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History teaches that grave threats to liberty often come in times of urgency, when constitutional rights seem too extravagant to endure. When we allow fundamental freedoms to be sacrificed in the name of real or perceived exigency, we invariably come to regret it.

— Thurgood Marshall

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More quotes by Thurgood Marshall

You do what you think is right and let the law catch up.

We must dissent, because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better.

The effects of the Framers' compromise have remained for generations. They arose from the contradiction between guaranteeing liberty and justice to all, and denying both to Negroes.

But, above all else, the First Amendment means that government has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content.

There's no difference between a white snake and a black snake. They'll both bite.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Thurgood Marshall (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.