Latest Sonia Sotomayor Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• I don't have a professional aspiration. But I do have a personal one: I want to continue growing as a person. I want to reach out more to people, learn more from them. Ultimately, I would like to be a great justice that people remember with respect and fondness.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  People, Justice, Remember

• When you marry young, you run the risk that you'll grow in different directions.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Running, Risk, Different

• When I talk to kids, I often tell them, "I'm going to disappoint you someday. I won't be worth my salt as a judge if I don't render at least one decision that makes you unhappy. Because if I'm following the law - and I don't write them - there has to be some decision you won't like. Please don't judge any person by one act. Take from them the good and don't concentrate on the little things that make you unhappy." That's my approach to family and friends, too.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Kids, Writing, Judging

• People in some situations act worse than animals. You can't be a judge if you try to be a robot. Because then you're not going to be able to look at both sides, and hear both sides. At the same time, if you're being ruled by emotion, then you're not being fair and impartial.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Animal, People, Judging

• Every lawyer, no matter whom they represent, is trying to help someone, whether it's a person, a corporation, a government entity, or a small or big business. To me, lawyering is the height of service - and being involved in this profession is a gift.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Trying, Helping, Lawyer

• It really takes growing up to treasure the specialness of being different. Now I understand that I've gotten to enjoy things that others have not, whether it's the laughter, the poetry of my Spanish language - I love Spanish poetry, because my grandmother loved it - our food, our music. Everything about my culture has given me enormous education and joy.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Laughter, Growing Up, Grandmother

• I listened very, very carefully to the world around me to pick up the signals of when trouble was coming. Not that I could stop it. But it made me observant. That was helpful when I became a lawyer, because I knew how to read people's signals. When a witness hesitated, my mind would race to the conclusion that he was trying to hide something. What was it? I'd dissect the story in my brain and nine times out of ten figure out a hole they were trying to avoid.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Mind, Brain, Trying

  Interview with Oprah Winfrey, www.oprah.com. January 28, 2013.

• I didn't know I had a sense of limitation until I got into the greater world.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  World, Limitation

  Source: www.oprah.com

• 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.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Eye, Judging, Attention

  Source: www.oprah.com

• I have always been actively involved in my community, belonging to organizations that promote the interests of Latinos. But I also know that the issues we confront are the same issues, in many respects, as the larger community. So what we do helps not just us but everybody.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Community, Helping, Latino

  Source: www.oprah.com

• Through reading, I escaped the bad parts of my life in the South Bronx. And, through books, I got to travel the world and the universe. It, to me, was a passport out of my childhood and it remains a way - through the power of words - to change the world.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Book, Reading, Childhood

  Source: www.achievement.org

• There had been questions raised about whether we could ever really unite to work together on an issue, whether we could do it with equal passion and fervor. And it happened during my nomination and I think I forever will be grateful for that love, for that support and for proving those naysayers wrong.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Grateful, Passion, Thinking

  Source: eldiariony.com

• I am eternally grateful to all of the Latino groups outside of the Puerto Rican community, but including the Puerto-Rican community, who came to support me during the process [of nomination].

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Grateful, Support, Community

  "Sotomayor on Puerto Rico, Not Speaking Spanish… and Poker". voicesofny.org. January 15, 2013.

• I was aware that my nomination was drawing a lot of attention, particularly in the Latino world, not just in Puerto Rico. It was touching.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Drawing, Touching, Attention

  Source: eldiariony.com

• I got a message from one of my friends in Puerto Rico, who said, 'Sonia, there's nobody working in Puerto Rico - they're all glued to the television'. And I got a similar message from a friend in Spain.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Spain, Television, Messages

  Source: eldiariony.com

• The President [Barack Obama] had suggested that I not watch the news during the confirmation process. I assiduously followed his advice.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Advice, President, Watches

  Source: eldiariony.com

• Some people choose not to engage the battle and then don't seek out that kind of success. And others do.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  People, Battle, Kind

  Source: eldiariony.com

• This is, for an accomplished Latino, an accomplished African American, an accomplished anyone who disproves stereotypes, it's a constant battle in your life.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  African American, Battle, Stereotype

  Source: eldiariony.com

• The idea of a commonwealth relationship is alien to most people but I think that's true generally.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Thinking, Ideas, People

  Source: eldiariony.com

• Without question, so many people, throughout my life, never think of Puerto Rico as part of the United States.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Thinking, People, United States

  Source: eldiariony.com

• I am growing to love DC. But the core of Sonia is a New Yorker.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Growing, New Yorkers, Core

  Source: eldiariony.com

• Same way I have my entire life. Keep my family and friends close. My Latino friends close. I visit the island [Puerto Rico] as often as I humanly can.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Islands, Family And Friends, No Friends

  Source: eldiariony.com

• I hope in my book [My Beloved World], that the sense that I really feel connected comes through.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Book, World, Beloved

  Source: eldiariony.com

• You can only stay connected if you feel connected.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Feels, Connected, Ifs

  Source: eldiariony.com

• One of the other reasons for writing this book [My Beloved World] was to hold on to the person you first met. More of the world knows about me now and follows me in a way that never happened before. I didn't want me, the inside of me, to change. Because I liked Sonia, the Sonia who has been. So another reason for writing the book was to hold on to that - whatever the best in Sonia was, to try to capture it.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Book, Writing, Trying

  Source: eldiariony.com