Through 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 SOTOMAYORExperience 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.
More Sonia Sotomayor Quotes
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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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I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.
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We apply law to facts. We don’t apply feelings to facts.
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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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I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences. Today is one of those experiences.
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We educated, privileged lawyers have a professional and moral duty to represent the underrepresented in our society, to ensure that justice exists for all, both legal and economic justice.
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There are no bystanders in this life.
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Although I grew up in very modest and challenging circumstances, I consider my life to be immeasurably rich.
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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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I do know one thing about me: I don’t measure myself by others’ expectations or let others define my worth.
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A surplus of effort could overcome a deficit of confidence.
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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.
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Pretending to be a princess is fun, but it is definitely not a career.
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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.
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I’ve spent my whole life learning how to do things that were hard for me.
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