If the preservation of our freedom depends upon the courts then we are, indeed, lost, for in the long run neither courts nor Constitution can save us from our own errors, follies, or wickedness.

Henry Steele Commager (1902–1998) American historian, writer, activist

Essay (1954), “The Necessity of Freedom,” Freedom, Loyalty, Dissent
    (Source)

An earlier version of the essay was given as "The Pragmatic Necessity for Freedom," Cooper Lecture, Swarthmore College (1951), and a lecture of this name at Cornell University (1953-10).