Ruth Bader Ginsburg Has Outlived Her Enemies

On Tuesday, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sat down to chat with NPR’s Nina Totenberg about a range of topics, like expanding the number of justices on the Supreme Court (she’s not into it), the notion of “judicial independence” (she says it’s real, but has she met the Heritage Foundation), and the aftermath of Bush v. Gore (“life went on,” she said).

Life is long, Ginsburg knows that, and it seems like she’s learned not to sweat some stuff. That apparently includes enemies who feel convinced her demise is imminent.

In response to Totenberg’s question about whether Ginsburg realizes just how many people lose their shit every time she gets a “cold or a hangnail,” Ginsburg told a story of how she’s outlived at least one nameless senator who was sure she would have croaked by now:

“There was a senator, I think it was after my pancreatic cancer, who announced, with great glee, that I was going to be dead within six months. That senator, whose name I have forgotten, is now dead himself, and I am very much alive.”

How does she manage to stay above it all? Ginsburg says she follows opera singer Marilyn Horne’s advice:

“And she said, ‘I will live,’ not that ‘I hope I live,’ or ‘I want to live,’ but ‘I will live.’”

So listen, repeat after me: I will watch my enemies crumble and forget all their faces. Say it to yourself in the mirror once a day, or as often as needed.