If I have brought any message today, it is this: Have the courage to have your wisdom regarded as stupidity. Be fools for Christ. And have the courage to suffer the contempt of the sophisticated world. -Antonin Scalia Courage
The Constitution that I interpret and apply is not living, but dead, or as I prefer to call it, enduring. It means, today, not what current society, much less the court, thinks it ought to mean, but what it meant when it was adopted. -Antonin Scalia Society
Because values change, legislatures abolish the death penalty, permit same-sex marriage if they want, abolish laws against homosexual conduct. That's how the change in a society occurs. Society doesn't change through a Constitution. -Antonin Scalia Marriage
It's absolutely clear that whatever cruel and unusual punishments may - may mean with regard to future things, such as death by injection or the electric chair, it's clear that - that the death penalty, in and of itself, is not considered cruel and unusual punishment. -Antonin Scalia Death
I do accept that, with - with respect to those vague terms in the Constitution such as equal protection of the laws, due process of law, cruel and unusual punishments. I fully accept that those things have to apply to new phenomena that didn't exist at the time. -Antonin Scalia Respect
Because values change, legislatures abolish the death penalty, permit same-sex marriage if they want, abolish laws against homosexual conduct. That's how the change in a society occurs. Society doesn't change through a Constitution. -Antonin Scalia Death
If you think aficionados of a living Constitution want to bring you flexibility, think again. You think the death penalty is a good idea? Persuade your fellow citizens to adopt it. You want a right to abortion? Persuade your fellow citizens and enact it. That's flexibility. -Antonin Scalia Death
In a big family the first child is kind of like the first pancake. If it's not perfect, that's okay, there are a lot more coming along. -Antonin Scalia Family
It is not rational, never mind 'appropriate,' to impose billions of dollars in economic costs in return for a few dollars in health or environmental benefits. -Antonin Scalia Environmental
I used to say that the Constitution is not a living document. It's dead, dead, dead. But I've gotten better. I no longer say that. The truth is that the Constitution is not one that morphs. It's an enduring Constitution, not a changing Constitution. That is what I've meant when I've said that the Constitution is dead. -Antonin Scalia Truth
Because values change, legislatures abolish the death penalty, permit same-sex marriage if they want, abolish laws against homosexual conduct. That's how the change in a society occurs. Society doesn't change through a Constitution. -Antonin Scalia Society
Being a good person begins with being a wise person. Then, when you follow your conscience, will you be headed in the right direction. -Antonin Scalia Good
Burning the flag is a form of expression. Speech doesn't just mean written words or oral words. It could be semaphore. And burning a flag is a symbol that expresses an idea - I hate the government, the government is unjust, whatever. -Antonin Scalia Government
Because values change, legislatures abolish the death penalty, permit same-sex marriage if they want, abolish laws against homosexual conduct. That's how the change in a society occurs. Society doesn't change through a Constitution. -Antonin Scalia Change
The court makes an amazing amount of decisions that ought to be made by the people. -Antonin Scalia Amazing
There exists in some parts of the world sanctimonious criticism of America's death penalty, as somehow unworthy of a civilized society. -Antonin Scalia Society
It's absolutely clear that whatever cruel and unusual punishments may - may mean with regard to future things, such as death by injection or the electric chair, it's clear that - that the death penalty, in and of itself, is not considered cruel and unusual punishment. -Antonin Scalia Future
There exists in some parts of the world sanctimonious criticism of America's death penalty, as somehow unworthy of a civilized society. -Antonin Scalia Death
It is not rational, never mind 'appropriate,' to impose billions of dollars in economic costs in return for a few dollars in health or environmental benefits. -Antonin Scalia Health
The main business of a lawyer is to take the romance, the mystery, the irony, the ambiguity out of everything he touches. -Antonin Scalia Business
