James Madison Quotes

The courts are under the Constitution, not over it.

Every constitutional standard is engaged in difficult but important line-drawing.

We have a government of limited power under the Constitution, and we have got to work out our problems on the basis of law.

Government without a constitution, is a power without a right.

The primary function of a constitution was to mark out the boundaries of governmental powers-hence in England, where there was no constitution , there were no limits (save for the effect of trail by jury) to what the legislature might do.

Our peculiar security is in the possession of a written Constitution. Let us not make it a blank paper by construction.

It may be truly said of every government, as well as of that of the United States, that it has only a right to pass such laws as are necessary and proper to accomplish the objects entrusted to it. For no government has a right to do merely what it pleases

There is not, in the whole compass of human affairs, so noble a spectacle as that which is displayed in the progress of jurisprudence; where we may contemplate the cautious and unwearied exertion of a succession of wise men, through a long course of ages, withdrawing every case, as it arises, from the dangerous power of discretion, and subjecting it to inflexible rules.

It is useless to talk about Constitutional means for a condition of things never contemplated by any constitution.

How a constitution is written can sometimes matter almost as much as what it contains.

The unchanging character of law is the only basis on which continuous action can rest. Without it man would be but as the traveler over endless morasses; the builder on quicksands; the mariner without compass or rudder, driven successively whithersoever changing winds may blow

Are you willing to let any President choose what laws to enforce and what laws to change?

I think it makes no difference whether or not I endorse it. The Constitution is as the Supreme Court interprets it and I must conform to this and do my best to see that it is carried out in this country.

Rule of law is the most important element in any civil society. To build a successful country, we need to have rule of law. And rule of law is not just about writing a beautiful constitution or set of laws. It is also about the independence of the judiciary. It’s about institutions. It’s about respect for rights, human rights, social, economic rights, etc.

The whole frame of the Federal Constitution proves that the government which it creates was intended to be one of limited and specified powers.

Our Supreme Court has been very clear that the government can't just simply say something and make it so.

I support the elimination and defunding of all agencies like the Education and Energy Departments because they fall outside of the framework of the Constitution.

In our system of government, the president is not supposed to be above the law. He is not a king; his word is not the law.

I'm a principle liberty, rule-of-law Conservative.

The Constitution has to be supreme.

We have to have a good look at the Constitution. Let's determine where the shortcomings are. Then we can start talking of clauses.

Nothing is above the Constitution.

The first and most important component in nation building is LAW. Law is the source of national Cohesion.

The powers of the federal government ... result from the compact to which the states are parties, [and are] limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument constituting that compact.

We may be tossed upon an ocean where we can see no land - nor, perhaps, the sun or stars. But there is a chart and a compass for us to study, to consult, and to obey. That chart is the Constitution.