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Ruth Bader Ginsburg
70 quotes
“The emphasis must not be on the right to abortion but on the right to privacy and reproductive control.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview, Ms. magazine (April 1974)
“Inevitably, the shape of the law on gender-based classification and reproductive autonomy indicates and influences the opportunity women will have to participate as men's full partners in the nation's social, political, and economic life.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 1985 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Some Thoughts on Autonomy and Equality in Relation to Roe v. Wade", North Carolina Law Review Volume 63, Number 2, Article 4, 1985, p.375
“I commented at the outset that I believe the Court presented an incomplete justification for its action. Academic criticism of Roe, charging the Court with reading its own values into the due process clause, might have been less pointed had the Court placed the woman alone, rather than the woman tied to her physician, at the center of its attention.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 1985 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Some Thoughts on Autonomy and Equality in Relation to Roe v. Wade", North Carolina Law Review Volume 63, Number 2, Article 4, 1985, p.382
“Overall, the Court's Roe position is weakened, I believe, by the opinion's concentration on a medically approved autonomy idea, to the exclusion of a constitutionally based sex-equality perspective. I understand the view that for political reasons the reproductive autonomy controversy should be isolated from the general debate on equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities for women and men.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 1985 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Some Thoughts on Autonomy and Equality in Relation to Roe v. Wade", North Carolina Law Review Volume 63, Number 2, Article 4, 1985, pp.385-386
“Abortion prohibition by the State, however, controls women and denies them full autonomy and full equality with men. That was the idea I tried to express in the lecture to which you referred.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: When Sen. Hank Brown (R-CO) asked about her remarks during her 1993 Senate confirmation hearing about the above quoted lecture, Ginsburg clarified her stance with the quoted sentences. As quoted in: Olivia Waxman (Augus…
“It is essential to woman’s equality with man that she be the decisionmaker, that her choice be controlling. If you impose restraints that impede her choice, you are disadvantaging her because of her sex.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Abortion. 1993 Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings. As quoted in: Olivia Waxman (August 2, 2018): Ruth Bader Ginsburg Wishes This Case Had Legalized Abortion Instead of Roe v. Wade. In: Time Magazine. Ar…
“The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her well-being and dignity. It is a decision she must make for herself. When Government controls that decision for her, she is being treated as less than a fully adult human responsible for her own choices.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1993 Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings. As quoted in: Olivia Waxman (August 2, 2018): Ruth Bader Ginsburg Wishes This Case Had Legalized Abortion Instead of Roe v. Wade. In: Time magazine. Archived from t…
“Neither federal nor state government acts compatibly with equal protection when a law or official policy denies to women, simply because they are women, full citizenship stature — equal opportunity to aspire, achieve, participate in and contribute to society based on their individual talents and capacities.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 1996 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Writing for the court, United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996), at 532.
“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.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2000 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dissenting, Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000)
“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.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with Nina Totenberg of National Public Radio (2 May 2002). Also quoted in: Li Cohen (September 19, 2022): Ruth Bader Ginsburg's iconic quotes on law, love and the fight for equality. In: CBS News. Archived fro…
“[L]egal challenges to undue restrictions on abortion procedures do not seek to vindicate some generalized notion of privacy; rather, they center on a woman’s autonomy to determine her life’s course, and thus to enjoy equal citizenship stature.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dissenting, Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124 (2007). As quoted in: Louise Melling (Deputy Legal Director and Director of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Center for Liberty, ACLU) (September 23, 2020): For Justice Ginsburg, Abortio…
“This way of thinking reflects ancient notions about women’s place in the family and under the Constitution — ideas that have long since been discredited.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dissenting, Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124 (2007) in response to the Majority Opinion authored by Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy who wrote (Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124 (2007), Part IV, section A): "While we …
“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn't be that women are the exception.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the fight for equality. Source: CNN, 2009. As quoted in: Li Cohen (September 19, 2022): Ruth Bader Ginsburg's iconic quotes on law, love and the fight for equality. In: CBS News. Archived from the original on Septemb…
“Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview, The New York Times Magazine (7 July 2009)
