I would not like to be the only woman on the court. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

The pedestal upon which women have been placed has all too often, upon closer inspection, been revealed as a cage. — Irin Carmon

The state controlling a woman would mean denying her full autonomy and full equality. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

In the ’50s, too many women, even though they were very smart, they tried to make the man feel that he was brainier. It was a sad thing. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I do think that being the second [female Supreme Court Justice] is wonderful, because it is a sign that being a woman in a place of importance is no longer extraordinary. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Our goal in the ’70s was to end the closed door era. There were so many things that were off limits to women: policing, firefighting, mining, piloting planes. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Women will only have true equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Adult women are able to make decisions about their own lives’ course no less than men are. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Contraceptive protection is something every woman must have access to, to control her own destiny. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I don’t say women’s rights–I say the constitutional principle of the equal citizenship stature of men and women. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

When I graduated from law school in 1959, there wasn’t a single woman on any federal bench. It wouldn’t be a realistic ambition for a woman to want to become a federal judge. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Every constitution written since the end of World War II includes a provision that men and women are citizens of equal stature. Ours does not. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

A gender line… helps to keep women not on a pedestal, but in a cage. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Yet, as the numbers reveal, women in law, even today, are not entering a bias–free profession. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I try to teach through my opinions, through my speeches, how wrong it is to judge people on the basis of what they look like, color of their skin, whether they’re men or women. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Be independent and be a lady. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I think daughters can change the perception of their fathers. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time. — Irin Carmon

If you’re going to change things, you have to be with the people who hold the levers. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I didn’t change the Constitution; the equality principle was there from the start. I just was an advocate for seeing its full realization. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I think the side that wants to take the choice away from women and give it to the state, they’re fighting a losing battle. Time is on the side of change.’ Interview with The New York Times in 2009. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

But we’re not, at least i was not 100% sober. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I’m not very good at promotion. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Dissents speak to a future age. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I really concentrate on what’s on my plate at the moment and do the very best I can. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I would not look to the United States Constitution if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

A constitution, as important as it is, will mean nothing unless the people are yearning for liberty and freedom. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Collegiality is crucial to the success of our mission. We could not do the job the Constitution assigns to us if we didn’t–to use one of Justice Antonin Scalia’s favorite expressions–’Get over it!’ — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

A prime part of the history of our Constitution is the story of the extension of constitutional rights to people once ignored or excluded. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

We have the oldest written constitution still in force in the world, and it starts out with three words, ‘We, the people.’ — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

You can’t set term limits, because to do that You’d have to amend the constitution, article 3 says… we hold our offices during good behavior. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I would lIke to see a new begInnIng. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I thought ‘Heller’ was a very bad decision. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I became a lawyer for selfish reasons. I thought I could do a lawyer’s job better than any other. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

No one ever thought sexual harassment was encompassed by discrimination on the basis of sex back in’ 64. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Spent no time fretting, and found a way to do what I thought important to get done. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Marty was an extraordinary person. Of all the boys I had dated, he was the only one who really cared that I had a brain. And he was always–well, making me feel that I was better than I thought I was. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

If you have a caring life partner, you help the other person when that person needs it. I had a life partner who thought my work was as important as his, and I think that made all the difference for me. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Legislators know much more about elections than the Court does. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I get very little sleep when the court is sitting. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Dissents speak to a future age. It’s not simply to say, ‘my colleagues are wrong and I would do it this way,’ but the greatest dissents do become court opinions. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I thInk It’s a conversatIon that we need to have. I am open to IncreasIng the numbers on the supreme court. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

As De Tocqueville said, sooner or later in the United States, every controversy ends up in court. I think that’s a great–says great things about our judicial system. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

My rule was I will not answer a question that attempts to project how I will rule in a case that might come before the court. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

In most civil law systems there are no dissents. There is a single opinion for the court: it is unanimous; it is highly stylized; you can’t tell which judge wrote it. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg