Empowering Words: A Collection of Inspirational Quotes by Women

"Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights. Let us not forget that among those rights are the right to speak freely—and the right to be heard."

- Hillary Clinton

"They’ll tell you you’re too loud, that you need to wait your turn and ask the right people for permission. Do it anyway."

- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

"No woman should be told she can’t make decisions about her own body. When women’s rights are under attack, we fight back."

- Kamala Harris

"We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back."

- Malala Yousafzai

"No matter where you are on your journey, that’s exactly where you need to be. The next road is always ahead."

- Oprah Winfrey

"Alone we can do little; together we can do so much."

- Helen Keller

"Each person must live their life as a model for others."

- Rosa Parks

"There are two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there."

- Indira Gandhi

"Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women."

- Maya Angelou

"Do not be afraid to make decisions. Do not be afraid to make mistakes."

- Carly Fiorina

"Women will only have true equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation."

- Ruth Bader Ginsburg

"What’s the greatest lesson a woman should learn? That since day one, she’s already had everything she needs within herself. It’s the world that convinced her she did not."

- Rupi Kaur

"That I am a national figure because I was the first person in 192 years to be at once a congressman, black, and a woman proves, I think, that our society is not yet either just or free."

- Shirley Chisholm

"A gender-equal society would be one where the word ‘gender’ does not exist: where everyone can be themselves."

- Gloria Steinem

"After all those years as a woman hearing ‘not thin enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, not this enough, not that enough,’ almost overnight I woke up one morning and thought, ‘I’m enough.’"

- Anna Quindlen

"A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be."

- Rosalynn Carter

"If we’re not protecting our women and we’re not protecting our girls and we’re not protecting the most vulnerable people in this society, who are we as a country?"

- Deb Haaland

"I urge everyone here and everyone who hears my voice to join me in telling the stories that aren’t told. To honor the girls, the women of color, who are murdered at disproportionate rates in this nation. I urge each of you to help write the narrative for this world and understand, so that these girls and women are never forgotten."

- Naomi Wadler

"Define success on your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you’re proud to live."

- Anne Sweeney

"The true republic: men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less."

- Susan B. Anthony

"When you lift up women, you lift up families, you lift up communities, you lift up economies – and you lift up America."

- Kamala Harris

"We need to live in a culture that values and respects and looks up to and idolizes women as much as men."

- Emma Watson

"Feminism isn’t about making women strong. Women are already strong. It’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength."

- G.D. Anderson

"I want to build a community where women of all races can communicate and … continue to support and take care of each other. I want to give women a space to feel their own strength and tell their stories. That is power."

- Beyoncé

"The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn."

- Gloria Steinem

"Every woman’s success should be an inspiration to another. We’re strongest when we cheer each other on."

- Serena Williams

"You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time."

- Angela Davis

"I raise up my voice – not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard."

- Malala Yousafzai

"I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own."

- Audre Lorde

"If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair."

- Shirley Chisholm

"When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak."

- Audre Lorde

"The problem that has no name—which is simply the fact that American women are kept from growing to their full human capacities—is taking a far greater toll on the physical and mental health of our country than any known disease."

- Betty Friedan

"I hear a lot of people saying, when talking about girls’ empowerment and women as well, you’ll often hear people saying, ‘You’re helping them find their voices’, I fundamentally disagree with that. Women don’t need to find their voice. They need to feel empowered to use it and people need to be encouraged to listen."

- Meghan Markle

"I have always believed that women are not victims; we are agents of change, we are drivers of progress, we are makers of peace—all we need is a fighting chance."

- Hillary Clinton

"We need women at all levels, including the top, to change the dynamic, reshape the conversation, to make sure women’s voices are heard and heeded, not overlooked and ignored."

- Sheryl Sandberg

"It’s important to teach our female youth that it’s OK to say, ‘Yes, I am good at this,’ and you don’t hold back."

- Simone Biles

"We know that when a woman speaks truth to power, there will be attempts to put her down… I’m not going to go anywhere."

- Maxine Waters

"There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish, whether that’s in politics or other fields."

- Michelle Obama

"Women are leaders everywhere you look—from the CEO who runs a Fortune 500 company to the housewife who raises her children and heads her household. Our country was built by strong women, and we will continue to break down walls and defy stereotypes."

