226 Quotes by Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I became a lawyer for selfish reasons. I thought I could do a lawyer’s job better than any other.

Every constitution written since the end of World War II includes a provision that men and women are citizens of equal stature. Ours does not.

If I had any talent God could give me, I would be a great diva

The impact of all these restrictions is on poor women, because women who have means, if their state doesn't provide access, another state does. ... It makes no sense as a national policy to promote birth only among poor people.

In sum, the Court's conclusion that a constitutionally adequate recount is impractical is a prophecy the Court's own judgment will not allow to be tested. Such an untested prophecy should not decide the Presidency of the United States. I dissent.

The written argument endures. The oral argument is fleeting.

A constitution, as important as it is, will mean nothing unless the people are yearning for liberty and freedom.

I have yet to see a death case among the dozen coming to the Supreme Court on eve-of-execution stay applications in which the defendant was well represented at trial... People who are well represented at trial do not get the death penalty.

A prime part of the history of our Constitution is the story of the extension of constitutional rights to people once ignored or excluded.