The principle inherent in the clause that prohibits pointless infliction of excessive punishment when less severe punishment can adequately achieve the same purposes invalidates the punishment.

Death is not only an unusually severe punishment, unusual in its pain, in its finality and in its enormity, but is serves no penal purpose more effectively than a less severe punishment.

We do not consecrate the flag by punishing its desecration, for in doing so, we dilute the freedom this cherished emblem represents.

If the right to privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion.

There are no menial jobs, only menial attitudes.

We must meet the challenge rather than wish it were not before us.

Religious conflict can be the bloodiest and cruelest conflicts that turn people into fanatics.

Perhaps the bleakest fact of all is that the death penalty is imposed not only in a freakish and discriminatory manner, but also in some cases upon defendants who are actually innocent.

We cannot let colorblindness become myopia which masks the reality that many "created equal" have been treated within our lifetimes as inferior both by the law and by their fellow citizens.

After each perceived security crisis ended, the United States has remorsefully realized that the abrogation of civil liberties was unnecessary.

The framers knew that liberty is a fragile thing, and so should we.

Worrying Never Stops a Problem but a Problem Ceases when you Refuse to Worry

There are certain skills that business people have that are - that are, in fact, helpful in - when it comes to being in political leadership.

Blessed are the destroyers of false hope, for they are the true Messiahs - Cursed are the god-adorers, for they shall be shorn sheep!

We had avoided discovery by the Sioux scouts, and we were confident of giving them a complete surprise.

I don't think there's anybody in America who thinks my personality is best suited to being Number Two.

He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire.

Laws do not stop crime; they merely make noise about crime. They say 'Don't take anything that doesn't belong to you'. Well, that doesn't do anything.

Dale Earnhardt told me it doesn't matter if fans boo or cheer, as long as they're making noise.

The best kind of politics is when you help people become their own best selves.

The United States needed a civil war to unite properly.