John Marshall Quotes

Quotes about:

• Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos.

  John Marshall

  Differences, Democracies Have, Order

  John Marshall (1836). “The life of George Washington: commander in chief of the American forces, during the war which established the independence of his country, and first president of the United States”, p.447

  85 Copy quote

• A legislative act contrary to the Constitution is not law.

  John Marshall

  Government, Law, Constitution

  John Marshall (2005). “The Political and Economic Doctrines of John Marshall”, p.337, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

  53 Copy quote

• To listen well is as powerful a means of communication and influence as to talk well

  John Marshall

  Powerful, Communication, Mean

  64 Copy quote

• It is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is.

  John Marshall

  Law, Judicial Review, Court

  Marbury v. Madison (1803)

  69 Copy quote

• The power to tax is the power to destroy.

  John Marshall

  Inspirational, Taxation, Libertarian

  John Marshall, Joseph Potter Cotton (2000). “The Constitutional Decisions of John Marshall”, p.338, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

  70 Copy quote

• 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.

  John Marshall

  People, Democracy, Constitution Of The United States

  John Marshall, Joseph Potter Cotton (2000). “The Constitutional Decisions of John Marshall”, p.417, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

  71 Copy quote

• What are the maxims of Democracy? A strict observance of justice and public faith, and a steady adherence to virtue.

  John Marshall

  Justice, Democracy, Adherence

  34 Copy quote

• A constitution is framed for ages to come, and is designed to approach immortality as nearly as human institutions can approach it.

  John Marshall

  Age, Constitution, Framed

  John Marshall, Joseph Potter Cotton (2000). “The Constitutional Decisions of John Marshall”, p.415, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

  32 Copy quote

• I fear we may live to see another revolution.

  John Marshall

  May, Revolution, American Revolution

  John Marshall (2005). “The Political and Economic Doctrines of John Marshall”, p.90, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

  6 Copy quote

• The constitution is either a superior paramount law, unchangeable by ordinary means, or it is on a level with ordinary legislative acts, alterable when the legislature shall please to alter it. It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is. This is the very essence of judicial duty.

  John Marshall

  Mean, Law, Essence

  Marbury v. Madison (1803)

  53 Copy quote

• What is it that makes us trust our judges? Their independence in office and manner of appointment.

  John Marshall

  Judging, Office, Independence

  John Marshall (2005). “The Political and Economic Doctrines of John Marshall”, p.267, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

  9 Copy quote

• The peculiar circumstances of the moment may render a measure more or less wise, but cannot render it more or less constitutional.

  John Marshall

  Wise, Peculiar, May

  John Marshall (1974). “The Papers of John Marshall: Correspondence, papers, and selected judicial opinions, March 1814-December 1819”, The University of North Carolina Press

  11 Copy quote

• A corporation is an artificial being, invisible, intangible, and existing only in contemplation of law.

  John Marshall

  Business, Law, Corporations

  John Marshall (1839). “The Writings of John Marshall: Late Chief Justice of the United States, Upon the Federal Constitution”, p.197

  46 Copy quote

• The government of the Union, then, ... is, emphatically, and truly, a government of the people. In form and in substance it emanates from them. Its powers are granted by them, and are to be exercised directly on them, and for their benefit.

  John Marshall

  Government, People, Substance

  Gerald Gunther, John Marshall (1969). “John Marshall's Defense of McCulloch V. Maryland”, p.26, Stanford University Press

  61 Copy quote

• In a free government almost all other rights would become worthless if the government possessed power over the private fortune of every citizen.

  John Marshall

  Rights, Government, Citizens

  25 Copy quote

• The government of the United States has been emphatically termed a government of laws, and not of men. It will certainly cease to deserve this high appellation, if the laws furnish no remedy for the violation of a vested legal right.

  John Marshall

  Men, Law, United States

  John Marshall (1839). “The Writings of John Marshall: Late Chief Justice of the United States, Upon the Federal Constitution”, p.11

  49 Copy quote

• Courts are the mere instruments of the law, and can will nothing. When they are said to exercise a discretion, it is a mere legal discretion, a discretion to be exercised in discerning the course prescribed by law; and, when that is discerned, it is the duty of the Court to follow it. Judicial power is never exericised for the purpose of giving effect to the will of the Judge; always for the purpose of giving effect to the will of the Legislature; or, in other words, to the will of the law.

  John Marshall

  Exercise, Law, Judging

  Osborn v. Bank of the United States, 22 U.S. (9 Wheaton) 738, 866, 1824.

  35 Copy quote

• An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, a power to destroy; because there is a limit beyond which no institution and no property can bear taxation.

  John Marshall

  Law, Taxation, Limits

  31 Copy quote

• This government is acknowledged by all, to be one of enumerated powers.

  John Marshall

  Government

  John Marshall (1839). “The Writings of John Marshall: Late Chief Justice of the United States, Upon the Federal Constitution”, p.164

  7 Copy quote

• The acme of judicial distinction means the ability to look a lawyer straight in the eyes for two hours and not hear a damned word he says.

  John Marshall

  Mean, Eye, Two

  Quoted in Albert J. Beveridge, Life of John Marshall (1919)

  14 Copy quote

• The law does not expect a man to be prepared to defend every act of his life which may be suddenly and without notice alleged against him.

  John Marshall

  Men, Law, Doe

  John Marshall, Joseph Potter Cotton (2000). “The Constitutional Decisions of John Marshall”, p.142, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

  24 Copy quote

• No political dreamer was ever wild enough to think of breaking down the lines which separate the States and compounding the American people into one common mass.

  John Marshall

  Dream, Thinking, People

  John Marshall (1839). “The Writings of John Marshall: Late Chief Justice of the United States, Upon the Federal Constitution”, p.162

  7 Copy quote

• The federal government is acknowledged by all to be one of enumerated powers. The principle, that it can exercise only the powers granted to it . . . is now universally admitted.

  John Marshall

  Exercise, Government, Principles

  John Marshall (1839). “The Writings of John Marshall: Late Chief Justice of the United States, Upon the Federal Constitution”, p.164

  27 Copy quote

• The most lively fancy aided by the strongest description cannot equal the reality of the opera.

  John Marshall

  Reality, Opera, Fancy

  John Marshall, Herbert Alan Johnson, Charles T. Cullen, Institute of Early American History and Culture (Williamsburg, Va.) (1974). “The Papers of John Marshall: Correspondence and papers, January 1796-December 1798”, Chapel Hill, N.C : University of North Carolina Press

  4 Copy quote

• The particular phraseology of the Constitution of the United States confirms and strengthens the principle, supposed to be essential to all written constitutions, that a law repugnant to the Constitution is void; and that courts, as well as other departments, are bound by that instrument.

  John Marshall

  Law, Void, Principles

  John Marshall (2005). “The Political and Economic Doctrines of John Marshall”, p.340, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

  25 Copy quote

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