"The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon." --George Washington
"The Declaration of Independence was the promise; the Constitution was the fulfillment." --Warren Burger, Supreme Court Justice
" . . . a constitution, intended to endure for ages to come, and consequently, to be adapted to the various crises of human affairs." --John Marshall, Supreme Court Justice
"The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for, among old parchments, or musty records. They are written, as with a sun beam in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power." --Alexander Hamilton
At the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was asked, What have you wrought?" He answered, " . . . a Republic, if you can keep it."