U.S. Supreme Court justice (1908-1999)
When does a fellow step aside? I don't want to go off in a state of senility, as some have, even on this Court, in the past. I don't want to reach that point. And, of course, each of us is the last to know when he's reached that point. Just how much longer I'll go, I don't know.
HARRY BLACKMUN
"A Candid Talk with Justice Blackmun", New York Times Magazine, February 20, 1983
Oh, that's a machete. That comes from the Bahamas. We spent a couple of Christmas holidays down there, and there were some youngsters that thought I did a favor for them, and they gave me that as we were leaving. Everybody has a machete. They use it to cut sugar corn, clean their fingernails, and everything else. They gave that to me as we were leaving. I had a terrible time getting it on the airplane, of course.
HARRY BLACKMUN
interview with Harold Hongju Koh, July 6, 1994
A lot of people think that when you serve on a multijudge court, it isn't lonely. But it's distinctly lonely. Certainly, being here has cut down on my social life. I think it's unfair to Mrs. Blackmun. There are not enough hours in the day for me to do some of the social things that she would like to do. I can't do both. I can't get ready for an argument session and go out nights. So in that respect, it's a little lonely, and it's lonely for her.
HARRY BLACKMUN
"A Candid Talk with Justice Blackmun", New York Times Magazine, February 20, 1983
Childhood and the teen years are periods where diversity leads to discovery and, in the process, teaches. If that process is denied, we learn less and the stranglehold of ignorance breeds suspicion.
HARRY BLACKMUN
preface, Us and Them
A teacher's focus is, and should be, on teaching and helping students, rather than on developing evidence against a particular troublemaker.
HARRY BLACKMUN
New Jersey v. T.L.O., 1985
The fundamental liberty interest of natural parents in the care, custody, and management of their child does not evaporate simply because they have not been model parents or have lost temporary custody of their child to the State.
HARRY BLACKMUN
Santosky v. Kramer, 1982