1."The Right of the People", United States Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, 1962, quotations

Excerpts from
"The Right of the People"
by
William O. Douglas,
Associate Justice,
U.S. Supreme Court,
Pyramid Books,
1962, p. 34

"... 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.

Speech
is
often
provocative
and
challenging.

It may strike
at
prejudices
and
preconceptions
and
have
profound
unsettling
effects
as it presses
for
acceptance
of
an idea."

[-- U.S. Supreme Court,
Terminiello vs. Chicago,
337 U.S. 1, 4]

+++

"The
philosophy
of
the First Amendment
is that
man must have
full freedom
to search the world
and the universe
for
the answers
to
the puzzles
of life.

In that search
the arts
and
literature
may be
more important
than
the dictionary,
the
morning newspaper,
or
the encyclopedias.

The
Jeffersonian faith
is that
if they are
allowed
unfettered liberty
to
accumulate knowledge
and
in the process
even
to wallow in trash,
if they like,
they
will acquire
the wisdom
and
ability
to manage
all
of the perplexing
and teasing
problems
of each generation.

Unless
the horizons
are unlimited,
we risk
being governed
by
a set of prejudices
of
a bygone day.

If we
are restricted
in art,
religion,
economics,
political theory,
or any other great field
of knowledge,
we
may become
victims
of
conformity
in an age
where
salvation
can be won
only
by
nonconformity."
(p. 20 - 21)

++++