Sonia Sotomayor Quotes

Sometimes, even if there was no useful advice to give, I saw that listening still helped.

I have ventured to write more intimately about my personal life than is customary for a member of the Supreme Court, and with that candor comes a measure of vulnerability.

If I go home, get a gun, come back and shoot you, that may not be legal under New York law because you would have alternative ways to defend.

Without question, so many people, throughout my life, never think of Puerto Rico as part of the United States.

I didn't know I had a sense of limitation until I got into the greater world.

I've spent my whole life learning how to do things that were hard for me.

Diabetes taught me discipline.

It's not the heart that compels conclusions in cases, it's the law.

I am growing to love DC.This [Washington] is a beautiful city. I think every citizen should come see their capital. A lot of the museums are free, there are restaurants that are reasonably priced.

In the wider context, what I believe I was - the point I was making was that our life experiences do permit us to see some facts and understand them more easily than others.

I think being a Catholic made me a better person. It taught me how to choose good over evil, and how to be a more caring human being.

This wealth of experiences, personal and professional, have helped me appreciate the variety of perspectives that present themselves in every case that I hear.

There are no bystanders in this life.

Although wisdom is built on life experiences, the mere accumulation of years guarantees nothing.

Dressing badly has been a refuge much of my life, a way of compelling others to engage with my mind, not my physical presence. Page. 283

I would warn any minority student today against the temptations of self-segregation: take support and comfort from your own group as you can, but don’t hide within it.

In my experience when a friend unloaded about a boyfriend or spouse, the listener soaked up the complaint and remembered it long after the speaker had forgiven the offense.

I have never, ever focused on the negative of things. I always look at the positive.

It is our responsibility to explain to the public how an often unpredictable system of justice is one that serves a productive, civilized, but always evolving, society.

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.

I come to every case with an open mind. Every case is new to me.

The task of a judge is not to make the law - it is to apply the law.

I think that even someone who got into an institution through affirmative action could prove they were qualified by what they accomplished there.

The best I could say about third grade was that it was a more or less continuous state of dread.

You can only stay connected if you feel connected.

Much of the uncertainty of law is not an unfortunate accident: it is of immense social value.

People who live in difficult circumstances need to know that happy endings are possible. Page 1.

I had many reasons for writing memoir but among them was the hope that every Latino child and adult would find something familiar in it.

Same way I have my entire life. Keep my family and friends close. My Latino friends close. I visit the island [Puerto Rico] as often as I humanly can.

My mom loved the book [My beloved world] and she said to me, 'I never knew you had done so much.'

I've never had my dexterity called into question, but I think if that was ever the case, I could acquit myself by tossing a ball back and forth horizontally between my hands.

When you marry young, you run the risk that you'll grow in different directions.

I am growing to love DC. But the core of Sonia is a New Yorker.

This is, for an accomplished Latino, an accomplished African American, an accomplished anyone who disproves stereotypes, it's a constant battle in your life.

I think there's a large segment of the mainland population that does not really understand the number of territories that are part of the United States.

I hope in my book [My Beloved World], that the sense that I really feel connected comes through.

The idea of a commonwealth relationship is alien to most people but I think that's true generally.

I do think there is a value in the services of judges for long periods of time.

I'm a New Yorker, and I jaywalk with the best of them.

When you come from a background like mine, where you're entering worlds that are so different than your own, you have to be afraid.

The first case I sat on... was Citizens United. Talk about being thrown in. Needless to say, if I was scared before, I was terrified.

Oh my God, I don't think you can say anyone looks forward to controversy.

I am a very spiritual person. Maybe not traditionally religious in terms of Sunday Mass every week, that sort of thing.

I got a label because I was Hispanic and a woman and [therefore] I had to be liberal.

I am eternally grateful to all of the Latino groups outside of the Puerto Rican community, but including the Puerto-Rican community, who came to support me during the process [of nomination].

All judges have cases that touch our passions deeply, but we all struggle constantly with remaining impartial.

I was aware that my nomination was drawing a lot of attention, particularly in the Latino world, not just in Puerto Rico. It was touching.

I am willing to bet that there are some Puerto Ricans who don’t know about [their status].

I wouldn't approach the issue of judging in the way the president does. Judges can't rely on what's in their heart. It's not the heart that compels conclusions in cases. It's the law.

I have had positive experiences with cameras. When I have been asked to join experiments using cameras in the courtroom, I have participated; I have volunteered.