“When I think of Lewis, I think of conscience and intellect. He was part conscience and part intellect and he had the best of both. He will be remembered as a quiet, soft-spoken leader of other people. He didn’t throw his weight around--ever. He didn’t have to, because people listened to him.”

“Lewis Powell is, above all, humane. … He has a capacity to empathize, to respond to the plight of a single human being. … His very soul will wrestle with every case until he can live in peace with a decision that embodies a sense of decency and fair play and common sense. In that court of last resort to which I and my people so frequently must turn as the sole forum in which to petition our government for a redress of grievances, it is that quality of humanity on which we must ultimately pin our hopes.”

Sandra Day O’Connor, first woman justice of the Supreme Court:

“O’Connor recounted that no one more than Powell had helped her find her footing when she came to the court, no one had talked with her more, no one had made her feel more welcome. ‘His door was always open,’ O’Connor said. … O’Connor also cheerfully recalled that besides having on of the most acute minds on the court, Powell was a skillful dancer and that he had danced with her. When O’Connor came to Richmond to speak to the bar association, she said, Powell introduced her, explaining that on his tombstone would be the words, ‘First Supreme Court justice to dance with another justice.’”

Joel Klein, lawyer and one of Justice Powell’s assistants at the Supreme Court:

“Justice Powell is for me a hero. He has so much respect for other people and the way they relate. … My sense of the man is he works hard to apply the judicial process thoughtfully. … He is less a man of doctrine and more a man who applies the law to the facts of the case.”

John Jeffries, lawyer and author of a biography of Lewis Powell:

“Powell was a conscientious judge. He made the effort to keep an open mind and worked hard to ensure that he was well informed. He gave careful and sincere consideration to the arguments on both sides. As a person and as a judge, Powell was a good listener.”

Nina Totenberg, reporter for National Public Radio who covers the Supreme Court:

“[H]e treats everybody with such kindness. … It’s more than courtliness--it’s not simply a polite manner. It is a genuine concern, a genuine niceness, a genuine decency that comes through as a human being.”

Douglas L. Wilder, first African American governor (Virginia) of the United States:

“I consider him one of the giants. He transformed the community and the Commonwealth as well as the country into the forefront of advanced thoughts. He was a friend as well as an inspiration.”

Lewis F. Powell, III, son:

“He never lost sight of how lucky he was to be married to my mother. Her death in July 1996 marked the turning point in his twilight years. … We feared Dad was so wounded he would soon follow. But this man who knew so much never learned how to quit.”