I owe a debt of gratitude to two other living Justices. Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg paved the way for me and so many other women in my generation. Their pioneering lives have created boundless possibilities for women in the law. I thank them for their inspiration and also for the personal kindnesses they have shown me.
Interpretation
This quote expresses gratitude to two influential women for their contributions to women's rights in the legal field.
Elena Kagan acknowledges the significant impact that Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg have had on her career and the opportunities available to women in law. Their pioneering work has opened doors and inspired many, and Kagan highlights both their professional achievements and their personal kindnesses.
In practice
In a speech about women's rights, one might quote Kagan to highlight the importance of role models.
To have the opportunity to lead the Solicitor General's office is the honor of a lifetime. As you know, this is an office with a long and rich tradition, not only of extraordinary legal skill but also of extraordinary professionalism and integrity. That is due, in large measure, to the people who have led it.
American radicals cannot afford to become their own worst enemies. In unity lies their only hope.
When the Senate ceases to engage nominees in meaningful discussion of legal issues, the confirmation process takes on an air of vacuity and farce, and the Senate becomes incapable of evaluating nominees or appropriately educating the public.
I think that if there are positions that you can't argue... then the responsibility is probably to resign. If one's own conscience is opposed to the requirements and responsibilities of the job, then it's time to leave the job.
If there is an ‘overabundance’ of an idea in the absence of direct governmental action - which there well might be when compared with some ideal state of public debate - then action disfavoring that idea might ‘un-skew,’ rather than skew, public discourse.
It's not that there are no masters, but that there are many. And the job of the solicitor general is to balance those masters and to accommodate them all, each in their proper places, wisely and well and in so doing to represent the people of the United States.
Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.
At the beginning of the troubles of Saint Domingo, I felt that I was destined to great things. When I received this divine intimation, I was four and fifty years of age; I could neither read nor write.
Oh the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!
Be inspired with the belief that life is a great and noble calling; not a mean and groveling thing that we are to shuffle through as we can, but an elevated and lofty destiny.
It is important to remember that we all have magic inside us.
It's great to know that young black girls are seeing themselves on TV as leading ladies, and I'm part of that. It's just such an honor.
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