My Beloved World Quotes

“. . . But experience has taught me that you cannot value dreams according to the odds of their coming true. Their real value is in stirring within us the will to aspire. That will, wherever it finally leads, does at least move you forward. And after a time you may recognize that the proper measure of success is not how much you've closed the distance to some far-off goal but the quality of what you've done today.”
― Sonia Sodamayor, My Beloved World

“Although wisdom is built on life experiences, the mere accumulation of years guarantees nothing.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“Good people can do bad things, make bad decisions. It doesn't make them bad people.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“I have come to believe that in order to thrive, a child must have at least one adult in her life who shows her unconditional love, respect, and confidence.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“People who live in difficult circumstances need to know that happy endings are possible. Page 1.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“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.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“Quiet pragmatism, of course, lacks the romance of vocal militancy. But I felt myself more a mediator than a crusader. My strengths were reasoning, crafting compromises, finding the good and the good faith on both sides of an argument, and using that to build a bridge. Always, my first question was, what's the goal? And then, who must be persuaded if it is to be accomplished? A respectful dialogue with one's opponent almost invariably goes further than a harangue outside his or her window. If you want to change someone's mind, you must understand what need shapes his or her opinion. To prevail, you must first listen.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“One thing has not changed: to doubt the worth of minority students' achievement when they succeed is really only to present another face of the prejudice that would deny them a chance to even try. It is the same prejudice that insists all those destined for success must be cast from the same mold as those who have succeeded before them, a view that experience has already proven a fallacy.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“...you cannot value dreams according to the odds of their coming true. The real value is in stirring within us the will to aspire.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“... a surplus of effort could overcome a deficit of confidence. Page 115”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“If you held to principle so passionately, so inflexibly, indifferent in the particulars of circumstance - the full range of what human beings, with all their flaws and foibles, might endure or create - if you enthroned principle above even reason, weren't you then abdicating the responsibilities of a thinking person?”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“Sometimes, even if there was no useful advice to give, I saw that listening still helped.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“You can't say: This much love is worth this much misery. They're not opposites that cancel each other out; they're both true at the same time.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“Dressing badly has been a refuge much of my life, a way of compelling others to engage with my mind, not my physical presence. Page. 283”
― Sonia Sotomayor , My Beloved World

“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 unsuspected strengths. It doesn’t always, of course: I’ve seen life beat people down until they can’t get up. But I have never had to face anything that could overwhelm the native optimism and stubborn perseverance I was blessed with.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“I felt like everyones second choice, which is why a compliment could catch me off guard. Page 106”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“I would warn any minority student today against the temptations of self-segregation: take support and comfort from your own group as you can, but don’t hide within it.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“Many of the gaps in my knowledge and understanding were simply limits of class and cultural background, not lack of aptitude or application as I feared. Page 135”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“I war running back to the house in Mayaguez with a melting ice cone we called a piraqua running sweet and sticky down my face and arms, the sun in my eyes, breaking through clouds and glinting off the rain-soaked pavement and dripping leaves. I was running with joy, an overwhelming joy that arose simply from gratitude for the fact of being alive. Along with the image, memory carried these words from a child's mind through time: I am blessed. In this life I am truly blessed.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“There is indeed something deeply wrong with a person who lacks principles, who has no moral core. There are, likewise, certainly values that brook no compromise, and I would count among them integrity, fairness, and the avoidance of cruelty. But I have never accepted the argument that principle is compromised by judging each situation on its own merits, with due appreciation of the idiosyncrasy of human motivation and fallibility.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“I will be judged as a human being by what readers find here. There are hazards to openness, but they seem minor compared with the possibility that some readers may find comfort, perhaps even inspiration, from a close examination of how an ordinary person, with strengths and weaknesses like anyone else, has managed an extraordinary journey.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“Looking out at that crowd, I imagined those who had not yet arrived, minority students who, in years to come, would make this multitude of faces, the view from where I now stood, a little more various. If they could have heard me, I would have confided in them: 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.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“I think that even someone who got into an institution through affirmative action could prove they were qualified by what they accomplished there. Page 188”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“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.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“There are no bystanders in life [...] Our humanity makes us each a part of something greater than ourselves.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“The persistence or failure of human relationships cannot be predicted by any set of objective or universal criteria. We are all limited, highly imperfect beings, worthy in some dimensions, deficient in others, and if we would understand how any of our connections survive, we would do well to look first to what is good in each of us.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“In my experience when a friend unloaded about a boyfriend or spouse, the listener soaked up the complaint and remembered it long after the speaker had forgiven the offense.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“Yo tenia quince anos cuando comprendi por que fracasaban las cosas: las personas no podian imaginar el punto de vista de los demas.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“I couldn’t even tell if I had any sadness of my own, because I was so full of Abuelita’s sadness.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

“Sometimes, idealistic people are put off the whole business of networking as something tainted by flattery and the pursuit of selfish advantage. But virtue in obscurity is rewarded only in heaven. To succeed in this world, you have to be known to people.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World