Who said “Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the…”?

Verified

Louis D. Brandeis. A published source records them saying or writing it.

SourceDissenting, Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438, 479 (1928). The last sentence is one of many quotations inscribed on Cox Corridor II, a first floor House corridor, U.S. Capitol.

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“Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal well meaning but without understanding.”
— Louis D. Brandeis
VerifiedDissenting, Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438, 479 (1928). The last sentence is one of many quotations inscribed on Cox Corridor II, a first floor House corridor, U.S. Capitol. · evidenceExperience

Cite this quote

For academic work, cite the original where you can: Dissenting, Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438, 479 (1928). The last sentence is one of many quotations inscribed on Cox Corridor II, a first floor House corridor, U.S. Capitol..

APA

Brandeis, L. D. (n.d.). Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal well meaning but without understanding. [Quotation]. Famous Quotations Network. Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/9607-experience-should-teach-us-to-be-most-on/

MLA

Brandeis, Louis D. “Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal well meaning but without understanding.” Famous Quotations Network, https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/9607-experience-should-teach-us-to-be-most-on/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Brandeis, Louis D. “Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal well meaning but without understanding.” Famous Quotations Network. Accessed October 24, 2026. https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/9607-experience-should-teach-us-to-be-most-on/.

Related quotes

“Deep experience is never peaceful.”
— Henry James
Verifiedde Mauves, Galaxy Magazine (February/March 1874), ch. V, reprinted in A Passionate Pilgrim (1875) and later in The Madonna of the Future and Other Tales (1879) and the New York Edition of James' works, vol. 13 (1908) · evidenceDetails & citeExperience

More quotes by Louis D. Brandeis

“Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done.”
Impossibility
“Men long for an afterlife in which there apparently is nothing to do but delight in heaven's wonders.”
Heaven
“The right to be alone -- the most comprehensive of rights, and the right most valued by civilized man.”
Solitude
“The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal -- well-meaning but without understanding.”
Liberty
All 6 Louis D. Brandeis quotes →