Without question, so many people, throughout my life, never think of Puerto Rico as part of the United States. Many people have no idea what the relationship is between Puerto Rico and the United States. And certainly, I have been asked if we are citizens.
SONIA SOTOMAYORIn 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.
More Sonia Sotomayor Quotes
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Although wisdom is built on life experiences, the mere accumulation of years guarantees nothing.
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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.
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We apply law to facts. We don’t apply feelings to facts.
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I have never had to face anything that could overwhelm the native optimism and stubborn perseverance I was blessed with.
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I have always been actively involved in my community, belonging to organizations that promote the interests of Latinos. But I also know that the issues we confront are the same issues, in many respects, as the larger community. So what we do helps not just us but everybody.
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I was a keen observer and listener. I picked up on clues. I figured things out logically, and I enjoyed puzzles. I loved the clear, focused feeling that came when I concentrated on solving a problem and everything else faded out.
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I don’t have a professional aspiration. But I do have a personal one: I want to continue growing as a person. I want to reach out more to people, learn more from them. Ultimately, I would like to be a great justice that people remember with respect and fondness.
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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.
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The President Barack Obama had suggested that I not watch the news during the confirmation process. I assiduously followed his advice.
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I don’t believe we should bend the Constitution under any circumstance. It says what it says. We should do honor to it.
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You make your life choices understanding that you might and do have to work harder to prove yourself.
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It really takes growing up to treasure the specialness of being different.
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Until we reach equality in education, we can’t reach equality in the larger society.
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I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences. Today is one of those experiences.
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If you’re poor, you don’t often live near a good school. If it’s a competitive public school program, our kids are not prepared to enter those programs.
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You can’t dream unless you know what the possibilities are.
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We have to look and ensure that we’re paying attention to what we’re doing, so that we don’t reflexively institute processes and procedures that exclude people without thought.
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I have never, ever focused on the negative of things. I always look at the positive.
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Remember that no one succeeds alone. Never walk alone in your future paths.
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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.
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Don’t mistake politeness for lack of strength.
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Every lawyer, no matter whom they represent, is trying to help someone, whether it’s a person, a corporation, a government entity, or a small or big business. To me, lawyering is the height of service – and being involved in this profession is a gift.
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The challenges I have faced – among them material poverty, chronic illness, and being raised by a single mother – are not uncommon, but neither have they kept me from uncommon achievements.
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There are no bystanders in this life.
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There are no bystanders in life. Our humanity makes us each a part of something greater than ourselves.
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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.”
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