Quotes from Sandra Day O'Connor

We don't accomplish anything in this world alone.

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.

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.

In terms of having the American people look at the court and think of it as being fair and appropriate for our nation, it helps to have women, plural, on the court.

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.

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.

I'm a judge. It seemed to me that it was critical to try to take action to stem the criticism and help people understand that in the constitutional framework, it's terribly important not to have a system of retaliation against decisions people don't like.

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.

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

Well, it's a little odd, the path I took, because when I was young, I wanted to be a cattle rancher. That was what I knew and that was what I liked.

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

I've always said that at the end of the day, on a legal issue, I think a wise old woman and a wise old man are going to reach the same conclusion.

You have citizens who don't understand how government works and they're kind of soured on it. All they do is criticize. They have no idea that they can make things happen.

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.

It is difficult to discern a serious threat to religious liberty from a room of silent, thoughtful schoolchildren.

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. That's set out in the Constitution.

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.

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?

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

A state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation's citizens.

For both men and women the first step in getting power is to become visible to others, and then to put on an impressive show...As women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what women can do, as WOMEN see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we'll all be better off for it.

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

Less than one-third of eighth-graders can identify the historical purpose of the Declaration of Independence - and it's right there in the name.

Even in my own time and in my own life, I have witnessed a revolution.