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My mother told me two things constantly. One was to be a lady, and the other was to be independent. The study of law was unusual for women of my generation. For most girls growing up in the '40s, the most important degree was not your B.A., but your M.R.S.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Age: 87 †
Born: 1933
Born: March 15
Died: 2020
Died: September 18
Associate Justice Of The Supreme Court Of The United States
Judge
Lawyer
Brooklyn
New York
RBG
Notorious RBG
Joan Ruth Bader
Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg
Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Law
Degrees
Girl
Generation
Mother
Independent
Two
Girls
Unusual
Women
Generations
Important
Told
Lady
Things
Study
Degree
Growing
Constantly

More quotes by Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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All respect for the office of the presidency aside, I assumed that the obvious and unadulterated decline of freedom and constitutional sovereignty, not to mention the efforts to curb the power of judicial review, spoke for itself.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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Whatever community organization, whether it's a women's organization, or fighting for racial justice ... you will get satisfaction out of doing something to give back to the community that you never get in any other way.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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It's great to be in the position of asking questions and not having to answer questions.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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I am a judge born, raised, and proud of being a Jew. The demand for justice runs through the entirety of the Jewish tradition. I hope, in my years on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, I will have the strength and the courage to remain constant in the service of that demand.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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I do think that being the second [female Supreme Court Justice] is wonderful, because it is a sign that being a woman in a place of importance is no longer extraordinary.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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The emphasis must be not on the right to abortion but on the right to privacy and reproductive control.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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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
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One might plausibly contend that Congress violates the spirit, if not the letter, of the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers when it exonerates itself from the impositions of the laws it obligates people outside the legislature to obey.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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It is not women's liberation, it is women's and men's liberation.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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I became a lawyer for selfish reasons. I thought I could do a lawyer’s job better than any other.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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Our goal in the '70s was to end the closed door era. There were so many things that were off limits to women, policing, firefighting, mining, piloting planes. And the stereotypical view of people of a world divided between home and child caring women and men as breadwinners, men representing the family outside the home.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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Even the Declaration of Independence starts out all men are created equal, so I see my advocacy as part of an effort to make the equality principle everything the founders would have wanted it to be if they weren't held back by the society in which they lived and particularly the shame of slavery.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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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
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People who have been hardworking, tax paying, those people ought to be given an opportunity to be on a track that leads towards citizenship and if that happened, then they wouldn't be prey to the employers who say we want you because we know that you work for a salary we could not lawfully pay anyone else.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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Racial discrimination in elections in Texas is no mere historical artifact. To the contrary, Texas has been found in violation of the Voting Rights Act in every redistricting cycle from and after 1970.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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The written argument endures. The oral argument is fleeting.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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Every gal and every boy that's born alive is either a little liberal or else a little conservative.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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There is a Constitutional right to prostitution.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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The Second Amendment has a preamble about the need for a militia. Because there is a need for a militia to be at the ready, therefore the right to keep and bear arms must be secured.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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Promoting active liberty does not mean allowing the majority to run roughshod over minorities. It calls for taking special care that all groups have a chance to fully participate in society and the political process.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg