Justice Stephen Breyer on being a justice: 'Don't let up,' and meditate

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer used a rare public appearance to reflect on his intellectual staying power and vigorous daily routine that sustains him on the job.

As the U.S. Supreme Court enters the final month of its term, and speculation swirls around his possible retirement, Justice Stephen Breyer on Friday used a rare public appearance to reflect on his intellectual staying power and a vigorous daily routine that sustains him on the bench. "I've learned that the best you can do is you do your best. The interest of this job is that you have to sort of put out your best all the time. The cases are interesting and difficult. They matter to people. Don't let up," Breyer said in conversation with Jeffrey Rosen, president of the National Constitution Center. "As you get older, you think that's a very big virtue, a very big virtue," Breyer added, "because what we have, all of us, whatever it is -- everybody has 'something,' and to be in a situation where you have to use that 'something,' really, you hope, for the benefit of other people, that is a privilege." Breyer, at 82, is the oldest jurist on the court and the most senior member of its liberal wing. He was not asked about and did not explicitly address his future on the court or the campaign by some liberal Democrats publicly pressuring him to retire.