I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences.
Sonia SotomayorRead
When everyone at school is speaking one language, and a lot of your classmates' parents also speak it, and you go home and see that your community is different -there is a sense of shame attached to that. It really takes growing up to treasure the specialness of being different.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Embracing one's differences can be challenging, but it becomes valuable with maturity.
Sonia Sotomayor highlights the struggle of feeling ashamed of one's cultural background in a predominantly uniform environment. As one matures, the uniqueness of their identity transforms into a treasure rather than a source of shame, illustrating the importance of embracing diversity in a multicultural society.
Themes
DiversityIdentityShameAcceptanceGrowth
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on cultural understanding at a community event.
More from Sonia Sotomayor
All quotes →This wealth of experiences, personal and professional, have helped me appreciate the variety of perspectives that present themselves in every case that I hear.
Sonia SotomayorRead
I was fifteen years old when I understood how it is that things break down: people can't imagine someone else's point of view.
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The truth is that since childhood I had cultivated an existential independence. It came from perceiving the adults around me as unreliable, and without it I felt I wouldn't have survived. I cared deeply for everyone in my family, but in the end I depended on myself.
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As you discover what strength you can draw from your community in this world from which it stands apart, look outward as well as inward. Build bridges instead of walls.
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There are uses to adversity, and they don't reveal themselves until tested. Whether it's serious illness, financial hardship, or the simple constraint of parents who speak limited English, difficulty can tap unexpected strengths.
Sonia SotomayorRead
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