William O. Douglas

“The press has a preferred position in our constitutional scheme, not to enable it to make money, not to set newsmen apart as a favored class, but to bring fulfillment to the public's right to know.”

“The Constitution is not neutral. It was designed to take the government off the backs of the people.”

“The Fifth Amendment is an old friend and a good friend. It is one of the great landmarks in man's struggle to be free of tyranny, to be decent and civilized.”

“Secrecy in government is fundamentally anti-democratic, perpetuating bureaucratic errors. Openness corrects those errors by exposing them to public scrutiny.”

“Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.”

“The liberties of none are safe unless the liberties of all are protected.”

“The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom.”

“A function of free speech under our system of government is to invite dispute. It may indeed best serve its high purpose when it induces a condition of unrest, creates dissatisfaction with conditions as they are, or even stirs people to anger.”

“Big Brother in the form of an increasingly powerful government and in the form of giant corporations increasingly threatens everything civil and decent in life.”

“The right to dissent is the only thing that makes life tolerable for a judge of an appellate court.”

“As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air - however slight - lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.”

“We have a system which, though far from perfect, is strong with the strength of centuries. It is not to be sacrificed for the whim of a passing moment.”