This week’s ” Thankful Thursday” would like to convene our utmost sympathy for the loss of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, where she sat on the federal bench for twenty-five years. In 1993, she became the second woman ever to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Throughout that time, she has continued to be a leading voice for gender equality, women’s interests, civil rights and liberties. Known as the “the great dissenter,” her words will live on to inspire future generations. Here are some of her most powerful quotes:
The Supreme Court:
“Dissents speak to a future age. It’s not simply to say, ‘My colleagues are wrong and I would do it this way.’ But the greatest dissents do become court opinions and gradually over time their views become the dominant view. So that’s the dissenter’s hope: that they are writing not for today, but for tomorrow.”
Marriage:
“If you have a caring life partner, you help the other person when that person needs it. I had a life partner who thought my work was as important as his, and I think that made all the difference for me.”
On Creating Change:
“I tell law students… if you are going to be a lawyer and just practice your profession, you have a skill very much like a plumber. But if you want to be a true professional, you will do something outside yourself… something that makes life a little better for people less fortunate than you.”
“Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”
“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.
“Women will have achieved true equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation.”
Her Life:
“My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent.
“So often in life, things that you regard as an impediment turn out to be great, good fortune.”
“Reading is the key that opens doors to many good things in life. Reading shaped my dreams, and more reading helped me make my dreams come true.”
On How She Would Like to Be Remembered:
“Someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of her ability. And to help repair tears in her society, to make things a little better through the use of whatever ability she has. To do something, as my colleague David Souter would say, outside myself. ‘Cause I’ve gotten much more satisfaction for the things that I’ve done for which I was not paid.”