- Nancy Pelosi

"A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman."

- Melinda Gates

"Feminism is for everybody."

- Bell Hooks

"When girls are educated, their countries become stronger and more prosperous."

- Michelle Obama

"We can no longer let people in power decide what hope is. Hope is not passive. Hope is not ‘blah blah blah.’ Hope is telling the truth. Hope is taking action. And hope always comes from the people."

- Greta Thunberg

"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence."

- Helen Keller

"What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have. And I’m especially proud, and inspired by all the women who have felt strong enough and empowered enough to speak up and share their personal stories."

- Oprah Winfrey

"Women need a seat at the table, they need an invitation to be seated there, and in some cases, where this is not available, they need to create their own table. We need a global understanding that we cannot implement change effectively without women’s political participation."

- Meghan Markle

"Women feel like we need permission… We need to lead and change that."

- Emma Watson

"Of course I am not worried about intimidating men. The type of man who will be intimidated by me is exactly the type of man I have no interest in."

- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

"A feminist is a person who believes in the power of women just as much as they believe in the power of anyone else. It’s equality, it’s fairness, and I think it’s a great thing to be a part of."

- Zendaya

"I can promise you that women working together—linked, informed and educated—can bring peace and prosperity to this forsaken planet."

- Isabel Allende

"I think that one thing that I do believe as a feminist is that in order for us to have gender equality we have to stop making it a girl fight and we have to stop being so interested in seeing girls trying to tear each other down, it has to be more about cheering each other on as women."

- Taylor Swift

"To all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful, and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams."

- Hillary Clinton

"A huge part of being a feminist is giving other women the freedom to make choices you might not necessarily make yourself."

- Lena Dunham

"Think like a Queen. A Queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to greatness."

- Oprah

"Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception."

- Ruth Bader Ginsburg

"What I want young women and girls to know is: You are powerful and your voice matters."

- Kamala Harris

"What sets you apart can sometimes feel like a burden, and it’s not. And a lot of the time, it’s what makes you great."

- Emma Stone

"I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass."

- Maya Angelou

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

- Margaret Mead

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman."

- Melinda French Gates

"I often like to talk about feminism not as something that adheres to bodies, not as something grounded in gendered bodies, but as an approach—as a way of conceptualizing, as a methodology, as a guide to strategies for struggle."

- Angela Davis

"Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."

- Mother Teresa

"We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better."

- J.K. Rowling

"Am I good enough? Yes, I am."

- Michelle Obama

"The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough."

- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

"Nothing is impossible, the word itself says “I’m possible!”"

- Audrey Hepburn

"Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement."

- Golda Meir

"She has a voice. If you can’t hear it, it’s because you’re too busy talking."

- Helen Keller

"Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, 'I’m possible!'"

- Audrey Hepburn

"Be strong, be fearless, be beautiful. And believe that anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you."

- Misty Copeland

"As women achieve power, the barriers will fall."

- Sandra Day O’Connor

"I have learned you are never too small to make a difference."

- Misty Copeland

"I figure if a girl wants to be a legend, she should go ahead and be one."

- Calamity Jane

"Feminism is not just about women; it’s about letting all people lead fuller lives."

- Brené Brown

"You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it’s right."

- Rosa Parks

"The most beautiful thing a woman can wear is confidence."

- Blake Lively

"The power you have is to be the best version of yourself you can be, so you can create a better world."

- Ashley Rickards

"If you don’t see a clear path for what you want, sometimes you have to make it yourself."

- Mindy Kaling

"Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you."

- Oprah Winfrey

"It is never too late to be what you might have been."

- George Eliot

"You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody."

- Maya Angelou

"Don't limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve."

- Mary Kay Ash

"Don’t be afraid to speak up for yourself. Keep fighting for your dreams!"

- Gabby Douglas

"Change your life today. Don’t gamble on the future, act now, without delay."

- Simone de Beauvoir

"The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud."

- Coco Chanel

"If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman."

- Margaret Thatcher

"Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness."

- Oprah Winfrey

"I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough."

- Marissa Mayer

"Don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own."

- Michelle Obama

"Women have always been the strong ones of the world."

- Coco Chanel

"It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent."

