Constitutional statutes … which embody the settled public opinion of the people who enacted them and whom they are to govern — can always be enforced. But if they embody only the sentiments of a bare majority, pronounced under the influence of a temporary excitement, they will, if strenuously opposed, always fail of their object; nay, they are likely to injure the cause they are framed to advance.

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