A surplus of effort could overcome a deficit of confidence.

I want to state upfront, unequivocally and without doubt: I do not believe that any racial, ethnic or gender group has an advantage in sound judging. I do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge, regardless of their background or life experiences.

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

The best I could say about third grade was that it was a more or less continuous state of dread.

I honestly felt no envy or resentment, only astonishment at how much of a world there was out there and how much of it others already knew. The agenda for self-cultivation that had been set for my classmates by their teachers and parents was something I'd have to develop for myself.

Much of the uncertainty of law is not an unfortunate accident: it is of immense social value.

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.