- Madeleine Albright

"The most effective way to do it, is to do it."

- Amelia Earhart

"I choose to make the rest of my life the best of my life."

- Louise Hay

"The best protection any woman can have … is courage."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton

"Some leaders are born women."

- Geraldine Ferraro

"We realize the importance of our voices only when they are silenced."

- Malala Yousafzai

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

- Maya Angelou

"I always want to make films. I think of it as a great opportunity to comment on the world in which we live."

- Kathryn Bigelow

"I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept."

- Angela Y. Davis

"The price of inaction is far greater than the cost of a mistake."

- Meg Whitman

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"You create opportunities by performing, not complaining."

- Muriel Siebert

"None of us can know what we are capable of until we are tested."

- Elizabeth Blackwell

"I have never, ever focused on the negative of things. I always look at the positive."

- Sonia Sotomayor

"A strong woman understands that the gifts such as logic, decisiveness, and strength are just as feminine as intuition and emotional connection. She values and uses all of her gifts."

- Nancy Rathburn

"There’s something so special about a woman who dominates in a man’s world. It takes a certain grace, strength, intelligence, fearlessness, and the nerve to never take no for an answer."

- Rihanna

"More and more women are realizing that only collective strength and action will allow us to be free to fight for the kind of society that meets basic human needs."

- Roxanne Dunbar

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage."

- Anaïs Nin

"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any."

- Alice Walker

"Well-behaved women seldom make history."

- Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

"I have as much muscle as any man, and can do as much work as any man."

- Sojourner Truth

"Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace."

- Amelia Earhart

"You have to believe in yourself when no one else does."

- Serena Williams

"Don’t follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you."

- Margaret Thatcher

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

- Helen Keller

"Love yourself first and everything else falls into line."

- Lucille Ball

"You can have it all. Just not all at once."

- Oprah Winfrey

"We cannot change what we are not aware of, and once we are aware, we cannot help but change."

- Sheryl Sandberg

"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is only enough."

- Mae West

"I learned to always take on things I’d never done before. Growth and comfort do not coexist."

- Ginni Rometty

"After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backward and in high heels."

- Ann Richards

"A woman is like a tea bag — you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"I don’t care what you think about me. I don’t think about you at all."

- Coco Chanel

"Be the type of girl that climbs the ladder wrong by wrong."

- Mae West

"We have to become the men we wanted to marry."

- Gloria Steinem

"Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half their inferior. Luckily, this is not difficult."

- Charlotte Whitton

"Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.'"

- Mary Anne Radmacher

"Find out who you are and be that person. That’s what your soul was put on this Earth to be. Find that truth, live that truth and everything else will come."

- Ellen DeGeneres

"Do one thing every day that scares you."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure you do things differently from everyone else."

- Sarah Blakely

"It is our choices, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

- J.K. Rowling

"I used to walk down the street like I was a superstar… I want people to walk around delusional about how great they can be — and then to fight so hard for it every day that the lie becomes the truth."

- Lady Gaga

"If you follow your heart, if you listen to your gut, and if you extend your hand to help another – not for any agenda, but for the sake of humanity – you are going to find the truth."

- Erin Brockovich

"Don’t cut off your career branches too early. Don’t step away from your career based on what ‘might’ happen."

- Mary Barra

"If you’re not making some notable mistakes along the way, you’re certainly not taking enough business and career chances."

- Sallie Krawcheck

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer."

- Harriet Tubman

"There are lots of opportunities out there for women to work in these fields; girls just need support, encouragement and mentoring to follow through with the sciences."

- Sally Ride

"To stay ahead, you must have your next idea waiting in the wings."

- Rosabeth Moss Kanter

"There are no ugly women, only lazy ones."

- Helena Rubinstein

"If we are going to be part of the solution, we have to engage the problems."

- Majora Carter

"Let us continue the work together and with others, toward the development of a better womanhood, a better manhood, and a better citizenship."

- Violet Richardson

"When a woman is assaulted, one of the first questions people ask is, Did you say no? This question assumes that the answer was always yes, and that it is her job to revoke the agreement. To defuse the bomb she was given. But why are they allowed to touch us until we physically fight them off? Why is the door open until we have to slam it shut?"

