Sandra Day O’Connor’s birthday is right around the corner and what better way to celebrate than with some wonderful patriotic quotes? She is one of the most impressive women to ever meet the public eye. Voted one of the most powerful women in the world by Forbes Magazine and Ladies’ Home Journal, there’s no denying she had a great impact on America. Here are 10 patriotic quotes from the judge herself to celebrate the day of her birth.
1. “I think the important thing about my appointment is not that I will decide cases as a woman, but that I am a woman who will get to decide cases.”
2. “I’m a judge. It seemed to me that it was critical to try to take action to stem the criticism and help people understand that in the constitutional framework, it’s terribly important not to have a system of retaliation against decisions people don’t like.”
3. “It is a measure of the framers’ fear that a passing majority might find it expedient to compromise 4th Amendment values that these values were embodied in the Constitution itself.”
4. “It is difficult to discern a serious threat to religious liberty from a room of silent, thoughtful schoolchildren.”
5. “The power I exert on the court depends on the power of my arguments, not on my gender.”
6. “We pay a price when we deprive children of the exposure to the values, principles, and education they need to make them good citizens.”
7. “The framers of the Constitution were so clear in the federalist papers and elsewhere that they felt an independent judiciary was critical to the success of the nation.”
8. “Society as a whole benefits immeasurably from a climate in which all persons, regardless of race or gender, may have the opportunity to earn respect, responsibility, advancement and remuneration based on ability.”
9. “My concern was whether I could do the job of a justice well enough to convince the nation that my appointment was the right move.”
10. “The courts of this country should not be the places where resolution of disputes begins. They should be the places where the disputes end after alternative methods of resolving disputes have been considered and tried.”
It can be said that the girls of today do not have many good female role models to choose from. Fortunately, Sandra Day O’Connor is one that they do have. A successful woman in her own right, she is what ever little girl could ever hope to achieve. Let her wise words remind us of this and let’s celebrate her birthday with these ten patriotic quotes.