Gather Scalia Speaks: Reflections On Law, Faith, And Life Well Lived Formulated By Antonin Scalia Textbook

respect for the compilers of this collection of speeches, Scalia represents Constitutional originalism that is, advocacy of the exact intentions of its framers,

Positives:the speeches are mostly short and sweet,Lots of wit.I'd challenge anybody who couldn't say they gained a better understanding of American government and the Constitution,

The religious stuff would be mainly for Catholics, Although Sir Thomas More A Man for All Seasons going to his execution on principle is an absorbing tale,

SAMPLES:

"One of the strengths of this great country, one of the reasons we really are a symbol of light and of hope for the world, is the way in which people of different faiths, different races, different national origins, have come together and learnednot merely to tolerate one another, because I think that is too stingy a word for what we have achievedbut to respect and love one another.
"

"A recent survey found that only about half of the American people could name the first book of the Old Testament only about a third could say who gave the Sermon on the Mount and only about a fifth could name a single Old Testament prophet.
A nation that used to abound with names like Ezekiel and Zebadiah now presumably thinks that the Beatitudes are a female singing group, "

In England a toast is customarily presented: “Ladies and gentlemen, the Queen, " It is the custom to reply to that toast with a toast “To the president of the United States, ” But if one wishes to evoke the deep and enduring symbol of our nationhood and our unity as a people, it seems to me the toast ought to be “Ladies and gentlemen, the Constitution of the United States.
”

"Societies always mature they never rot, This despite the twentieth centurys evidence of concentration camps and gas ovens in one of the most advanced and civilized nations of the world, "

It is quite impossible to forgive the line “To be great is to be misunderstood,” which has been cribbed from the same book of banalities as “Love means never having to say youre sorry.
”

"The cardinal sin of capitalism is greed but the cardinal sin of socialism is power, "


Reading level: College, Manycent legal words and latin phrases,
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was an extraordinary and influential man well known for his conservatism, discipline, strong opinions and hard working nature, He also had a deep faith, a gift passed on to his nine children, On a more personal note, his son, Paul was a much admired priest at my local parish, most recently appointed vicar for clergy by Arlingtons bishop,

This book is a compilation of Scalias speeches covering a variety of topics, They are entertaining, profound and at times deeply personal, I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about this legendary man who put God, family, civility and the Constitution at the forefront, His insight, stories and tributes are truly inspirational and delightful to read, This definitive collection of beloved Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's finest speeches covers topics as varied as the law, faith, virtue, pastimes, and his heroes and friends, Featuring a foreword by longtime friend Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and an intimate introduction by his youngest son, this volume includes dozens of speeches, some deeply personal, that have never before been published.
Christopher J. Scalia and the Justice's former law clerk Edward Whelan selected the speeches,

Americans have long been inspired by Justice Scalias ideas, delighted by his wit, and instructed by his intelligence, He was a soughtafter speaker at commencements, convocations, and events across the country,  Scalia Speaks will give readers the opportunity to encounter the legendary man more fully, helping them better understand the jurisprudence that made him one of the most important justices in the Court's history and introducing them to his broader insights on faith and life.
This book is a beautifully constructed collection of the best of Antonin Scalia's lifetime speeches, Compiled by his son, Chris and Edward Whelan, a former Scalia law clerk, it captures his very sharp intellect, his equally sharp wit, and the affable personality from which both flow.
The authors collected the speeches in these major sections:

"On the American People and Ethnicity," in which the reader finds the following observations:
On the Italian view of the Irish, the best of this section: "Bluntness is important not only because it lets people know where they stand, but also because it toughens them up.
Life is not an enterprise for sissies the Irish know that, and they treat both themselves and others with a kind of benevolent roughness designed to prairie them for the world.
"
On American and European values: "Thus, while Americans tend to believe strongly that religious values undergird government, and should acknowledged to do so, they simultaneously believe that the government should play no role in controlling religion, either at the individual or institutional level.
Europeans tend to invert these two positions, believing that politicians should keep their religious beliefs to themselves while paradoxically turning a blind eye to state/church institutional entanglement, . . "

