotes

I have been a firm believer in the federal structure of our country as enshrined in the Constitution.

I believe that a government has only one religion – India first. A government has only one holy book – our Constitution. A government has only one kind of devotion – towards nation.

The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that… it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.

I have quite a decent constitution in spite of all my abuse of it and my advanced years. I’m still quite robust.

When we wrote the Constitution, the intention was to give the commander in chief the authority how to use the forces when you authorize him to be able to use the forces.

Our constitution is a ray of hope: H for harmony, O for Opportunity, P for people’s participation and E for equality.

We shouldn’t have to be burdened with all the technicalities that come up from time to time with shrewd, smart lawyers interpreting what the laws or what the Constitution may or may not say.

But just as they did in Philadelphia when they were writing the constitution, sooner or later, you’ve got to compromise. You’ve got to start making the compromises that arrive at a consensus and move the country forward.

It is the genius of our Constitution that under its shelter of enduring institutions and rooted principles there is ample room for the rich fertility of American political invention.

As for doing good; that is one of the professions which is full. Moreover I have tried it fairly and, strange as it may seem, am satisfied that it does not agree with my constitution.

Our constitution protects aliens, drunks and U.S. Senators.

A Constitution should be short and obscure.

A cloudy day or a little sunshine have as great an influence on many constitutions as the most recent blessings or misfortunes.

You should see what our Founding Fathers used to say to each other and in the early part of our nation. But what they were able to do, especially in Philadelphia in 1787, four months, they argued about what a House should be, what a Senate should be, the power of the president, the Congress, the Supreme Court. And they had to deal with slavery.

There’s nothing in the Constitution that says the President stops being President in his last year.

I deplore the need or the use of troops anywhere to get American citizens to obey the orders of constituted courts.

Courage that grows from constitution often forsakes a man when he has occasion for it; courage which arises from a sense of duty acts; in a uniform manner.

The framers of our Constitution meant we were to have freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.

I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage. But when you start playing around with constitutions, just to prohibit somebody who cares about another person, it just seems to me that’s not what America’s about. Usually, our constitutions expand liberties, they don’t contract them.

We have the oldest written constitution still in force in the world, and it starts out with three words, ‚We, the people.‘

Collegiality is crucial to the success of our mission. We could not do the job the Constitution assigns to us if we didn’t – to use one of Justice Antonin Scalia’s favorite expressions – ‚Get over it!‘

I entirely concur in the propriety of resorting to the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation. In that sense alone it is the legitimate Constitution.

The happy Union of these States is a wonder; their Constitution a miracle; their example the hope of Liberty throughout the world.

The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon.

The people are the only legitimate fountain of power, and it is from them that the constitutional charter, under which the several branches of government hold their power, is derived.

Nothing can be divided into more parts than it can possibly be constituted of. But matter (i.e. finite) cannot be constituted of infinite parts.

Nature and human life are as various as our several constitutions. Who shall say what prospect life offers to another?

The Constitution preserves the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation where the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.

A mission statement is not something you write overnight… But fundamentally, your mission statement becomes your constitution, the solid expression of your vision and values. It becomes the criterion by which you measure everything else in your life.

For me, the essence of the great American Dream is spiritual. I believe that our Constitution is inspired and that it is based on principles that are timeless and universal. This is the reason why 95% of all written constitutions throughout the world are modeled after our Constitution.

The Bill of Rights is not an a la carte menu.

The basis of our political system is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government.

There is never a shortage anywhere of lawyers eager to attack the First Amendment, as though it were nothing more than a clause in a lease from a crooked slumlord.

When I took over as president, I studied the Constitution, and the more I studied it, the more I realised that it does not prevent the president of India from giving the nation a vision. So when I went and presented this vision in Parliament and in legislative assemblies; everyone welcomed it, irrespective of party affiliations.

A constitution is the arrangement of magistracies in a state.

The constitution vests the power of declaring war in Congress; therefore no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they shall have deliberated upon the subject and authorized such a measure.

I look upon death to be as necessary to our constitution as sleep. We shall rise refreshed in the morning.

Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.

The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.

We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.