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Only When There Is A Wilderness Can Man Harmonize His Inner Being With The Wavelengths Of The Earth. When The Earth, Its Products, Its Creatures, Become His Concern, Man Is Caught Up In A Cause Greater Than His Own Life And More Meaningful. Only When Man Loses Himself In An Endeavor Of That Magnitude Does He Walk And Live With Humanity And Reverence.

-William O. Douglas

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Only When There Is

William O. Douglas

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Only When There Is A Wilderness Can Man Harmonize His Inner Being With The Wavelengths Of The Earth. When The Earth, Its Products, Its Creatures, Become His Concern, Man Is Caught Up In A Cause Greater Than His Own Life And More Meaningful. Only When Man Loses Himself In An Endeavor Of That Magnitude Does He Walk And Live With Humanity And Reverence.

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I Do Not Know Of Any Salvation For Society Except Through Eccentrics, Misfits, Dissenters, People Who Protest.

The Constitution And The Bill Of Rights We Designed To Get The Government Off The Backs Of The People -- All The People. Those Great Documents Guarantee To Us All The Rights To Personal And Spiritual Self-fulfillment. But That Guarantee Is Not Self-executing. As Nightfall Does Not Come All At Once, Neither Does Oppression. In Both Instances, There Is A Twilight When Everything Remains Seemingly Unchanged. And It Is In Such A Twilight That We All Must Be Most Aware Of The Change In The Air -- However Slight -- Lest We Become Unwitting Victims Of The Darkness.

Restriction Of Free Thought And Free Speech Is The Most Dangerous Of All Subversions. It Is The One Un-american Act That Could Most Easily Defeat Us.

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As Night-fall Does Not Come At Once, Neither Does Oppression...it Is In Such Twilight That We All Must Be Aware Of Change In The Air - However Slight - Lest We Become Victims Of The Darkness.

The Liberties Of None Are Safe Unless The Liberties Of All Are Protected.

Trees Have Judicial Standing, And Probably Grass Too.

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The Court Is Really The Keeper Of The Conscience, And The Conscience Is The Constitution.

Hiking A Ridge, A Meadow, Or A River Bottom, Is As Healthy A Form Of Exercise As One Can Get. Hiking Seems To Put All The Body Cells Back Into Rhythm. Ten To Twenty Miles On A Trail Puts One To Bed With His Cares Unraveled.

The Struggle Is Always Between The Individual And His Sacred Right To Express Himself And The Power Structure That Seeks Conformity, Suppression, And Obedience.

A People Who Extend Civil Liberties Only To Preferred Groups Start Down The Path Either To Dictatorship Of The Right Or The Left.

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The Second Amendment Reveals A Profound Principle Of American Government - The Principle Of Civilian Ascendency Over The Military.

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