- Chanel Miller

"Girls are weighed down by restrictions, boys with demands—two equally harmful disciplines."

- Simone de Beauvoir

"Women have been called queens for a long time, but the kingdom given them isn’t worth ruling."

- Louisa May Alcott

"Woman is shut up in a kitchen or in a boudoir, and astonishment is expressed that her horizon is limited. Her wings are clipped, and it is found deplorable that she cannot fly. Let but the future be opened to her, and she will no longer be compelled to linger in the present."

- Simone de Beauvoir

"You’ve always had the power, my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself."

- Glinda the Good Witch

"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."

- Edith Wharton

"Always show more kindness than seems necessary because the person receiving it needs it more than you will ever know."

- Colin Powell

"The more you love your decisions, the less you need others to love them."

- Lisa Messenger

"Let go of who you think you’re supposed to be; embrace who you are."

- Emma Watson

"You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try."

- Beverly Sills

"The only one who can tell you 'you can't win' is you, and you don't have to listen."

- Margaret Fuller

"I can encourage the women who are striving to get their footing in the world to keep pushing and to express themselves."

- Angela Yee

"I don't really think about other people's opinions or expectations. The only ones I have are that of myself, to improve and get better."

- Greta Thunberg

"Never ever mistake her silence for weakness. Remember that sometimes the air stills before the onset of a hurricane."

- Nikita Gill

"The difference between successful people and others is how long they spend time feeling sorry for themselves."

- Barbara Corcoran

"You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the water-slide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute."

- Tina Fey

"I’ve learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life."

- Maya Angelou

"In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders."

- Sheryl Sandberg

"Women asking for raises should not only know their value, but they should ask with the confidence that they’re helping the company to be successful."

- Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

"I learned a long time ago that there is something worse than missing the goal, and that’s not pulling the trigger."

- Mia Hamm

"Courage is like a muscle. We strengthen it by use."

- Ruth Gordo

"And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk more."

- Erica Jong

"Not knowing you can’t do something, is sometimes all it takes to do it."

- Ally Carter

"Whatever you do, be different – that was the advice my mother gave me, and I can’t think of better advice for an entrepreneur. If you’re different, you will stand out."

- Anita Roddick

"Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult."

- Charlotte Whitton

"The king may rule the kingdom, but it’s the queen who moves the board."

- D.M. Timney

"Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get."

- W. P. Kinsella

"A lot of people are afraid to say what they want. That’s why they don’t get what they want."

- Madonna

"Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas."

- Marie Curie

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started."

- Mark Twain

"If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it."

- Margaret Fuller

"If you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more. If you look at what you don’t have in life, you’ll never have enough."

- Oprah Winfrey

"I dwell in possibility."

- Emily Dickinson

"Girls should never be afraid to be smart."

- Emma Watson

"I don’t get my inspiration from books or a painting. I get it from the women I meet."

- Emma Raducanu

"Expect the unexpected, and whenever possible, be the unexpected."

- Lynda Berry

"Success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get."

- Ingrid Bergman

"Sometimes things fall apart, so that better things can fall together."

- George Eliot

"I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list."

- Susan Sontag

"If you don’t like being a doormat then get off the floor."

- Al Anon

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."

- Helen Keller

"Here’s to strong women. May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them."

"A strong woman knows she has strength enough for the journey, but a woman of strength knows it is in the journey where she will become strong."

"Whether through work or love or art, life becomes more meaningful whenever we take responsibility for something or someone. Responsibility is not always pleasurable or even positive, but it is purposeful."

"May you be free from harm. May you be strong and healthy. May you be happy. May you live a life filled with ease."

"A strong person is not the one who doesn’t fall down and doesn’t cry. The strong person falls, cries, and then gets up and keeps going."

"Always remember you are BRAVER than you believe, STRONGER than you seem, SMARTER than you think & LOVED more than you know."

"The foundation of your wellness journey is presence – quieting the chatter in your head, feeling yourself in the moment and knowing you are okay. Presence leads to clarity, and ultimately, to the joy of being alive. Be present. Let go of yesterday. Put thoughts of tomorrow at bay. You are here. Now. Full of energy. Flooded with calm. Engaged in this one and only moment."

"And then I realized that to be more alive I had to be less afraid so I did it…I lost my fear and gained my whole life."