I always say that when I see that needle start to go in the other direction, when people have had enough of me, I'm going to be smart enough to say goodbye. It's such a joyous ride to be on top, and it takes away from that ride if you sort of ride it down.
— Judy Sheindlin
I've had an absolutely magical run.
Don't try to teach a pig to sing. It doesn't work, and it annoys the pig.
Teach your daughters, teach your granddaughters, everybody has to have something that they're good at where they can earn a living.
I deal with conflicts that irritate people and give them stress, like the dispute over a car payment. I can resolve those cases in a moment.
When states and cities and our country say we're going to tax the rich - and that word 'rich' or 'wealthy' doesn't sound like it comes from success of hard work, but from something negative - I resent it.
I think the fundamentals of America are strong.
Women watch and say, 'I like watching you control your own space. It's motivated me to do better, to go back to college, to even try law school. My daughter's been watching you since she's 10 - I love the fact that she's watching a strong woman who's in control.' All of those things are good, positive things.
I was a grown-up when 'celebrity' happened. So I knew exactly what it was like to be in line at a restaurant and watch someone famous walk in and get a table immediately. I knew I didn't like that; I don't want to make somebody else feel the way I felt.
Never let anyone or anything define your value or limit your dream.
A combination of tenacity and luck brought me here today.
Working parents bring a certain amount of guilt to their relationship with their children.
I'm not sure whether it's going to be the downfall of Rome - social media. There are too many secrets.
I knew that if I worked hard, I could have both - I could have a family, because that was important to me, and I could have a career.
I still think an Egg McMuffin is the best breakfast.
I left family court for the vagaries of TV and said to myself, 'Judy, what the hell are you thinking?' It seems like only yesterday.
Not everything has to be a money-making operation. You do things sometimes because it makes you feel good.
They will find somebody younger, somebody funnier, somebody more engaged. As long as the court genre is viable, people are going to be looking for someone to knock me off of my perch.
Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining.
Women make a terrible mistake because they usually are so desperate to nest that they pick on schlubs and worthless pieces of trash that they pick up in a bar.
I'm an entertainer, and I'm paid as an entertainer.
I resent it when any part of the government refers to people who have money in the pejorative.
A period of detention in a chilly upstate facility can be a great attitude adjuster.
It's nice to leave on top.
Cameras should be the norm everywhere. It should be in every courtroom so that the proceedings are taken down and recorded just like stenography.
Number one - and I want you to emblaze this on your brain - you only have one chance to make a first impression.
Nothing in my early childhood suggested to anyone - except maybe my father - that one day I would be standing here and be known simply as Judge Judy.
Remember, a Trojan is more than a horse.
Because of the world we live in, we lock the doors in our house when we go to sleep. If you live in an apartment, if you can, you get a building that has a doorman or security.
I still love working. I still love being in the mix of things.
I want first-time offenders to think of their appearance in my courtroom as the second-worst experience of their lives - circumcision being the first.
I never don't have a good time. Even when I go to work with a cold or a sore throat, as soon as I hit the mark and walk out that door, everything else is gone, and I'm up.
If you can share with the people who've been good to you, do it.
Uh' is not an answer.
What keeps me going is those cases, maybe ten a year, where I can make a difference.
My viewers are smart. They know I have a contract with a TV show and that I make a lot of money.
I eat liars for breakfast.
This country has a wonderful spirit.
Who is interested in that? Who is interested in the warm and fuzzy? There's enough warm and fuzzy on television.
I don't know where, or by whom, Judge Wapner was raised, but my parents taught me, when you don't have something nice to say about someone, say nothing.
People in the U.S. pay a great deal of money to support their judiciary, and they have an actual right to see how it functions.
You don't teach morals and ethics and empathy and kindness in the schools. You teach that at home, and children learn by example.
I was an unremarkable student with passable looks and a direct personality.
So we want to free the women of America? You know what would free the women of America? Make men accept responsibility for birth control.
You lock your windows before you leave. You put on an alarm if you live in the country because you know that there are bad people out there. Well, in this Internet age, you know that there are bad people out there. And no matter what you do, those bad people are going to get into your house.
I exercise, and I eat reasonably, and I don't want to look at myself being out of shape. That would depress me.
I can't stand stupid, and I can't stand slow.
