Anybody can decide a question if only a single principle is in controversy.

It would be a stultification of the responsibility which the course of constitutional history has cast upon this Court to hold that in order to convict a man the police cannot extract by force what is in his mind, but can extract what is in his stomach.

Judicial judgment must take deep account...of the day before yesterday in order that yesterday may not paralyze today.

Lincoln's appeal to "the better angels of our nature" failed to avert a fratricidal war. But the compassionate wisdom of Lincoln's first and second inaugurals bequeathed to the Union, cemented with blood, a moral heritage which, when drawn upon in times of stress and strife, is sure to find specific ways and means to surmount difficulties that may appear to be insurmountable.

The ultimate touchstone of constitutionality is the Constitution itself, and not what we have said about it.

We forget that the most successful statesmen have been professionals. Lincoln was a professional politician.

The most constructive way of resolving conflicts is to avoid them.