"On Living and Learning," in which the reader will find:
On games and sports: "Americans overwhelmingly preferred baseball, a game in which a lot of players stand around while not much happens, to soccer, a game in which people run back and forth furiously while not much happens.
"
An excellent essay on The Legal Profession that captures all the passion of what Scalia believes about the law and lawyering,

"On Faith," where he makes these observations:
On The Christian as Cretin: "As I told you earlier, the wise do not believe in resurrection of the dead it is really quite absurd, just as they do not believe in the virgin birthso everything from Easter morning to the Ascension had to have been made up by those 'groveling authors,' those 'rogues' Jefferson referred to, presumably part of their clever plan to get themselves crucified.
"
On church and state, the best of this collection: "In sum, our American traditions that church and state are separate is in my view an authentically Christian tradition as well.
There are good religious reasons for it as well as good political reasons the confusion the two hurts both, Sectarian struggles for control can destroy the state and religious preoccupation with governmentwith material welfare, with power, with coercioncan destroy the church, "

"On The Law," a major section of the book as the reader would expect where his judicial philosophy tinges the thoughts on every page, A succinct expression of his problem with a "living constitution" is found in "The Idea of the Constitution":
"If the Constitution does not mean what it objectively says, but rather what it ought to say, if 'due process,' for example, does not mean what it originally meant, but rather what it ought to mean today then someone will have to decide the normative question of what it ought to mean.
And in a democratic society that someone will ultimately be the majority, The individual guarantees of the Constitution will thereby have been placed under the supervision of the very entity it was their purpose to restrain: the majority, "
A speech on "The Vocation of a Judge" is fascinating,
Likewise, a speech "On Legal Canards," full of his wit, includes this: "Now all of this would not have been worth commenting upon if Emerson had not been inflicted upon the law.
I think it a generally sound policy to leave poets alone if they leave you alone, "

"On Virtue and the Public Good" in which the reader finds:
On Tradition: "It is a strange thing, tradition, It can be squandered, but not bought, I can be lost, but not given to someone else, "
On Character, the best of these, quoting his father: "Brains, . . can be hired by the hour, just like muscles, Only character is not for sale at any price, "

In a final section, the authors include tribute speeches to George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, William Howard Taft, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as well as memorials to several of his close friends.


I had the opportunity to hear Justice Scalia speak to our small group at the State Department Senior Seminar in, The book matches exactly the pleasing wit, unmatched intellect, and genial nature of the man I saw there, a man whom we lost far too soon,
It says a lot about Antonin Scalia that fellow Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose views are typically the polar opposite of his, wrote a warm and heartfelt Foreward to this collection of his speeches.


Another of his colleagues, Samuel Alito, had this to say in a Yale Law tribute:

"For those of us who had the privilege of knowing Nino, as we called him, what will come to mind first are his human qualities.
He was a delightful friend and colleague, He had a big personality I think he filled every room he entered, He was charming, engaging, voluble, learned, witty, impatient, and nearly always very frank, "

This was a wideranging and very readable collection of a number of Scalia's speeches, compiled and edited by one of his sons, Christopher, along with Edward Whelan, who clerked for Scalia.
The speeches are grouped under several broad headings, including "On the American People and Ethnicity", "On Living and Learning", "On Faith", "On Law', "On Virtue and

the Public Good", and "On Heroes and Friends".
Scalia was wellknown for being a constitutional originalist, and that passionate view comes through often in his speeches,

I wasn't aware that Scalia and his wife had nine children, and that he was a devout Catholic, I also hadn't realized that his tenure on the Supreme Court was three decades long, He was a man of much learning, humor, insight, influence and devotion, and I enjoyed each of these speeches, The speeches in the "Law" section can take a bit more effort thought certainly lucid and understandable, but are well worth it, Also, once in a while a speech seemed like it ended very abruptly, which made me wonder about possible editing issues,

Still, a very enjoyable read, Scalia was clearly one of the great Supreme Court justices, and a man who understood and lived the principle of civil discourse, .