25 Clarence Thomas Quotes for You to Enjoy

Clarence Thomas

American Judge

Born: Jun 23, 1948

Black Had Life People Think You

Related authors: John Roberts Louis D. Brandeis Maryanne Trump Barry Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Ruth Bader Ginsburg Sonia Sotomayor Thurgood Marshall

I'd grown up fearing the lynch mobs of the Ku Klux Klan; as an adult I was starting to wonder if I'd been afraid of the wrong white people all along - where I was being pursued not by bigots in white robes, but by left-wing zealots draped in flowing sanctimony. Clarence Thomas

I don't believe in quotas. America was founded on a philosophy of individual rights, not group rights. Clarence Thomas

Rights Group Believe Philosophy Individual Individual Rights America Founded

You have a number of choices. You could continue to always fight against people who are really distractions. They're people in the cheap seats of life. Or you can do what you went there to do. Clarence Thomas

Life You Fight People Distractions Could Cheap Always Continue Against Really Choices Who Seats Number

I have to admit that I'm one of those people that thinks the dishwasher is a miracle. Clarence Thomas

People Those Admit Miracle Dishwasher Thinks

Even as someone who's labeled a conservative - I'm a Republican I'm black, I'm heading up this organization in the Reagan administration - I can say that conservatives don't exactly break their necks to tell blacks that they're welcome. Clarence Thomas

Welcome Conservative Organization Black Conservatives Say Tell Administration Exactly Someone Blacks Heading Reagan Labeled Up Break Republican Even Necks

And I thank God I believe in God, or I would probably be enormously angry right now. Clarence Thomas

God Angry Thank God Believe Would Thank Now Right

There's a difference between someone who's 'harsh' and someone who is 'hard.' Life was hard. You lived in the South, as my grandparents did, and you had to survive. That is hard. In order to respond to that, he had to become a hard man, with very hard rules, very hard discipline for himself, very hard days, hard work, et cetera. Clarence Thomas

Life Work Hard Work You Man Discipline Become Harsh Rules Respond Someone Had He Between Days Himself South Very Survive Did Difference Order To Survive Grandparents Hard Hard Life Who Lived

And I don't think that government has a role in telling people how to live their lives. Maybe a minister does, maybe your belief in God does, maybe there's another set of moral codes, but I don't think government has a role. Clarence Thomas

God Government People Live Think Telling Minister Moral Another Does How Role Maybe Your Belief Codes Lives Set

My job is to write opinions. I decide cases and write opinions. It is not to respond to idiocy and critics who make statements that are unfounded. That doesn't mean that people shouldn't have constructive criticisms, but it should be constructive. Clarence Thomas

People Job Statements Respond Criticisms Critics Cases Constructive Write Make Idiocy Opinions Decide Mean Should Who

My grandfather was a man, when he talked about freedom, his attitude was really interesting. His view was that you had obligations or you had responsibilities, and when you fulfilled those obligations or responsibilities, that then gave you the liberty to do other things. Clarence Thomas

You didn't think of angels as white or black. They were angels. Clarence Thomas

You Black White Think Angels Were

When I went into the seminary, I was one of those victims of New Math and had not had Algebra I and had no idea what we were doing in New Math in the ninth grade. But when I went into the seminary, they had gone the traditional route and taught first-year algebra. Clarence Thomas

Gone Algebra Those Ninth No Idea Had Idea New Doing Traditional Were Math Seminary Grade Taught Victims Route

I think segregation is bad, I think it's wrong, it's immoral. I'd fight against it with every breath in my body, but you don't need to sit next to a white person to learn how to read and write. The NAACP needs to say that. Clarence Thomas

I don't know one of my friends who is considered a conservative who has not had to go back and thoroughly think through everything. You do a lot of soul-searching - 'cause we are not going to win any popularity contests. Clarence Thomas

When you look at where the real problems are among minorities in our society, particularly blacks, it's at the bottom. It's the people who are in school systems that don't educate, neighborhoods where there is a lot of crime, drugs, the whole bit. Clarence Thomas

You People School Problems Crime Society Our Bit Neighborhoods Systems Minorities Blacks Bottom Look Particularly Real Educate Lot Real Problems Where Who Whole Among

I certainly have some very strong libertarian leanings, yes. Clarence Thomas

Strong Libertarian Some Yes Very Certainly

I still have a 15¢ sticker on the frame of my law degree. It's tainted, so I just leave it in the basement. Clarence Thomas

Law Degree Frame Tainted Sticker Still Leave Just Basement

The myths that are created about the South, about the way we grew up, about black people, are wrong. Clarence Thomas

People Black Way About Myths Wrong South Up Grew Created

Unfortunately, the reality was that, for political reasons or whatever, there was a need to enforce antidiscrimination laws, or at least there was a perceived need to do that. Clarence Thomas

Reality Political Whatever Perceived Laws Least Unfortunately Enforce Reasons Need

I tend to really be partial to Ayn Rand, and to The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Clarence Thomas

Rand Atlas Tend Partial Really

I'd been very partial to Malcolm X, particularly his self-help teachings. Clarence Thomas

Partial Particularly Self-Help Malcolm Malcolm X Been His Very Teachings

I do think that our freedoms are at risk. Clarence Thomas

Think Our Risk Freedoms

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