Antonin Scalia Quotes

Quotes about:

• God assumed from the beginning that the wise of the world would view Christians as fools...and He has not been disappointed....If I have brought any message today, it is this: Have the courage to have your wisdom regarded as stupidity. Be fools for Christ. And have the courage to suffer the contempt of the sophisticated world.

  Antonin Scalia

  God, Christian, Wise

  7644 Copy quote

• There is no basis in text, tradition, or even in contemporary practice (if that were enough), for finding in the Constitution a right to demand judicial consideration of newly discovered evidence of innocence brought forward after conviction. My concern is that in making life easier for ourselves we not appear to make it harder for the lower federal courts, imposing upon them the burden of regularly analyzing newly-discovered-evidence-of-innocence claims in capital cases (in which event such federal claims, it can confidently be predicted, will become routine and even repetitive).

  Antonin Scalia

  Practice, Justice, Demand

  1998 Copy quote

• As long as judges tinker with the Constitution to 'do what the people want,' instead of what the document actually commands, politicians who pick and confirm new federal judges will naturally want only those who agree with them politically.

  Antonin Scalia

  Law, Long, People

  "'Get over it': Justice Scalia's most memorable quotes" by Bill Mears, www.foxnews.com. February 15, 2016.

  887 Copy quote

• Bear in mind that brains and learning, like muscle and physical skill, are articles of commerce. They are bought and sold. You can hire them by the year or by the hour. The only thing in the world not for sale is character.

  Antonin Scalia

  Teaching, Learning, Character

  873 Copy quote

• That's the argument of flexibility and it goes something like this: The Constitution is over 200 years old and societies change. It has to change with society, like a living organism, or it will become brittle and break. But you would have to be an idiot to believe that. The Constitution is not a living organism; it is a legal document. It says something and doesn't say other things.

  Antonin Scalia

  Believe, Years, Melting

  "Scalia Raps 'Living Constitution'". www.cbsnews.com. February 14, 2006.

  412 Copy quote

• Persuade your fellow citizens it's a good idea and pass a law. That's what democracy is all about. It's not about nine superannuated judges who have been there too long, imposing these demands on society.

  Antonin Scalia

  Court Judges, Law, Ideas

  "Scalia: Women Don’t Have Constitutional Protection Against Discrimination" by Amanda Terkel, www.huffingtonpost.com. January 3, 2011.

  364 Copy quote

• It is difficult to maintain the illusion that we are interpreting a Constitution, rather than inventing one.

  Antonin Scalia

  Melting, Constitution, Illusion

  Antonin Scalia (2016). “Scalia's Court: A Legacy of Landmark Opinions and Dissents”, p.58, Regnery Publishing

  333 Copy quote

• A Bill of Rights that means what the majority wants it to mean is worthless.

  Antonin Scalia

  Mean, Rights, Liberty

  301 Copy quote

• If you're going to be a good and faithful judge, you have to resign yourself to the fact that you're not always going to like the conclusions you reach. If you like them all the time, you're probably doing something wrong.

  Antonin Scalia

  Court Judges, Judging, Faithful

  Speech at Chapman Law School, August 2005.

  239 Copy quote

• You're looking at me as though I'm weird. My god! Are you so out of touch with most of America, most of which believes in the devil? I mean, Jesus Christ believed in the devil! It's in the Gospels! You travel in circles that are so, so removed from mainstream America that you are appalled that anybody would believe in the devil! Most of mankind has believed in the devil, for all of history. Many more intelligent people than you or me have believed in the devil.

  Antonin Scalia

  Jesus, Believe, Mean

  Interview with Jennifer Senior, nymag.com. October 6, 2013.

  346 Copy quote

• What is a moderate interpretation of the text? Halfway between what it really means and what you'd like it to mean?

  Antonin Scalia

  Motivational, Mean, Interpretation

  "Antonin Scalia's legacy: Extraordinary writing, and upholding the rule of law" by Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, theweek.com. February 13, 2016.

  320 Copy quote

• Devout Christians are destined to be regarded as fools in modern society. We are fools for Christ's sake. We must pray for courage to endure the scorn of the sophisticated world.

