A surplus of effort could overcome a deficit of confidence.
SONIA SOTOMAYORA surplus of effort could overcome a deficit of confidence.
SONIA SOTOMAYORYou can’t dream unless you know what the possibilities are.
SONIA SOTOMAYORI do know one thing about me: I don’t measure myself by others’ expectations or let others define my worth.
SONIA SOTOMAYORSuccess is its own reward, but failure is a great teacher too, and not to be feared.
SONIA SOTOMAYORThrough reading, I escaped the bad parts of my life in the South Bronx. And, through books, I got to travel the world and the universe. It, to me, was a passport out of my childhood and it remains a way – through the power of words – to change the world.
SONIA SOTOMAYORThe 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.
SONIA SOTOMAYORWhen 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 SOTOMAYORA 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 SOTOMAYORYou know, failure hurts. Any kind of failure stings. If you live in the sting, you will – undoubtedly – fail. My way of getting past the sting is to say no, I’m just not going to let this get me down.
SONIA SOTOMAYORIf 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.
SONIA SOTOMAYORThere are no bystanders in life. Our humanity makes us each a part of something greater than ourselves.
SONIA SOTOMAYORThe Latina in me is an ember that blazes forever.
SONIA SOTOMAYORDon’t be shy about making a teacher of any willing party who knows what he or she is doing.
SONIA SOTOMAYORAlthough wisdom is built on life experiences, the mere accumulation of years guarantees nothing.
SONIA SOTOMAYORThe President Barack Obama had suggested that I not watch the news during the confirmation process. I assiduously followed his advice.
SONIA SOTOMAYORMy judicial philosophy is fidelity to the law.
SONIA SOTOMAYOR