Empowering Voices: A Curated Collection of Inspirational Quotes for Women's History Month

"You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world's problems at once but 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

"With a defeat, when you lose, you get up, you make it better, you try again. That’s what I do in life, when I get down, when I get sick, I don’t want to just stop. I keep going and I try to do more. Everyone always says never give up but you really have to take that to heart and really do never definitely give up. Keep trying."

- Serena Williams

"You never have to ask anyone permission to lead. When you want to lead, you lead."

- Kamala Harris

"You deserve to be here. You deserve to exist. You deserve to take up space in this world of men."

- MacKenzi Lee

"The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams."

- Oprah Winfrey

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

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens."

- Michelle Obama

"To me, “Fearless” is not the absence of fear. It’s not being completely unafraid. To me, fearless is having fears. Fearless is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, fearless is living in spite of those things that scare you to death."

- Taylor Swift

"Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity. If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path."

- Brené Brown

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

- Malala Yousafzai

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." . . . You must do the thing you think you cannot do."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

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

- Sara Blakely

"The woman power of this nation can be the power which makes us whole and heals the rotten community, now so shattered by war and poverty and racism. I have great faith in the power of women who will dedicate themselves whole-heartedly to the task of remaking our society."

- Coretta Scott King

"I’ve been absolutely terrified every minute of my life — and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do."

- Georgia O’Keefe

"Until we get equality in education, we won't have an equal society."

- Sonia Sotomayor

"Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That’s what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice."

- Bethany Hamilton

"You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it."

- Maya Angelou

"Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow."

- Mary Anne Radmacher

"If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's the power of using your voice."

- Michelle Obama

"There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish."

- Michelle Obama

"The success of every woman should be the inspiration to another. We should raise each other up. Make sure you’re very courageous: be strong, be extremely kind, and above all be humble."

- Serena Williams

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

- Ruth Gordon

"Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained."

- Marie Curie

"You can’t please everyone, and you can’t make everyone like you."

- Katie Couric

"Anyone can hide. Facing up to things, working through them, that’s what makes you strong."

- Sarah Dessen

"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

"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

"If any female feels she need anything beyond herself to legitimate and validate her existence, she is already giving away her power to be self-defining, her agency."

- Bell Hooks

"Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you."

- Ruth Bader Ginsburg

"Words have power. TV has power. My pen has power."

- Shonda Rhimes

"I only began to sing because I couldn’t get a job as an actress."

- Barbra Streisand

"If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then, you are an excellent leader."

- Dolly Parton

"You have to make your own luck. You make it in practice and with training and conditioning."

- Simone Biles

"Feminism is for everybody."

- Bell Hooks

"You can waste your lives drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them."

- Shonda Rhimes

"Females are the most beautiful, gorgeous creatures in the whole world. And I think that we are gorgeous no matter what size we are."

- Alicia Keys

"Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. And, when you stumble, keep faith. And, when you’re knocked down, get right back up and never listen to anyone who says you can’t or shouldn’t go on."

- Hillary Rodham Clinton

"I say if I’m beautiful. I say if I’m strong. You will not determine my story – I will."

- Amy Schumer

"I think transwomen, and transpeople in general, show everyone that you can define what it means to be a man or woman on your own terms. A lot of what feminism is about is moving outside of roles and moving outside of expectations of who and what you’re supposed to be to live a more authentic life."

- Laverne Cox

"My mother always used to say, ‘The older you get, the better you get. Unless you’re a banana.'"

- Betty White

"I’m not here to be perfect and I’m not here to be anything but my best, whatever that means for me."

- Jennifer Lopez

"Until we get equality in education, we won’t have an equal society."

- Sonia Sotomayor

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

- Ruth Bader Ginsburg

"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

"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

"Women have to harness their power – it’s absolutely true. It’s just learning not to take the first ‘no.’ And if you can’t go straight ahead, you go around the corner."

- Cher

"I raise up my voice—not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard…We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back."

- Malala Yousafzai

"For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end."

- Michelle Obama

"Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me."

- Carol Burnett

"Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe you must become its soul."

- Coretta Scott King

"You should never be surprised when someone treats you with respect. You should expect it."

- Sarah Dessen

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

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"I want all the girls without an exception to have that space for themselves where they have opportunities to be the women they wish to be."

- Priyanka Chopra

"In my life, I had come to realize that, when things were going very well, indeed, it was just the time to anticipate trouble. And, conversely, I learned from pleasant experience that at the most despairing crisis, when all looked sour beyond words, some delightful “break” was apt to lurk just around the corner."

- Amelia Earhart

"You are not supposed to be happy all the time. Life hurts and it’s hard. Not because you’re doing it wrong, but because it hurts for everybody. Don’t avoid the pain. You need it. It’s meant for you. Be still with it, let it come, let it go, let it leave you with the fuel you’ll burn to get your work done on this earth."

- Glennon Doyle

"I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples."

