Sandra Day O'Connor quotes

Sandra Day O'Connor was an American judge and the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Her groundbreaking appointment paved the way for greater gender equality in the legal profession. She is remembered for her balanced and pragmatic approach to judicial decisions. Here are 72 of her quotes:

It is difficult to discern a serious threat to religious liberty from a room of silent, thoughtful schoolchildren. (Sandra Day O'Connor)
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. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
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. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
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. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
Statutes authorizing unreasonable searches were the core concern of the framers of the 4th Amendment. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
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. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
It is true that many Americans find the Commandments in accord with their personal beliefs. But we do not count heads before enforcing the First Amendment. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
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. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
The proper role of the judiciary is one of interpreting and applying the law, not making it. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
Having family responsibilities and concerns just has to make you a more understanding person. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
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. (Sandra Day O'Connor)
The more education a woman has, the wider the gap between men's and women's earnings for the same work. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
I don't know that there are any short cuts to doing a good job. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
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. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
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. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
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. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
I wanted to be a cattle rancher when I was young, because it was what I knew and I loved it. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
Most high courts in other nations do not have discretion, such as we enjoy, in selecting the cases that the high court reviews. Our court is virtually alone in the amount of discretion it has. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
There was no hostility at the court when I arrived. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
Historically courts in this country have been insulated. We do not look beyond our borders for precedents. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
When I went to law school, which after all was back in the dark ages, we never looked beyond our borders for precedents. As a state court judge, it never would have occurred to me to do so, and when I got to the Supreme Court, it was very much the same. We just didn't do it. (Sandra Day O'Connor)
The power I exert on the court depends on the power of my arguments, not on my gender. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
As a citizen, you need to know how to be a part of it, how to express yourself - and not just by voting. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
I need to retire from retirement. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor
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. View quote
Sandra Day O'Connor