“Q: At your confirmation hearings in 1993, you talked about how you hoped to see three or four women on the court. How do you feel about how long it has taken to see simply one more woman nominated?”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Q: Did you think that all the attention to the criticism of Sotomayor as being “bullying” or not as smart is sex-inflected? Does that have to do with the rarity of a woman in her position, and the particular challenges?”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Q: From your point of view, does having another woman on the court matter primarily in terms of the public’s perception, or also for what it feels like to be in conference and on the bench?”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Q: What do you think about Judge Sotomayor’s frank remarks that she is a product of affirmative action?”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“JUSTICE GINSBURG: I always thought that there was nothing an antifeminist would want more than to have women only in women’s organizations, in their own little corner empathizing with each other and not touching a man’s world. If you’re going to change things, you have to be with the people who hold the levers.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“JUSTICE GINSBURG:: If you want to influence people, you want them to accept your suggestions, you don’t say, You don’t know how to use the English language, or how could you make that argument? It will be welcomed much more if you have a gentle touch than if you are aggressive.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Q: You are said to have very warm relationships with your colleagues. And so I was surprised to read a comment you made in an interview in May with Joan Biskupic of USA Today. You said that when you were a young lawyer, your voice was often ignored, and then a male colleague would repeat a point you’d made, and other people would be alert to it. And then you said this still happens now at conference.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Q: I wanted to ask you about the academic research on the effect of sex on judging. Studies have found a difference in the way male and female judges of similar ideologies vote in some cases. And that the presence of a woman on a panel can influence the way her male colleagues vote. How do these findings match your experience?”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Q: We started by talking about the idea of three or four women on the Supreme Court. Could you imagine a Supreme Court that had five or six or seven women on it?”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Q: What about the case this term involving the strip search, in school, of 13-year-old Savana Red-ding? Justice Souter’s majority opinion, finding that the strip search was unconstitutional, is very different from what I expected after oral argument, when some of the men on the court didn’t seem to see the seriousness here. Is that an example of a case when having a woman as part of the conversation was important?”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Q: You have written, “To turn in a new direction, the court first had to gain an understanding that legislation apparently designed to benefit or protect women could have the opposite effect.” The pedestal versus the cage. Has the court made that turn completely, or is there still more work to be done?”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“JUSTICE GINSBURG: The Legislature can make the change, can facilitate the change, as laws like the Family Medical Leave Act do. But it’s not something a court can decree. A court can’t tell the man, You’ve got to do more than carry out the garbage.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nine, nine... There have been nine men there for a long, long time, right? So why not nine women?”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In response to the question “How many women would be enough” [on the Supreme Court] during interview with Diane Sawyer at The Women's Conference (Long Beach, California, (26 October 2010)
“You're saying, no, State did two kinds of marriage, the full marriage, and then this sort of skim milk marriage.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: United States v. Windsor, oral argument (27 March 2013)
“The women going to this law school, you will have many opportunities. What about the girl who is undereducated, drops out of school when she's a teenager and pregnant? Helping raise the level of all women is something I think women should care about.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Bullington, Jonathan (May 11, 2013). "Justice Ginsburg: Roe v. Wade not 'woman-centered'". Chicago Tribune.
“Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dissenting, Shelby County v. Holder (2013)
“The great man who led the march from Selma to Montgomery and there called for the passage of the Voting Rights Act foresaw progress, even in Alabama,” she wrote. “‘The arc of the moral universe is long,’ he said, but ‘it bends toward justice,’ if there is a steadfast commitment to see the task through to completion.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Opinion announcement from the bench by Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the 2013 United Supreme States Court case Shelby County v. Holder (June 25, 2013). As quoted by Joyce White Vance (September 21, 2020): Ide…
“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.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On love. Source: The Washington Post, 2014. As quoted in: Li Cohen (September 19, 2022): Ruth Bader Ginsburg's iconic quotes on law, love and the fight for equality. In: CBS News. Archived from the original on September…
“People ask me sometimes... 'When will there be enough women on the court?' And my answer is, 'When there are nine.' People are shocked, but there'd been nine men, and nobody's ever raised a question about that.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the fight for equality. Source: Appearance at Georgetown University, 2015. As quoted in: Li Cohen (September 19, 2022): Ruth Bader Ginsburg's iconic quotes on law, love and the fight for equality. In: CBS News. Archi…
“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement of advice on being presented the Radcliffe Medal, as quoted in "Honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg" by Colleen Walsh, in The Harvard Gazette (29 May 2015)
“To restate the key question in this case, the issue centrally debated by the parties: Absent congressional authorization, does the Elections Clause preclude the people of Arizona from creating a commission operating independently of the state legislature to establish congressional districts? The history and purpose of the Clause weigh heavily against such preclusion, as does the animating principle of our Constitution that the people themselves are the originating source of all the powers of government.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, 576 U.S. 787 (2015), at III Part C.
