Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.
NUMBER:
675
AUTHOR:
Oliver Wendell Holmes (1841–1935)
QUOTATION:
But the character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done…. The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic. It does not even protect a man from an injunction against uttering words that may have all the effect of force…. The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent. It is a question of proximity and degree.
ATTRIBUTION:
Justice OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, Schenck v. United States, Baer v. United States, 249 U.S. 52 (1919).
