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Summary
This is the collection of speeches and essays of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG), who was an American lawyer and jurist who passed away recently. She did her education at Cornell University, Harvard University, and Columbia University before beginning her career as a lawyer.



RBG was a Wonder Woman that every man wishes to have as their wife. When her husband was diagnosed with a severe medical condition, the way RBG took charge of the situation was really praiseworthy. She attended class and took notes for both of them, typing her husband's dictated papers and looking after their daughter. She also looked after her sick husband and was there to meet his every need.

The Couple of speeches given by her husband, Marty Ginsburg, about his wife were very humorous, intriguing, and insightful. It clearly shows their love for each other.

What I learned from this book
1) Advice given to RBG by her mother-in-law, father-in-law and her mother
RBG says that she followed the advice given by her mother-in-law during her wedding day throughout her fifty-six years of marriage life.

"Yes, I have the advice to share with you. It comes from my savvy mother-in-law, the advice she gave me on my wedding day. "In every good marriage," she counseled, "it helps sometimes to be a little deaf." I have followed that advice assiduously, and not only at home through fifty-six years of a marital partnership nonpareil. I have employed it as well in every workplace, including the Supreme Court of the United States. When a thoughtless or unkind word is spoken, best tune out. Reacting in anger or annoyance will not advance one's ability to persuade."

When RBG was worried and confused about starting law school with an infant to care for her father-in-law came with timely advice, which proved very helpful in her career.

"Ruth, if you don't want to start law school, you have a good reason to resist the undertaking. No one will think less of you if you make that choice. But if you really want to study Law, you will stop worrying and find a way to manage child and school."

RBG's mother was very particular about her daughter doing well in school and living up to her full potential. She also mentions about two crucial pieces of advice her mother gave her.

"Two things were important to her, and she repeated them endlessly. One was to 'be a lady,' and that meant conduct yourself civilly, don't let emotions like anger or envy get in your way. And the other was to be independent, which was an unusual message for mothers of that time to be giving their daughters."

2) How women can change our society?
RBG knew what she had to do and how she had to do it. She knew how exactly society sees women. She was ready to make an effort to remove the unwanted practices and to motivate the other women.

"For both men and women the first step in getting power is to become visible to others, and then to put on an impressive show. . . . 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."

3) The most important task of the judiciary

RBG was so much influenced by what Lady Brenda Hale, the first woman on the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, said in a 2003 speech. RBG mentioned it multiple times in her several speeches to various audiences. This shows RBG never had any ego in acknowledging anything great told by others and sharing that with the others

"One of the most important tasks of the judiciary is to protect the individual from the power of the state. This includes protecting minorities, often unpopular minorities, from the wrath of the majority. . . . If [the judge] were to have to submit [herself] periodically to election, [she] would find this harder to do.
I concur in that judgment. ��

My favourite three lines from this book

"Feminism �� I think the simplest explanation, and one that captures the idea, is a song that Marlo Thomas sang, 'Free to be You and Me.' Free to be, if you were a girl—doctor, lawyer, Indian chief. Anything you want to be. And if you're a boy, and you like teaching, you like nursing, you would like to have a doll, that's OK too. That notion that we should each be free to develop our own talents, whatever they may be, and not be held back by artificial barriers—manmade barriers, certainly not heaven-sent."

“The greatest menace to freedom is an inert people; that public discussion is a political duty; and that this should be a fundamental principle of the American government. ��

"At Cornell University, professor of European literature Vladimir Nabokov changed the way I read and the way I write. Words could paint pictures, I learned from him. Choosing the right word, and the right word order, he illustrated, could make an enormous difference in conveying an image or an idea."

What I didn’t like in this book
Some of her ideas (especially in some of her speeches) were repeated in different parts of this book. It should have been edited in a better way.

Rating
4/5 This book is trying to portray most of the important phases of RBG's life like her childhood, her marital life, her passion for literature, her stand on gender equality, race and other sex discrimination, her nomination acceptance speech, and her opening statement at the Senate Confirmation Hearing. I have both the physical and the audiobook versions of this book. Even though I prefer physical books to audiobooks, I will suggest you go for the audiobook version of this if possible, as it contains many of her original speeches along with audience responses to her witty remarks. This is a must-read book for anyone who has selected Law as their career or anyone who wants to be a good administrator and a good family person.