25+ Ruth Bader Ginsburg Quotes on Equality, Change & the Rule of Law

The Notorious RBG was a great advocate of women's rights, gender equality, and social justice. While she recently passed away, her memory lives on through the progress she helped bring about for all of us. Here are the best Ruth Bader Ginsburg quotes and RBG wisdom tidbits to know.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a hero to multiple generations of US citizens and people from around the world, passed away on September 18, 2020.

As the second woman ever to serve on the United States Supreme Court, she fought long and hard over several decades to win many important victories for feminism, women’s rights, and equality, among myriad other causes.

While the “Notorious RBG,” as her fans call her, may have passed on, her wisdom lives on.


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Here are some of the best quotes from Ruth Bader Ginsburg:

As women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what women can do, as women see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we’ll all be better off for it.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Don’t be distracted by emotions like anger, envy, resentment. These just zap energy and waste time.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

When contemplated in its extreme, almost any power looks dangerous.

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

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

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Related Read: 25 Inspiring Quotes and Business Tips from Successful Female Entrepreneurs

Reacting in anger or annoyance will not advance one’s ability to persuade.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

When I’m sometimes asked when will there be enough [women judges on the US Supreme Court bench] and I say, ‘When there are nine,’ people are shocked. But there’d been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

You can’t have it all, all at once.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Related Read: 21+ Internship Quotes: The Best Quotes About Interns for 2021 & Beyond

When a thoughtless or unkind word is spoken, best tune out.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.

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 and gradually over time their views become the dominant view.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I’m a very strong believer in listening and learning from others.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I pray that I may be all that [my mother] would have been had she lived in an age when women could aspire and achieve and daughters are cherished as much as sons.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Related Read: 55+ Teamwork Quotes That Celebrate & Inspire Collaboration

Reading is the key that opens doors to many good things in life. Reading shaped my dreams, and more reading helped me make my dreams come true.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

So often in life, things that you regard as an impediment turn out to be great, good fortune.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

[I would like to be remembered as] someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of her ability. And to help repair tears in her society, to make things a little better through the use of whatever ability she has.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Related Read: 111+ Best Leadership Quotes: Great Sayings by the World’s Top Leaders

Each part of my life provided respite from the other and gave me a sense of proportion that classmates trained only on law studies lacked.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

If you want to be a true professional, do something outside yourself.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

You can disagree without being disagreeable.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I just try to do the good job that I have to the best of my ability and I really don’t think about whether I’m inspirational. I just do the best I can.

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

Related Read: 51+ Work-Life Balance Quotes to Know for Happiness & Success

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

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

In every good marriage, it helps sometimes to be a little deaf.

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

In the course of a marriage, one accommodates the other.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Women will have achieved true equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Related Read: 50+ Best Education Quotes & Inspirational Sayings About Learning

That’s all the Ruth Bader Ginsburg quotes we have for you now, and we hope they’ll inspire you as they have millions around the world. Got any questions, feedback, or other inspirational quotes from RBG to add to our list? Let us know in the comments below, and thanks for reading!

RIP, Queen.

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Christian Eilers
Written By Christian Eilers
is a writer and expert on the topics of education, entrepreneurship, career advice, travel, and culture. On the Goodwall Blog, he covers topics including self-improvement, social impact, college preparation, career development, climate action, and more. Christian is originally from New York City and now resides in Kyiv, Ukraine after living in Warsaw, Poland for the past 4 years. At his desk, you're sure to find Pickwick, his Devon Rex cat, either attacking his fingers as he types or the monitor as the mouse pointer moves around.

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