What I worry about is that when problems are not addressed, people will not know who is responsible. And when the problems get bad enough -- another serious terrorist attack, another financial meltdown -- some one person will come forward and say, "Give me total power, and I will solve this problem." That is how the Roman republic fell. ... That is how democracy dies. And if something is not done to improve the level of civic knowledge, that is what you should worry about at night.
-- David Souter (17 September 1939 - 8 May 2025), Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from October 1990 until his retirement in June 2009, With Margaret Warner at "Constitutionally Speaking" in Concord, N.H. (14 September 2012) "David Souter Gets Rock Star Welcome, Offers Constitution Day Warning" PBS NewsHour
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