You know, failure hurts. Any kind of failure stings. If you live in the sting, you will - undoubtedly - fail. My way of getting past the sting is to say no, I'm just not going to let this get me down.

You can't be a minority in this society without having someone express disapproval about affirmative action.

I do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge regardless of their background or life experiences.

When I'm concentrating, I can be fixed in place for hours. In fact, there was a joke in my office that everybody would come and chat outside my door because they knew - no matter how loud they talked - if I was concentrating, it would not disturb me at all.

Remember that no one succeeds alone. Never walk alone in your future paths.

I came to accept during my freshman year that many of the gaps in my knowledge and understanding were simply limits of class and cultural background, not lack of aptitude or application as I'd feared.

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.