The really expert riders of horses let the horse know immediately who is in control, but then they guide the horse with loose reins and very seldom use the spurs. So it was with our chief [William Rehnquist]. He guided us with loose reins and used the spurs only rarely to get us up to speed with our work.

It's hard to have little children and a job and career at the same time. There is no time left for you as a woman.

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

If I stumbled badly in doing the job, I think it would have made life more difficult for women, and that was a great concern of mine and still is.

Each justice hires their own clerks, and applications are made individually to the justices. It isn't a group decision.

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 concern was whether I could do the job of a justice well enough to convince the nation that my appointment was the right move.