WIST Quotations

Frankfurter, Felix -- McCollum v. Board of Education 333 U.S. 217 (1948) [concurring]

Dave — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 16:45:50 +0000

The preservation of the community from divisive conflicts, of Government from irreconcilable pressures by religious groups, of religion from censorship and coercion, however subtly exercised, requires strict confinement of the State to instruction other than religious, leaving to the individual’s church and home indoctrination in the faith of his choice.

Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) American jurist, teacher; US Supreme Court Justice (1939–62)
McCollum v. Board of Education 333 U.S. 217 (1948) [concurring]

Frankfurter, Felix -- McCollum v. Board of Education 333 U.S. 216–217 (1948) [concurring]

Dave — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 16:42:41 +0000

The nonsectarian or secular public school was the means of reconciling freedom in general with religious freedom. The sharp confinement of the public schools to secular education was a recognition of the need of a democratic society to educate its children, insofar as the State undertook to do so, in an atmosphere free from pressures in a realm in which pressures are most resisted and where conflicts are most easily and most bitterly engendered. Designed to serve as perhaps the most powerful agency for promoting cohesion among a heterogeneous democratic people, the public school must keep scrupulously free from entanglement in the strife of sects.

Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) American jurist, teacher; US Supreme Court Justice (1939–62)
McCollum v. Board of Education 333 U.S. 216–217 (1948) [concurring]

Adams, John -- Letter (1785-04-08) to Dr. Price

Dave — Wed, 13 May 2015 12:12:33 +0000

I am happy to find myself perfectly agreed with you, that we should begin by setting conscience free. When all men of all religions consistent with morals and property, shall enjoy equal liberty, property, or rather security of property, and an equal chance for honor and power, and when government shall be considered as having in it nothing more mysterious or divine than other arts or sciences, we may expect that improvements will be made in the human character and the state of society.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founder, statesman; US President (1797–1801)
Letter (1785-04-08) to Dr. Price

This quote is almost always given in the following, paraphrased form:

We should begin by setting conscience free. When all men of all religions shall enjoy equal liberty, property, and an equal chance for honors and power we may expect that improvements will be made in the human character and the state of society.

This simplifies his statement for religious tolerance (indeed, full social integration of all religions "consistent with morals and property"), but omits his stance (which he speaks to in the rest of the letter) on government properly being a secular organization, rather than sovereign rulers being being imbued with divine right from God.

Grant, Ulysses S. -- Speech (1875-09-25), Address to the Army of the Tennessee, Annual Reunion, Des Moines, Iowa

Dave — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:26:37 +0000

Let us all labor to add all needful guarantees for the more perfect security of free thought, free speech, and free press, pure morals, unfettered religious sentiments, and of equal rights and privileges to all men, irrespective of nationality, color, or religion. Encourage free schools, and resolve that not one dollar of money shall be appropriated to the support of any sectarian school. Resolve that neither the state nor nation, or both combined, shall support institutions of learning other than those sufficient to afford every child growing up in the land the opportunity of a good common school education, unmixed with sectarian, Pagan, or Atheistical tenets. Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and the private schools, supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the Church and the State forever Separate.

Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) American military leader, US President (1869–77)
Speech (1875-09-25), Address to the Army of the Tennessee, Annual Reunion, Des Moines, Iowa

This passage of the speech was particularly popular among Protestant folk in the late 19th Century opposed to tax support for Catholic schools (which were considered sectarian), vs. the generally Protestant faith assumed in public schools.