Amendments Quotes

• In recent years it has been suggested that the Second Amendment protects the "collective" right of states to maintain militias, while it does not protect the right of "the people" to keep and bear arms... If anyone entertained this notion in the period during which the Constitution and Bill of Rights were debated and ratified, it remains one of the most closely guarded secrets of the 18th century, for no known writing surviving from the period between 1787 and 1791 states such a thesis.

  Stephen Halbrook

  Writing, Gun, Rights

  "That Every Man Be Armed: The Evolution of a Constitutional Right". Book by Stephen Halbrook, 1984.

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• The Framers of the First Amendment were not concerned with preventing government from abridging their freedom to speak about crops and cockfighting, or with protecting the expressive activity of topless dancers, which of late has found some shelter under the First Amendment. Rather, the Framers cherished unabridged freedom of political communication.

  George Will

  Communication, Government, Dancer

  George F. Will (2003). “With a Happy Eye, But...: America and the World, 1997--2002”, p.278, Simon and Schuster

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• Asked random questions about the First Amendment and how they would like to have it applied, if you believe in polls at all, the average American wants no part of it. But if you ask, 'What if we threw the Constitution away tomorrow?' the answer is 'No, that would be bad!' But living under the Constitution is another story altogether.

  Frank Zappa

  Believe, Average, What If

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• You know why there's a Second Amendment? In case the government fails to follow the first one.

  Rush Limbaugh

  Government, Gun Control, Second Amendment

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• I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, I have finally been included in 'We, the people.'

  Barbara Jordan

  Mistake, Years, People

  Statement on the Articles of Impeachment, delivered 25 July 1974, House Judiciary Committee

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• The prohibition is general. No clause in the Constitution could by any rule of construction be conceived to give to Congress a power to disarm the people. Such a flagitious attempt could only be made under some general pretense by a state legislature. But if in any blind pursuit of inordinate power, either should attempt it, this amendment may be appealed to as a restraint on both.

  William Rawle

  Gun, Power, People

  "A view of the Constitution of the United States of America". Book by William Rawle, 1829.

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• Instead of giving money to found colleges to promote learning, why don't they pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as good as the Prohibition one did, why, in five years we would have the smartest race of people on earth.

  Will Rogers

  College, Race, Years

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• The takings clause of the Fifth Amendment is for conservatives what the equal protection clause of the 14th is for liberals.

  Michael Kinsley

  Fifth Amendment, Protection, Equal

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• Unfortunately, my district like many others across the country has a problem with gangs, which is why I introduced this amendment

  Bob Filner

  Country, Problem, Gang

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• The First Amendment is not without limits.

  Jerry Falwell

  Limits, Firsts, First Amendment

  "Larry Flynt and Jerry Falwell". "Larry King Live", www.cnn.com. January 10, 1997.

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• It is a measure of the framers' fear that a passing majority might find it expedient to compromise 4th Amendment values that these values were embodied in the Constitution itself.

  Sandra Day O'Connor

  Majority, Politics, Might

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• While that amendment failed, human cloning continues to advance and the breakthrough in this unethical and morally questionable science is around the corner.

  Mike Pence

  Cloning, Breakthrough, Questionable

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• Just as the strength of the Internet is chaos, so the strength of our liberty depends upon the chaos and cacophony of the unfettered speech the First Amendment protects.

  Stewart Dalzell

  Liberty, Cacophony, Speech

  "Judges Turn Back Law To Regulate Internet Decency" by Peter H. Lewis, www.nytimes.com. June 13, 1996.

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• No one in their right mind can say to me with a straight face that the Patriot Act has not aggregated the Fourth Amendment.

  Peter Camejo

  Mind, Faces, Usa Patriot Act

  "Raw Data: Foxnews.com Interviews Peter Camejo". Foxnews.com Interview, www.foxnews.com. February 17, 2004.

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• But I know newspapers. They have the first amendment and they can tell any lie knowing it's a lie and they're protected if the person's famous or it's a company.

  Steve Wozniak

  Lying, Knowing, Politics

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• The Second Amendment says we have the right to bear arms, not to bear artillery.

  Robin Williams

  Funny, Humor, Second Amendment

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• I'm a crusader. I really believe in the First Amendment, and I use it fully, and I pay a price for that.

  Al Goldstein

  Believe, Use, Pay

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• I can only assume that your editorial writer tripped over the First Amendment and thought it was the office cat.

  E. B. White

  Cat, Office, Firsts

  E. B. White (1989). “The Letters of E. B. White”, Perennial

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• No patent medicine was ever put to wider and more varied use than the Fourteenth Amendment.

  William O. Douglas

  Medicine, Patents, Use

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• I didnt know that President Bush would endorse a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

  Mary Cheney

  Sex, President, Knows

  Mary Cheney (2006). “Now It's My Turn: A Daughter's Chronicle of Political Life”, Pocket Books

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• One who comes to the Court must come to adore, not to protest. That's the new gloss on the First Amendment.

  William O. Douglas

  History, Court, Gloss

  "The Court years, 1939-1975: The Autobiography of William O. Douglas‎". Book by William O. Douglas, 1980.

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• The 1st Amendment protects the right to speak, not the right to spend.

  Byron White

  History, Speak, Protect

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• And, finally, as a Republican, I believe it is important to keep our word and keep our covenant, and that is exactly what we should do with the Wright amendment today.

  Michael C. Burgess

  Believe, Important, Today

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• It is the will of the American people that we have a right to protect our flag and this can only be accomplished by passing a Constitutional amendment.

  Adrian Cronauer

  People, Flags, Passing

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• Neither the wording of the amendment itself nor common practice challenged the widely held belief that government guaranteed freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.

  Linda Chavez

  Government, Practice, Literature

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