We've talked more about civil rights after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 than we talked about it before 1964.

Long gone is the time when we opposed the notion that we all looked alike and talked alike. Somehow we have come to exalt the new black stereotype above all and to demand conformity to that norm... [However], I assert my right to think for myself, to refuse to have my ideas assigned to me as though I was an intellectual slave because I'm black.

I was sympathetic to virtually all groups that wanted to get away from the old system.

To define each of us by our race is nothing short of a denial of our humanity.

I was smart enough to use pot without getting caught, and now I'm on the Supreme Court. If you were stupid enough to get caught, that's your problem. Your appeal is denied. This 40 year sentence just might teach you a lesson.

It takes a person with a mission to succeed.

My grandfather could barely read. My grandmother had a sixth-grade education. They were people who were industrious. They were frugal.