I thought that this Judge Learned Hand quote from 1944 encapsulated the present situation in our country and perhaps the world rather eloquently.
I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws and upon courts. These are false hopes; believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women. When it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it. No constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. While it lies there, it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it - Judge Learned Hand, 1944
C.I. Abramson