Sandra Day O'Connor Quotes

We don't accomplish anything in this world alone... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads form one to another that creates something.

The Establishment Clause prohibits government from making adherence to a religion relevant in any way to a person's standing in the political community.

Do the best you can in every task, no matter how unimportant it may seem at the time. No one learns more about a problem than the person at the bottom.

I think the important thing about my appointment is not that I will decide cases as a woman, but that I am a woman who will get to decide cases.

The framers of the Constitution were so clear in the federalist papers and elsewhere that they felt an independent judiciary was critical to the success of the nation.

Society as a whole benefits immeasurably from a climate in which all persons, regardless of race or gender, may have the opportunity to earn respect, responsibility, advancement and remuneration based on ability.

Unfortunately civility is hard to codify or legislate, but you know it when you see it. It's possible to disagree without being disagreeable.

We don't accomplish anything in this world alone.

Be aware that even before you have reached your ultimate professional destination, if you always strive for excellence, you can and should have a substantial impact on the world in which you live.

Young women today often have very little appreciation for the real battles that took place to get women where they are today in this country. I don't know how much history young women today know about those battles.

Apparently a great many people have forgotten that the framers of our Constitution went to such great effort to create an independent judicial branch that would not be subject to retaliation by either the executive branch or the legislative branch because of some decision made by those judges.

I think we may be seeing the beginnings of a resurgence of civic-mindedness in this country. Hopefully the younger generations, which came out in record numbers during the last presidential election, will pass their enthusiasm on to their children.

How dare you make my life a felony.

This chance will stand before you only once.

The courts of this country should not be the places where resolution of disputes begins. They should be the places where the disputes end after alternative methods of resolving disputes have been considered and tried.

The power I exert on the court depends on the power of the power of my arguments, not my gender

Despite the encouraging and wonderful gains and the changes for women which have occurred in my lifetime, there is still room to advance and to promote correction of the remaining deficiencies and imbalances.

We have a complex system of government. You have to teach it to every generation.

I have always thought that while it's wonderful to be the first to do something, you don't want to be the last.

I don't know that there are any short cuts to doing a good job.

As a citizen, you need to know how to be a part of it, how to express yourself - and not just by voting.

The proper role of the judiciary is one of interpreting and applying the law, not making it.

I think I learned to appreciate and treasure each day, because you don't know how many you're going to be given.

It matters enormously to a successful democratic society like ours that we have three branches of government, each with some independence and some control over the other two. Thats set out in the Constitution.

The destiny of the woman must be shaped to a large extent on her own conception of her spiritual imperative and her place in society.

I do not believe it is the function of the judiciary to step in and change the law because the times have changed. I do well understand the difference between legislating and judging. As a judge, it is not my function to develop public policy.

A moment of silence is not inherently religious.

We pay a price when we deprive children of the exposure to the values, principles, and education they need to make them good citizens.

The family unit plays a critical role in our society and in the training of the generation to come.

Liberty finds no refuge in a jurisprudence of doubt.

In order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry, it is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity.

Those who would renegotiate the boundaries between church and state must therefore answer a difficult question: why would we trade a system that has served us so well for one that has served others so poorly?

Occasionally we have to interpret an international treaty - one, perhaps, affecting airlines and liability for injury to passengers or damage to goods. Then, of course, we have to look to the precedents of other member nations in resolving issues.

Commitment to the rule of law provides a basic assurance that people can know what to expect whether what they do is popular or unpopular at the time.

The freedom to criticize judges and other public officials is necessary to a vibrant democracy.

I wanted to be a cattle rancher when I was young, because it was what I knew and I loved it.

Each of us brings to our job, whatever it is, our lifetime of experience and our values.

The more education a woman has, the wider the gap between men's and women's earnings for the same work.

The fact is that knowledge about the Constitution and the Court is not something that is handed down through the gene pool; every generation has to learn it. And I'm not sure the recent generations have done that good a job of learning about it.

The Constitution does not protect the sovereignty of States for the benefit of the States or state governments as abstract political entities, or even for the benefit of the public officials governing the States. To the contrary, the Constitution divides authority between federal and state governments for the protection of individuals.

Having family responsibilities and concerns just has to make you a more understanding person.

I sort of thought the framers of the Constitution were talking about the rights of individuals, not corporate entities.

So how as a nation can we sit around and eat Mexican food, and drink beer and make friends? That's the question. If we can do that on a broader scale, I think we'll come out of it all right.

If I stumbled badly in doing the job, I think it would have made life more difficult for women, and that was a great concern of mine and still is.

Parents should continue to become more involved with their communities, and more involved in their children's education.

Yes, I will bring the understanding of a woman to the Court, but I doubt that alone will affect my decisions.

It's hard to have little children and a job and career at the same time. There is no time left for you as a woman.

It is a measure of the framers' fear that a passing majority might find it expedient to compromise 4th Amendment values that these values were embodied in the Constitution itself.

I think people know very little, really, about the court, how it works and its history. And both of those things are important in our country, but they're not things that most citizens know much about.

A fundamental premise of American democratic theory is that government exists to serve the people. ... Public records are one portal through which the people observe their government, ensuring its accountability, integrity, and equity while minimizing sovereign mischief and malfeasance