Quotes by Antonin Scalia

“Interior decorating is a rock-hard science compared to psychology practiced by amateurs.”

“You're looking at me as though I'm weird. My God! Are you so out of touch with most of America, most of which believes in the Devil? I mean, Jesus Christ believed in the Devil! It's in the Gospels!...”

“A written constitution is needed to protect values AGAINST prevailing wisdom.”

“It is myopic to base sweeping change on the narrow experience of a few years.”

“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 pen...”

“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 doe...”

“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...”

“There exists in some parts of the world sanctimonious criticism of America's death penalty, as somehow unworthy of a civilized society.”

“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.”

“Being a good person begins with being a wise person. Then, when you follow your conscience, will you be headed in the right direction.”

“The court makes an amazing amount of decisions that ought to be made by the people.”

“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...”

“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 wo...”

“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.”

“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,...”

“Words have meaning. And their meaning doesn't change.”

“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, bu...”

“This Court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is actually inn...”

“The main business of a lawyer is to take the romance, the mystery, the irony, the ambiguity out of everything he touches.”

“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 thi...”