America is hitting all kinds of major milestones this month.
Weeks after the U.S. Army celebrated its 250th anniversary, Justice Clarence Thomas officially turned 77 on Monday, commemorating another year of strong, originalist opinions while serving on the Supreme Court
To call Thomas’ life story remarkable would be an understatement. The future justice was raised by his grandparents in the rural South at the height of segregation. Despite having the odds stacked against him, he worked to overcome societal and personal struggles to ascend to the nation’s highest court, where he’s since authored a myriad of decisions upholding Americans’ constitutional freedoms.
So, in honor of his 77th birthday and service to the country, here are a few of the many great quotes from America’s most senior Supreme Court justice.
Standing for Truth
Speaking at a Heritage Foundation event several years ago, Thomas espoused the importance of standing up for the truth, even if you’re the only one doing so.
“You can be in the middle of a hurricane, or you can be on a calm day — north is still north. You could be in a thunderstorm — north is still north. People can yell at you — north is still north,” Thomas said. “It doesn’t change fundamental things. And in this business, right is still right, even if you stand by yourself.”
Overcoming the Odds
Anyone who’s read his autobiography My Grandfather’s Son knows the incredible impact Thomas’ grandfather had in raising him to become the man he is today. Characterizing him as “the greatest man [he has] ever known,” Thomas has often cited his grandfather’s remarks to encourage others to overcome adversity.
“You’re a little kid and you say you can’t do it. And he would just say over and over: ‘Old man can’t is dead, I helped bury him.’ And that wasn’t just him sitting down and explaining something to you. That was his reaction to your desire to quit. ‘You can’t quit.’ And he would say it,” Thomas once said.
Writing for the American People
While speaking during a 2018 interview at the Library of Congress, the George H.W. Bush appointee emphasized the importance of using language in his opinions that is accessible to the everyday American, as they have a right to understand how the Court is ruling on any given subject.
“One of the things I say … is that genius is not putting a … 10-cent idea in a $20 sentence. Genius is putting a $20 idea in a 10-cent sentence. It is to make it [as] accessible as possible to average people,” Thomas said. “I think we owe it to people.”
Rebuking the ‘Expert Class’
In the Supreme Court’s recent U.S. v. Skrmetti decision upholding prohibitions against “trans” surgeries on minors, Thomas authored a concurring opinion taking a sledgehammer to the so-called “expert class.”
“This case carries a simple lesson,” he wrote, “In politically contentious debates over matters shrouded in scientific uncertainty, courts should not assume that self-described experts are correct.”
Nuking Affirmative Action
In the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision deeming affirmative action in college admissions unconstitutional, Thomas authored a concurring opinion blasting the discriminatory nature of such policies. Among the many notable quotes authored by the justice was his assessment that more racial discrimination is not the answer to ending racism.
“Racialism simply cannot be undone by different or more racialism. Instead, the solution announced in the second founding is incorporated in our Constitution: that we are all equal, and should be treated equally before the law without regard to our race,” Thomas wrote. “Only that promise can allow us to look past our differing skin colors and identities and see each other for what we truly are: individuals with unique thoughts, perspectives, and goals, but with equal dignity and equal rights under the law.”
Zinging America’s Corrupt Media
Thomas participated in a sit-down interview in May 2022, weeks after the leak of the high court’s draft Dobbs opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. Coming after a wave of media-led attacks, the justice joked that he would step down from the Court once he performs his job as poorly as so-called “journalists.”
“One of the things I’d say in response to the media is when they talk about, especially early on, about the way I did my job, I said ‘I will absolutely leave the court when I do my job as poorly as you do yours’ — and that was meant as a compliment really,” joked Thomas, evoking laughter from the audience.
Exposing the Left’s Fake ‘Diversity’ Obsession
Thomas’ confirmation before the U.S. Senate more than three decades ago remains one of the most contentious in modern Supreme Court history. In his remarks before the upper chamber, the Georgia native held nothing back in blasting the process as a “circus” meant to discourage non-white Americans who don’t adhere to the left’s politics from serving their nation in government.
“This is a circus. It’s a national disgrace,” Thomas said. “And from my standpoint as a black American, as far as I’m concerned, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas, and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate, rather than hung from a tree.”
Embracing God’s Grace
While delivering a 2018 commencement address to Christendom College’s graduating class, the Supreme Court’s senior justice underscored the significance of keeping God at the forefront of our lives.
“To know, love, and serve God requires that we obey His commandments and the laws of the Church. This world will tug at you and attempt to divert you. Somehow, you must stay the course. God will provide a way, give you the strength and grace to endure and overcome your failures,” Thomas said.
Becoming Our Best Selves
Writing in My Grandfather’s Son, Thomas reflected on advice from his grandfather about the need to become the best versions of ourselves so that we can help others in need.
“I began to suspect that Daddy had been right all along: The only hope I had of changing the world was to change myself first,” Thomas wrote. “I thought of the many times that he and I had delivered fresh-picked farm produce to one of our elderly relatives. On such occasions he never failed to remind me that if we hadn’t worked so hard to grow it, we wouldn’t be able to give it to those who needed help.”
Important Life Lessons
While speaking at Hillsdale College’s 2016 commencement ceremony, Thomas encouraged graduates to “thank those who made it possible for you to come this far,” as they are the “people who have shown you how to sacrifice for those [you love], even when that sacrifice is not always appreciated.” He further implored them to take on small but impactful decisions that will “teach others how to be better people and better citizens.”
“Take the time to listen to that friend who’s having a difficult time. Do not hide your faith and your beliefs under a bushel basket, especially in this world that seems to have gone mad with political correctness. Treat others the way you would like to be treated if you stood in their shoes,” Thomas said. “These small lessons become the unplanned syllabus for becoming a good citizen, and your efforts to live them will help to form the fabric of a civil society and a free and prosperous nation where inherent equality and liberty are inviolable.”
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
