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In the federal confirmation process, a standard question from the judiciary committee is, "Well, if you're confirmed will you legislate?" And, with a look of horror, the nominee says, "Oh, I won't legislate." Well, what about the law of contract and tort; where do they think it came from, the stork?

— Anthony Kennedy

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More quotes by Anthony Kennedy

The nature of injustice is that we may not always see it in our own times.

Dignitary wounds cannot always be healed with the stroke of a pen.

Only a weak society needs government protection or intervention before it pursues its resolve to preserve the truth. Truth needs neither handcuffs nor a badge for its vindication.

At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life. Beliefs about these matters could not define the attributes of personhood were they formed under compulsion of the State.

As the Constitution endures, persons in every generation can invoke its principles in their own search for greater freedom.

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