John Marshall was the fourth Chief Justice of the United States of America and he held the position till his death in 1835. He is the most popular Justice of the Supreme Court and has had tremendous legal influence on the nation.
john marshall political quotes
John Marshall served as the Secretary of the state and before that he had served in the Continental Army after the break of American Revolutionary War. He was also sent by President John Adams to prevent the attacks on American shipping in France. There he had to bribe the French government to open a negotiation.
- “Seldom has a battle, in which greater numbers were not engaged, been so important in its consequences as that of Cowpens.” -John Marshall
2. “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
3. “Certainly all those who have framed written constitutions contemplate them as forming the fundamental and paramount law of the nation, and consequently the theory of every such government must be, that an act of the legislature, repugnant to the constitution, is void.”-John Marshall
4. “No principle of general law is more universally acknowledged, than the perfect equality of nations. Russia and Geneva have equal rights. It results from this equality, that no one can rightfully impose a rule on another….As no nation can prescribe a rule for others, none can make a law of nations.”-John Marshall
5. “A corporation is an artificial being, invisible, intangible, and existing only in contemplation of law.”-John Marshall
6. “I am N!ai. When the white people first came, I was already a young woman with breasts. Before the white people came, we did what our hearts wanted. We lived in different places, far apart, and when our hearts wanted to travel, we traveled. We were not poor; we had everything we could carry. No one told us what to do.
Now the white people tell us to stay in this place. There are too many people. There’s no food to gather. Game is far away, and people are dying of tuberculosis.
But when I was a little girl, we left sickness behind us when we moved.”
-John Marshall
7. “What is it that makes us trust our judges? Their independence in office and manner of appointment.”-John Marshall
8. “To listen well is as powerful a means of communication and influence as to talk well.”-John Marshall
9. “A legislative act contrary to the Constitution is not law.”-John Marshall
10. “Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos.”-John Marshall
11. “What are the maxims of Democracy? A strict observance of justice and public faith, and a steady adherence to virtue.”-John Marshall
12. “The French Revolution will be found to have had great influence on the strength of parties, and on the subsequent political transactions of the United States.”-John Marshall
13. “I fear we may live to see another revolution.”-John Marshall
14. “No one imagines that a law professing to tax will be permitted to destroy.”-John Marshall
john marshall quotes about law
John Marshall was a leader of the Federalist Party. The chief justice laid down the the constitutional law of the United States. He was also instrumental in preserving the foundational judicial power of American federalism.
- “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.”
2. “A constitution is framed for ages to come, and is designed to approach immortality as nearly as human institutions can approach it.” -John Marshall
3. “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
4. “We have no more right to decline the exercise of jurisdiction which is given, than to usurp that which is not given. The one or the other would be treason to the constitution.”
5. “It is the peculiar province of the legislature to prescribe general rules for the government of society; the application of those rules to individuals in society would seem to be the duty of other departments.” -John Marshall
6. “The power to tax is the power to destroy.” -John Marshall
7. “It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is…If two laws conflict with each other, the courts must decide on the operation of each…This is of the very essence of judicial duty.” -John Marshall
8. “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
9. “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
11. “The Constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.”-John Marshall
12. “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
13. “…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
14. “It is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is.”-John Marshall
john marshall quotes about society
Marshall institutionalized a law which did not allow non-Native Americans to be present on Native American lands. John Marshall implemented his views of society by upholding the constitutional rights of the citizens. To ensure justice he put forward a law which allowed Supreme Court to be involved in both Civil and Criminal matters.
- “To obtain a just compromise, concession must not only mutual-it must be equal also….There can be no hope that either will yield more than it gets in return.”-John Marshall
2. “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
3. “This government is acknowledged by all, to be one of enumerated powers.”-John Marshall
4. “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
5. “The peculiar circumstances of the moment may render a measure more or less wise, but cannot render it more or less constitutional.”-John Marshall
6. “The very essence of civil liberty certainly consists in the right of every individual to claim the protection of the laws, whenever he receives an injury. One of the first duties of government is to afford that protection.”-John Marshall
7. “. . . a constitution, intended to
endure for ages to come, and
consequently, to be adapted to the
various crises of human affairs.”-John Marshall
8. “When a law is in its nature a contract, when absolute rights have vested under that contract, a repeal of the law cannot divest those rights.”-John Marshall
9. “The people can act only by their agents and, within the powers conferred upon them, their acts must be considered as the acts of the people.”-John Marshall
10. “The government of the Union, though limited in its powers, is supreme within its sphere of action, and its laws, when made in pursuance of the constitution, form the supreme law of the land.”-John Marshall
john marshall quotes about life
Marshall was an amicable humorous boy and was friends with the future president James Monroe growing up. Although he did not receive any formal education, he was incredibly wise man who had immense literary and legal knowledge.
- “The events of my life are too unimportant, and have too little interest for any person not of my immediate family, to render them worth communicating or preserving.”-John Marshall
2. “I have always believed that national character… depends more on the female part of society than is generally imagined. Precepts from the lips of a beloved mother… sink deep in the heart, and make an impression which is seldom entirely effaced.”-John Marshall
3. “The most lively fancy aided by the strongest description cannot equal the reality of the opera.” -John Marshall
4. “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
5. “I was born on the 24th of September 1755 in the county of Fauquier, at that time one of the frontier counties of Virginia. My father possessed scarcely any fortune and had received a very limited education – but was a man to whom nature had been bountiful, and who had assiduously improved her gifts.”-John Marshall
6. “My father superintended the English part of my education, and to his care I am indebted for anything valuable which I may have acquired in my youth. He was my only intelligent companion, and was both a watchful parent and an affectionate friend.” -John Marshall
7. “During intervals of humanity, some disposition has been manifested to permit the return of those who have never offended, who have been banished by a terror which the government itself has reprobated, & to permit in case of arrestation, an investigation of the fact of emigration as well as of the identity of the person accus’d.” -John Marshall
8. “Paris presents one incessant round of amusement & dissipation but very little, I believe – even for its inhabitants of that society – which interests the heart. Every day, you may see something new, magnificent & beautiful; every night, you may see a spectacle which astonishes & enchants the imagination.” – John Marshall