“Generally change in our society is incremental. Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ian Millhisser (October 8, 2015): Justice Ginsburg’s Warning To A Dysfunctional Nation. In: ThinkPrgoress. Archived from the original on September 9, 2022. Also partially quoted in: Li Cohen (September 19, 2022): Ruth B…
“Justice O'Connor had set the model. She had breast surgery and she was on the bench nine days after her surgery. She said, 'Now, Ruth, have your chemotherapy on a Friday. That way, you have the weekend to get over it'”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On law. Source: Interview with CBS Sunday Morning's Jane Pauley, 2016. As quoted in: Li Cohen (September 19, 2022): Ruth Bader Ginsburg's iconic quotes on law, love and the fight for equality. In: CBS News. Archived fro…
“It's a facet of the gay rights movement that people don't think about enough. Why suddenly marriage equality? Because it wasn't until 1981 that the court struck down Louisiana's "head and master rule," that the husband was head and master of the house.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Own Words (2016)
“If the Senate is not acting, what can be done about it? Even if you could conceive of a testing lawsuit, what would the response be? 'Well, you want us to vote, so we'll vote no.' I do think cooler heads will prevail, I hope sooner rather than later. The president is elected for four years not three years, so the power he has in year three continues into year four. Maybe members of the Senate will wake up and appreciate that that's how it should be.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Ginsburg suggests Senate should act on Garland nomination, but says it cannot be forced to" by Robert Barnes, Washington Post (7 September 2016)
“There's nothing in the Constitution that says the President stops being President in his last year.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Ruth Bader Ginsburg, No Fan of Donald Trump, Critiques Latest Term" by Adam Liptak, The New York Times (10 July 2016)
“Eight is not a good number for a collegial body that sometimes disagrees.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Ruth Bader Ginsburg Suggests Senate Should Confirm Merrick Garland in Lame-Duck Session" by Katie Reilly, TIME (12 October 2016)
“If you want to be a true professional, you will do something outside yourself, something to repair tears in your community, something to make life a little better for people less fortunate than you. That’s what I think a meaningful life is. One lives not just for oneself but for one’s community.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Stanford Rathbun Lecture 2017 Highlights: Ruth Bader Ginsburg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnzP035hotc
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the fight for equality. Source: As quoted in the documentary "RBG". As quoted in: Li Cohen (September 19, 2022): Ruth Bader Ginsburg's iconic quotes on law, love and the fight for equality. In: CBS News. Archived fro…
“I have heard that there are some people on the Democratic side who would like to increase the number of judges. I think that was a bad idea... I am not at all in favor of that solution.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "NPR Interview with Justice Ginsburg: 'I'm Still Very Much Alive'", npr.org (24 July 2019)
“It was lucky that I met Marty at a time when the best degree that a girl could have not her BA or her JD, it was her M-R-S.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On love. Source: WINK News, 2019. As quoted in: Li Cohen (September 19, 2022): Ruth Bader Ginsburg's iconic quotes on law, love and the fight for equality. In: CBS News. Archived from the original on September 9, 2022.
“One of the things that happened after Roe v Wade is that women wanted women to be able to control their own destiny. They won, so they retreated. And the other side geared up and we have the situation that we have today.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think society needs to be more active on this issue, I mean the truth is with all these restrictive laws, the only people who are being restricted are poor women. It's a little like divorce was in the old days, where if you had the money to go to Nevada and stay there for six weeks, you could get a divorce/ Now we have no-fault divorce in every state. So no woman of means will ever lack access to abortion in the US, because there are some states that will offer it," she said.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So the brunt of all these restrictive laws is on poor women. Not only if they can't pay the plane fare or the bus fare – they can't afford to take days off from work to go.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The young people are my hope. Think of Malala Yousafzai, Greta Thunberg. I think the young people I see are fired up and they want our country to be what it should be.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ginsburg's statement dictated to her granddaughter a few days before her death, as reported in "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Champion Of Gender Equality, Dies At 87" by Nina Totenberg, NPR.org (18 September 2020)