First Quotes

“Do not look back, do not regret, take life as it comes and make the most of it. That was Ada Mae’s way, and in time it would be her daughter’s way, too.”
― Evan Thomas, First: Sandra Day O'Connor

“O’CONNOR WAS THE most powerful Supreme Court justice of her time. For most of her twenty-four-plus years on the Court, from October 1981 to January 2006, she was the controlling vote on many of the great societal issues, including abortion, affirmative action, and religious freedom, so much so that the press came to call it the O’Connor Court.”
― Evan Thomas, First: Sandra Day O'Connor

“strength of our country. It is the relationship between ourselves and the generations which follow.”
― Evan Thomas, First: Sandra Day O'Connor

“The end of World War II was, Philip Roth wrote in American Pastoral, “the greatest moment of collective inebriation in history.”
― Evan Thomas, First: Sandra Day O'Connor

“She would walk away from fights she deemed unnecessary, while never shying away from the important ones. She knew when to tease, when to flatter, and when to punch the bully in the nose.”
― Evan Thomas, First: Sandra Day O'Connor

“I've never done a job that I didn't think was a stretch." -Sandra Day O'Connor”
― Evan Thomas, First: Sandra Day O'Connor

“Two days later, Sandra achingly wrote to her son Jay from Washington:”
― Evan Thomas, First: Sandra Day O'Connor

“one of the most important things to me is that my children and grandchildren are curious. Because, if you’re not curious, you’re not smart.”
― Evan Thomas, First: Sandra Day O'Connor

“She is an achieving woman without an edge. She is good-looking without being alienatingly beautiful and bright without being alarmingly intellectual,' wrote McGrory.”
― Evan Thomas, First: Sandra Day O'Connor

“Sandra was the product of a world in which Mexicans and Anglos routinely mixed, in part because every Anglo family in El Paso that could afford one had a Mexican housekeeper. Sandra could be a demanding boss; she expected the household helpers to keep up with her rapid-fire schedule, and a few quit or were let go. At the same time, she never raised her voice, and she invited the help to join the family for dinner. When one of the maids became pregnant, she made sure the mother and child were well cared for.”
― Evan Thomas, First: Sandra Day O'Connor

“During the Court’s first oral argument, Scalia asked so many questions that Powell turned to Thurgood Marshall, who sat beside him on the bench, and whispered, “Do you think he knows the rest of us are here?”
― Evan Thomas, First: Sandra Day O'Connor

“wandering off to bars. “I”
― Evan Thomas, First: Sandra Day O'Connor