Quotes by 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."

"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."

"A state of war is not a blank check... when it comes to the rights of the Nation's citizens."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"The No Child Left Behind Program was an incentive to the schools to get their kids up to snuff on math and science and reading."

"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."

"The Establishment Clause prohibits government from making adherence to a religion relevant in any way to a person's standing in the political community."

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

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

"My hope is that 10 years from now, after I've been across the street at work for a while, they'll all be glad they gave me that wonderful vote."

"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."

"Having family responsibilities and concerns just has to make you a more understanding person."

"In order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry, it is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity."

"My hope is that 10 years from now, after I've been across the street at work for a while, they'll all be glad they gave me that wonderful vote."

"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."

"Statutes authorizing unreasonable searches were the core concern of the framers of the 4th Amendment."

"We have a complex system of government. You have to teach it to every generation."

"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."