On September 18, 2020, we lost a truly remarkable figure in American history. The legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will live on as an advocate for human rights, gender equality and a defender of democracy. Ginsburg was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1993 by President Clinton. Upon her nomination, she was the second woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court and the first Jewish woman to have the title. Ginsburg dedicated her life to her work, fighting through several bouts of cancer while seated on the Supreme Court bench. Her determination has changed the lives of every American. Here is a list of some of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s most inspiring quotes. For everyone reading, particularly young women, live her legacy by registering to vote, requesting your absentee ballot and making your voice heard this election.
- “People ask me, ‘Well when do you think there will be enough [women on the Supreme Court]’ I say ‘When there are nine.’”
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Perhaps Ginsburg’s most famous quote. She goes on the defend it saying, “…there’d been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.”
- On the Me Too movement: “It shouldn’t stop with prominent people… it should protect the maid that works in a hotel.”
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Ginsburg has repeatedly praised the Me Too Movement and those who stand up against sexual harassment and gender discrimination.
- “When I talk about my mother I sometimes ask the question: What is the difference between a bookkeeper in the garment district and a Supreme Court Justice? One generation.”
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Ginsburg attributes a lot of her success to her mother and being raised to be independent. Pictured above is Ginsburg as a child.
- “In my lifetime, I expect to see three, four, perhaps even more women on the high court bench, women not shaped from the same mold, but of different complexions.”
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At her senate nomination hearing, Ginsburg expressed her hope for more representation of women of many backgrounds on the Supreme Court.
- “There has become a tradition in the United States of dissents becoming the law of the land. You’re writing for a future age, and your hope is that, with time, the court will see it the way you do.”
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Ginsburg became well known for her firm dissenting opinions and received the nickname “the Notorious RBG” because of them.
You can read and watch more about the amazing and notorious RBG on YouTube and Good Housekeeping.