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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

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.
SONIA SOTOMAYOR

Achievement Challenge Face Material Myself Poor Poverty Sick
Some people choose not to engage the battle and then don’t seek out that kind of success. And others do.
SONIA SOTOMAYOR

Battle Choice Engagement Kindness People Seek
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 Myself Position Qualification Responsibility Work Wrong
I don’t believe we should bend the Constitution under any circumstance. It says what it says. We should do honor to it.
SONIA SOTOMAYOR

Believe Constitution Honor Respect
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.
SONIA SOTOMAYOR

Children Competition Goodness Live Ourselves Poor Preparation Program
If your child marches to a different beat, a different drummer, you might just have to go along with that music. Help them achieve what’s important to them.
SONIA SOTOMAYOR

Achievement Children Different Help Music Yourself
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

Adult Care Children End Existence Interdependence Myself Truth
I have never had to face anything that could overwhelm the native optimism and stubborn perseverance I was blessed with.
SONIA SOTOMAYOR

Blessing Face Myself Native Perseverance
Don’t mistake politeness for lack of strength.
SONIA SOTOMAYOR

Mistake Polite Strength
You 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 SOTOMAYOR

Doubt Failure Hurt Live Myself
There are no bystanders in life. Our humanity makes us each a part of something greater than ourselves.
SONIA SOTOMAYOR

Greatness Humanity Life Ourselves Stand
If the system is broken, my inclination is to fix it rather than to fight it. I have faith in the process of the law, and if it is carried out fairly, I can live with the results, whatever they may be.
SONIA SOTOMAYOR

Break Carry Fight Live Myself Process Result System
Personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see.
SONIA SOTOMAYOR

Choice Experience Judgement Personal See
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.
SONIA SOTOMAYOR

Business Gift Government Help Law Person Professional Representation Service Try
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.
SONIA SOTOMAYOR

Enjoyment Fade Listening Logic Myself Observation Problem
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 SOTOMAYOR

Citizenship Ideas Life Myself People Question Relationship Thinking

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.

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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.

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Popular Authors

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