As for recently contentious decisions, such as the 5-4 decision that upheld the Affordable Care Act, and which found Justice Thomas in the minority, the conservative justice said there were no hard feelings among his colleagues.

“It would be enormously prideful and presumptuous of me to assume that I have the answer,” he said. “I have an opinion. I do not have the gospel. I give it my best shot, and that’s the way I approach the job.”

People do get upset and frustrated after hard decisions, he said, but he described the court as a collegial place, and said he is close with Justice Antonin Scalia in particular.

I really like his attitude to being in dissent. In contrast to Justices Stevens, Breyer, and Sotomayor.