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

There was no hostility at the court when I arrived.

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.

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.

(W)e do not count heads before enforcing the First Amendment.

I need to retire from retirement.

Historically, it took a long time before the court took any women law clerks. Finally, it did, but the numbers have never matched very effectively the percentages of law graduates out of graduating classes. We have far more than we ever did before and it's continued to grow, but it isn't a nice match yet.