  Antonin Scalia

  Christian, Scary, Melting

  283 Copy quote

• Day by day, case by case, the Supreme Court is busy designing a Constitution for a country I do not recognize.

  Antonin Scalia

  Country, Design, Melting

  281 Copy quote

• Words have meaning. And their meaning doesn't change.

  Antonin Scalia

  Interview with Jennifer Senior, nymag.com. October 6, 2013.

  94 Copy quote

• If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder? Can we have it against other things?

  Antonin Scalia

  Feelings, Moral, Murder

  "Antonin Scalia's 10 most memorable lines" By Gregory Krieg, www.cnn.com. February 13, 2016.

  288 Copy quote

• The Court's decision reflects the philosophy that judges should endure whatever interpretive distortions it takes in order to correct a supposed flaw in the statutory machinery. That philosophy ignores the American people's decision to give Congress '[a]ll legislative Powers' enumerated in the Constitution. They made Congress, not this Court, responsible for both making laws and mending them.

  Antonin Scalia

  Philosophy, Order, Law

  249 Copy quote

• Certainly the Constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesn't.

  Antonin Scalia

  Sex, Issues, Doe

  "Scalia: Constitution does not protect women against discrimination". California Lawyer Interview, voices.washingtonpost.com. January 4, 2011.

  262 Copy quote

• For in order for capitalism to work -- in order for it to produce a good and a stable society -- the traditional Christian virtues are essential.

  Antonin Scalia

  Christian, Order, Essentials

  "At Houston lecture, Scalia explores Christian virtues and economic systems". www.houstonchronicle.com. September 6, 2013.

  160 Copy quote

• The right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children is among the unalienable rights with which the Declaration of Independence proclaims 'all Men are endowed by their Creator.'

  Antonin Scalia

  Children, Men, Rights

  "Troxel v. Granville". "A Year at the Supreme Court". Book by Neal Devins and Davison M. Douglas, 2004.

  56 Copy quote

• In the eyes of government we are just one race here. It is American.

  Antonin Scalia

  Eye, Race, Government

  Antonin Scalia (2016). “Scalia's Court: A Legacy of Landmark Opinions and Dissents”, p.47, Regnery Publishing

  139 Copy quote

• I even accept for the sake of argument that sexual orgies eliminate social tensions and ought to be encouraged.

  Antonin Scalia

  Stupid, Silly, Sake

  "Scalia Describes ‘Dangerous’ Trend" by Daniel J. Hemel, www.thecrimson.com. September 29, 2004.

  164 Copy quote

• More importantly, the Court forgets that ours is a government of laws and not of men. That means we are governed by the terms of our laws, not by the unenacted will of our lawmakers. 'If Congress enacted into law something different from what it intended, then it should amend the statute to conform to its intent.' In the meantime, this Court 'has no roving license ... to disregard clear language simply on the view that ... Congress 'must have intended' something broader.

  Antonin Scalia

  Mean, Men, Views

  214 Copy quote

• Individuals who have been wronged by unlawful racial discrimination should be made whole; but under our Constitution there can be no such thing as either a creditor or a debtor race. That concept is alien to the Constitution's focus upon the individual. ...To pursue the concept of racial entitlement - even for the most admirable and benign of purposes - is to reinforce and preserve for future mischief the way of thinking that produced race slavery, race privilege and race hatred. In the eyes of government, we are just one race here. It is American.

  Antonin Scalia

  Eye, Thinking, Race

  Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña, 515 U.S. 200, 239, 1995.

  79 Copy quote

• I am glad that I am not raising kids today. And I’m rather pessimistic that my grandchildren will enjoy the great society that I’ve enjoyed in my lifetime. I really think it’s coarsened. It’s coarsened in so many ways. One of the things that upsets me about modern society is the coarseness of manners. You can’t go to a movie — or watch a television show for that matter — without hearing the constant use of the F-word — including, you know, ladies using it. People that I know don’t talk like that!

  Antonin Scalia

  Kids, Thinking, Grandchildren

  128 Copy quote

• One can be sophisticated and believe in God. Reason and intellect are not to be laid aside where matters of religion are concerned.

  Antonin Scalia

  Believe, Scary, Matter

  123 Copy quote

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