Ruth Bader Ginsburg: I'm 'alive and on my way to being very well'

close

Video

Ruth Bader Ginsburg addresses her health at the Library of Congress National Book Festival

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says her work on the Supreme Court has kept her going by distracting her from her aches and pains from cancer treatment.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg made a much-anticipated appearance at the National Book Festival on Saturday, and she was not short on humor.

“As this audience can see I am alive… and I’m on my way to being very well,” she said at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., much to the audience’s delight.

Ginsburg, 86, recently completed three weeks of radiation therapy at a New York City hospital to treat a malignant tumor on her pancreas. The Supreme Court said last week there’s no evidence the disease remains.

At the National Book Festival, Ginsburg discussed her career, as well as what keeps her motivated.

"For one thing, I love my job,” she told the audience. "It's the best and the hardest job I've ever had. [It] keeps me going.”

Rather than concentrate on her “aches and pains,” Ginsburg said, she concentrates “on the court's work," which has kept her going through four bouts with cancer.

RUTH BADER GINSBURG TREATED FOR MALIGNANT TUMOR ON PANCREAS, SUPREME COURT SAYS

Ginsburg even shared her marriage advice, saying she got a call from singer Jennifer Lopez to meet her and Alex Rodriguez.

Lopez asked what her secrets were to a happy marriage, Ginsburg said.

“My mother-in-law took me aside and she responded telling me it helps sometimes to be a little deaf,” she said.

Ginsburg was introduced by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who posted a photo earlier in the day of the thousands of people who had waited to see the Supreme Court justice.

“Just WOW! More than 4,000 people to see Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the [Liberary of Congress] #NatBookFest,” she wrote. “Some lined up at 4 a.m. Thank you!!!"

On Monday, Ginsburg received an honorary law degree from the University of Buffalo in New York. It was her first public appearance since completing cancer treatment.

Ginsburg is a leader of the Supreme Court's liberal wing and has earned the nickname "Notorious RBG."

RUTH BADER GINSBURG MARVELS AT ‘NOTORIOUS RBG’ NICKNAME AFTER GETTING HONORARY LAW DEGREE

"It was beyond my wildest imagination that I would one day become 'Notorious RBG.' I am now 86 years old, yet people of all ages want to take their picture with me — amazing," she said Monday in New York.

Ginsburg is a Brooklyn, N.Y., native. She was appointed to the Supreme Court by then-President Bill Clinton in 1993.

The next Supreme Court term begins Oct. 7.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.