“ We forget today that under our constitutional system neither Congress nor the States have any power to pass on the value, the propriety, the Americanism, the soundness of any idea or expression. It is that insulation from party or majoritarian control provided by the First Amendment-not our gross national product or mass production or pesticides or space ships or nuclear arsenal-that distinguishes our society from the other planetary regimes. ”

“ When our rewards go to people for thinking alike, it is no surprise that we become frightened at those who take exception to the current consensus. Then the hue and cry go up for censors; and that is the start of an ominous trend. What can be done to literature under the banner of 'obscenity' can be done to other parts of the spectrum of ideas when party or majoritarian demands mount and propagandists start declaiming the law. ”

“ If 'obscenity' can be carved out of the First Amendment, what other like exceptions can be created? Is 'sacrilege' also beyond the pale? Are utterances or publications made with 'malice' unprotected? How about 'seditious' speech or articles? False, scandalous, and malicious writings or utterances against the Congress or the President 'with intent to defame' or to bring them 'into contempt or disrepute' or to 'excite' against them 'the hatred of the good people' or 'to stir up sedition,' or to 'excite' people to 'resist, oppose or defeat' any law were once made a crime. ”