Sometimes, even if there was no useful advice to give, I saw that listening still helped.

When I first became a judge on the district court, I had one lawyer who came to argue before me, and he was looking off to the side as he was talking. I started asking him questions, and all of a sudden he whipped around and looked at me intently. I could see in his eyes that he had finally figured out, "This is no dummy, I'd better pay attention." It is satisfying to see that.

Although wisdom is built on life experiences, the mere accumulation of years guarantees nothing.

I think being a Catholic made me a better person. It taught me how to choose good over evil, and how to be a more caring human being.

In every position that I've been in, there have been naysayers who don't believe I'm qualified or who don't believe I can do the work. And I feel a special responsibility to prove them wrong.

To me, lawyering is the height of service - and being involved in this profession is a gift.

I barely saw my mother, and the mom I saw was often angry and unhappy. The mother I grew up with is not the mother I know now. It's not the mother she became after my father died, and that's been the greatest prize of my life.