Work Hard, Be Humble

Sandra Day O'Conner, from Texas, was the first woman ever to serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She served courageously during her tenure and provided an independent voice on the US Supreme Court for 24 years from her appointment in 1981 by Ronald Reagan until her retirement in 2006. In August 12, 2009, President Obama presented Justice O’Connor the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. By all accounts, she was a pioneer and one of the most influential women of the 20th century.

In 2005 after she announced her retirement, Justice O'Connor read one of her favorite poems when she was speaking at a judicial conference in Spokane, Washington.

"There Is No Indispensable Man" 

by Saxon N. White Kessinger, Copyright 1959

Sometime when you're feeling important;

Sometime when your ego's in bloom 

Sometime when you take it for granted 

You're the best qualified in the room,

Sometime when you feel that your going 

Would leave an unfillable hole, 

Just follow these simple instructions 

And see how they humble your soul;

Take a bucket and fill it with water, 

Put your hand in it up to the wrist, 

Pull it out and the hole that's remaining 

Is a measure of how you will be missed.

You can splash all you wish when you enter, 

You may stir up the water galore, 

But stop and you'll find that in no time 

It looks quite the same as before.

The moral of this quaint example 

Is do just the best that you can, 

Be proud of yourself but remember, 

There's no indispensable man.

Stay real, Work hard, Be humble.