Sonia Sotomayor famous quotes

As members of the judiciary tasked with intervening to carry out the guarantee of equal protection, we ought not sit back and wish away, rather than confront, the racial inequality that exists in our society.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Wish #Guarantees #Our Society

You make your life choices understanding that you might and do have to work harder to prove yourself.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Hard Work #Choices #Understanding

Pretending to be a princess is fun, but it is definitely not a career.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Fun #Princess #Careers

I have never had to face anything that could overwhelm the native optimism and stubborn perseverance I was blessed with.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Perseverance #Blessed #Optimism

Success is its own reward, but failure is a great teacher too, and not to be feared.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Teacher #Rewards #Great Teacher

As you discover what strength you can draw from your community in this world from which it stands apart, look outward as well as inward. Build bridges instead of walls.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Wall #Bridges #Community

I want to state upfront, unequivocally and without doubt: I do not believe that any racial, ethnic or gender group has an advantage in sound judging. I do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge, regardless of their background or life experiences.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Wise #Wisdom #Believe

Experience has taught me that you cannot value dreams according to the odds of their coming true. Their real value is in stirring within us the will to aspire.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Dream #Real #Odds

Until we get equality in education, we won't have an equal society.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Women #Equality #History

I have come to believe that in order to thrive, a child must have at least one adult in her life who shows her unconditional love, respect, and confidence.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Children #Believe #Unconditional Love

I realized that people had an unreal image of me, that somehow I was a god on Mount Olympus. I decided that if I were going to make use of my role as a Supreme Court Justice, it would be to inspire people to realize that, first, I was just like them and second, if I could do it, so could they.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Justice #People #Inspire

I do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge regardless of their background or life experiences.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Wise #Believe #Opportunity

I strive never to forget the real world consequences of my decisions on individuals, businesses and government.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Real #Government #Decision

. . . But experience has taught me that you cannot value dreams according to the odds of their coming true. Their real value is instirring within us the will to aspire. That will, wherever it finally leads, does at least move you forward. And after a time you may recognize That the proper measure of success is not how much you've closed the distance to some far-off goal but the quality of what you've done today.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Dream #Real #Distance

The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race, and to apply the Constitution with eyes open to the unfortunate effects of centuries of racial discrimination,
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Eye #Race #Way

With my academic achievement in high school I was accepted rather readily at Princeton and equally as fast at Yale, but my test scores were not comparable to that of my classmates. And that's been shown by statistics, there are reasons for that - there are cultural biases built into testing, and that was one of the motivations for the concept of affirmative action to try to balance out those effects.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Motivation #School #Yale

In every position that I've been in, there have been naysayers who don't believe I'm qualified or who don't believe I can do the work. And I feel a special responsibility to prove them wrong.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Believe #Responsibility #Boss

Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences, our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Differences #Judging #Making A Difference

A surplus of effort could overcome a deficit of confidence.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Inspiring #Effort #Overcoming

Diabetes taught me discipline.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Discipline #Taught #Diabetes

When a young person, even a gifted one, grows up without proximate living examples of what she may aspire to become--whether lawyer, scientist, artist, or leader in any realm--her goal remains abstract. Such models as appear in books or on the news, however inspiring or revered, are ultimately too remote to be real, let alone influential. But a role model in the flesh provides more than inspiration; his or her very existence is confirmation of possibilities one may have every reason to doubt, saying, 'Yes, someone like me can do this.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Growing Up #Real #Book

I was fifteen years old when I understood how it is that things break down: people can't imagine someone else's point of view.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Views #Years #People

You can't be a minority in this society without having someone express disapproval about affirmative action.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Minorities #Action #This Society

Sometimes, idealistic people are put off the whole business of networking as something tainted by flattery and the pursuit of selfish advantage. But virtue in obscurity is rewarded only in Heaven. To succeed in this world you have to be known to people.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Selfish #People #Heaven

Although I grew up in very modest and challenging circumstances, I consider my life to be immeasurably rich.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Challenges #Rich #Grew

My diabetes is such a central part of my life... it did teach me discipline... it also taught me about moderation... I've trained myself to be super-vigilant... because I feel better when I am in control.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Feel Better #Discipline #Taught

We apply law to facts. We don't apply feelings to facts.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Law #Feelings #Facts

There are uses to adversity, and they don't reveal themselves until tested. Whether it's serious illness, financial hardship, or the simple constraint of parents who speak limited English, difficulty can tap unexpected strengths.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Adversity #Simple #Parent

I am a product of affirmative action. I am the perfect affirmative action baby. I am Puerto Rican, born and raised in the south Bronx. My test scores were not comparable to my colleagues at Princeton and Yale. Not so far off so that I wasn't able to succeed at those institutions.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Baby #Yale #Perfect

The truth is that since childhood I had cultivated an existential independence. It came from perceiving the adults around me as unreliable, and without it I felt I wouldn't have survived. I cared deeply for everyone in my family, but in the end I depended on myself.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Childhood #Independence #Adults

When everyone at school is speaking one language, and a lot of your classmates' parents also speak it, and you go home and see that your community is different -there is a sense of shame attached to that. It really takes growing up to treasure the specialness of being different.
-- Sonia Sotomayor

#Growing Up #School #Home