Ruth Bader Ginsburg was just barely five feet tall, but she was a giant in the world of women’s rights. Rejected by fourteen law firms after she graduated top in her classes from Harvard and Columbia Universities in the 1950s, Ginsburg’s unbending resolve to smash glass ceilings was driven by first-hand experience. It was no small battle, but Ginsburg had grit: as a lawyer for the Women’s Right Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), she argued six landmark gender equality cases before the Supreme Court and won five of them. Her efforts ensured that that the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment expanded to include women.

 Due to her work at the ACLU, in 1980 President Jimmy Carter appointed her as a judge to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Over her thirteen years on the bench, Justice Ginsburg earned a reputation as a consensus builder and a moderate. In 1993, President Bill Clinton nominated her to serve as the second woman on the US Supreme Court. During her twenty-seven years as a justice on the Supreme Court, she continued to advance equality including authoring the court’s opinion in the United States vs. Virginia, which struck down the Virginia Military Institute’s male-only admission policy. Later in her career, she was known for her passionate dissents and became a cultural icon as the “Notorious RBG.” Unfortunately, she passed away on September 20, 2020.

I researched Justice Ginsberg for my book Grow Your Grit which is available to order on Amazon here. Here are five quotes from her that didn’t make the book:

• 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.

• Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn't be that women are the exception.

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

• The words of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause—’nor shall any state deny to any person the equal protection of the laws.’ Well that word, ‘any person,’ covers women as well as men. And the Supreme Court woke up to that reality in 1971.

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

Go on the offense in 2021 and use the quotes from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg to inspire you.