My mom loved the book [My beloved world] and she said to me, 'I never knew you had done so much.'

You always wonder whether the attacks on my capabilities came from an honest evaluation of my accomplishments or from stereotypical presumptions that we, people of color, just can't do it, for some reason. This is, for an accomplished Latino, an accomplished African American, an accomplished anyone who disproves stereotypes, it's a constant battle in your life.

I have ventured to write more intimately about my personal life than is customary for a member of the Supreme Court, and with that candor comes a measure of vulnerability.

If I go home, get a gun, come back and shoot you, that may not be legal under New York law because you would have alternative ways to defend.

The dynamism of any diverse community depends not only on the diversity itself but on promoting a sense of belonging among those who formerly would have been considered and felt themselves outsiders.

You make your life choices understanding that you might and do have to work harder to prove yourself.

I am a New Yorker, and 7:00 A.M. is a civilized hour to finish the day, not to start it.