Quotes by John Marshall

About John Marshall:

John Marshall was the fourth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1801–1835). His court opinions helped lay the basis for United States constitutional law and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches. Previously, Marshall had been a leader of the Federalist Party in Virginia and served in the United States House of Representatives from 1799 to 1800. He was Secretary of State under President John Adams from 1800 to 1801.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

If the agency of the mother in forming the character of her children is, in truth, so considerable, as I think it - if she does so much toward making her son what she would wish him to be - how essential is it that she should be fitted for the benefi...

John Marshall

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

To listen well is as powerful a means of communication and influence as to talk well.

John Marshall

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

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

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 investigat...

John Marshall

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...

John Marshall

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 boun...

John Marshall

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

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

The constitution is either a superior paramount law, unchangeable by ordinary means, or it is on a level with ordinary legislative acts, alterable when the legislature shall please to alter it. It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial...

John Marshall

The constitution controls any legislative act repugnant to it.

John Marshall

The most lively fancy aided by the strongest description cannot equal the reality of the opera.

John Marshall

The Constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.

John Marshall

. . . a constitution, intended to endure for ages to come, and consequently, to be adapted to the various crises of human affairs.

John Marshall

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

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

It is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is.

John Marshall

What is it that makes us trust our judges? Their independence in office and manner of appointment.

John Marshall

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

Author Bio

  • NameJohn Marshall
  • Descriptionfourth Chief Justice of the United States
  • BornSeptember 24, 1755
  • DiedJuly 6, 1835
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionPolitician; Judge; Lawyer; Diplomat; Jurist