Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court

5 Tips For Raising Strong Daughters From Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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Justice Ginsburg

Justice Ginsburg

I know you love Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and I do too. She’s a thought leader, a brave role model, and has used her position and authority to make the world a better place. So what advice can you cull from RBG to raise strong daughters like this formidable justice?

Bill Murphy Jr. at Inc. has pulled together a listicle, taken from her recent interview with the New York Times and her autobiography, My Own Words (affiliate link), of advice to raise children modeled after Justice Ginsburg. So, which traits are the most useful for that all important task? Let’s take a look at Murphy’s top 5 lessons from Justice Ginsburg.

1. Read!
It’s no surprise that such an intellectual powerhouse values reading. As Murphy notes:

It’s important enough that it’s the first thing Ginsburg mentions in her article, and she credits her mother, who “by her example, made reading a delight.”

2. Be independent!
RBG blazed her own path. Going to law school — and kicking ass at it — was not really something women “did” back in the day. But Justice Ginsburg showed the world her own way:

Again, Ginsburg credits her mother for fostering this streak in her. It was her mother, she writes, who “counseled me constantly to ‘be independent,’ able to fend for myself, whatever fortune might have in store for me.”

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3. Seek great teachers!
Learn from the best to be the best:

Ginsburg cites two [great teachers]: a college professor and a law school professor. She credits the latter, Gerald Gunther at Columbia Law School, with helping her achieve her first big career break–a clerkship with a federal district judge.

4. Ignore the haters!
When you’re exceptional there will always be ugliness thrown your way. Ignore it.

The best advice she ever received, Ginsburg said, was from her new mother-in-law, who told her on her wedding day in 1954: “In every good marriage, it helps sometimes to be a little deaf.”

Sure, it helped in marriage, Ginsburg said, but added: “I have employed it as well in every workplace, including the Supreme Court. When a thoughtless or unkind word is spoken, best tune out. Reacting in anger or annoyance will not advance one’s ability to persuade.”

5. Don’t worry!
Bad things are going to happen, best not to let the downturns weigh you down.

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Ginsburg writes about some simple advice her father-in-law gave her at the time that inspired her: “Stop worrying, and find a way to manage.”

Read the rest of the tips to raise your kid like RBG here.

Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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