- Mother Teresa

"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

"All you need to know is that the future is wide open and you are about to create it by what you do."

- Pema Chödrön

"When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn."

- Harriet Beecher Stowe

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us."

- Helen Keller

"I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done."

- Lucille Ball

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

- Maya Angelou

"I am a woman / Phenomenally / Phenomenal woman / That’s me."

- Maya Angelou

"So please ask yourself: What would I do if I weren’t afraid? And then go do it."

- Sheryl Sandberg

"When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard nor welcomed, but when we are silent we are still afraid, so it is better to speak."

- Audre Lorde

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

- Mia Hamm

"Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else."

- Judy Garland

"When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful."

- Malala Yousafzai

"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

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

- Rosa Parks

"Everything is within your power, and your power is within you."

- Janice Trachtman

"Nothing I accept about myself can be used against me to diminish me."

- Audre Lorde

"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style."

- Maya Angelou

"I always thought that people told you that you’re beautiful–that this was a title that was bestowed upon you … I think that it’s time to take this power into our own hands and to say, ‘You know what? I’m beautiful. I just am. And that’s my light. I’m just a beautiful woman.'"

- Margaret Cho

"One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul."

- Clarissa Pinkola Estés

"You could certainly say that I’ve never underestimated myself. There’s nothing wrong with being ambitious."

- Angela Merkel

"Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brains and instincts; hence, grappling with hard work."

- Adrienne Rich

"When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid."

- Audre Lorde

"We need to encourage girls that their voice matters. I think there are hundreds and thousands of Malalas out there."

- Malala Yousafzai

"When you help a woman fulfil her potential, magic happens."

- Sara Blakely

"Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it."

- Julia Child

"Well-behaved women seldom make history"

- Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

"Whatever the problem, be part of the solution. Don’t just sit around raising questions and pointing out obstacles."

- Tina Fey

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

- Serena Williams

"Don’t just stand for the success of other women – insist on it."

- Gail Blanke

"As women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what women can do, as women see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we’ll all be better off for it."

- Michelle Obama

"I’m learning how to drown out the constant noise that is such an inseparable part of my life. I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. I only have to follow my heart and concentrate on what I want to say to the world. I run my world."

- Beyoncé

"No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself."

- Virginia Woolf

"You don’t have to be pretty. You don’t owe prettiness to anyone. Not to your boyfriend/spouse/partner, not to your co-workers, especially not to random men on the street. You don’t owe it to your mother, you don’t owe it to your children, you don’t owe it to civilization in general. Prettiness is not a rent you pay for occupying a space marked ‘female.'"

- Erin McKean

"The only thing required to be a woman is to identify as one."

- Amanda Lovelace

"The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me."

- Ayn Rand

"No one ever became a success without taking chances… One must be able to recognize the moment and seize it without delay."

- Estée Lauder

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty."

- Maya Angelou

"Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others."

- Amelia Earhart

"When you help a woman fulfill her potential, magic happens."

- Sara Blakely

"My mother did not raise me to ask for permission to lead."

- Ayanna Pressley

"Women should be celebrated every day, but a month dedicated to female empowerment is extremely special. It doesn’t just honor the iconic women who have changed history, but encourages new generations to dream big and know that anything is possible."

- Molly McCook

"We need to understand that there is no formula for how women should lead their lives. That is why we must respect the choices that each woman makes for herself and her family. Every woman deserves the chance to realize her God-given potential."

- Hillary Clinton

"Women have to harness their power—it’s absolutely true. It’s just learning not to take the first ‘no.’ And if you can’t go straight ahead, you go around the corner."

- Cher

"Leadership is hard to define and good leadership even harder. But if you can get people to follow you to the ends of the earth, you are a great leader."

- Indra Nooyi

"Step out of the history that is holding you back. Step into the new story you are willing to create."

- Oprah Winfrey

"Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world."

- Lucille Ball

"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity."

- Amelia Earhart

"I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear."

- Rosa Parks

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

- Sheryl Sandberg

"I really think a champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall."

- Serena Williams

"Who knows what women can be when they are finally free to be themselves."

- Betty Friedan

"If you truly pour your heart into what you believe in, even if it makes you vulnerable, amazing things can and will happen."

- Emma Watson

"A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it's in hot water."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Know what sparks the light in you so that you, in your own way, can illuminate the world."

- Oprah Winfrey

"The most alluring thing a woman can have is confidence."

- Beyonce

"Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it."

- Brené Brown

"I'm a feminist. I've been a female for a long time now. It'd be stupid not to be on my own side."

- Maya Angelou

"We are mothers. We are caregivers. We are artists. We are activists. We are entrepreneurs, doctors, leaders of industry and technology. Our potential is unlimited. We rise."

- Alicia Keys

"Getting past those labels, for me, pretty much really easy because I define myself."

- Serena Williams

"My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent."

- Ruth Bader Ginsburg

"How can we effect change in the world when only half of it is invited or feel welcome to participate in the conversation?"

- Emma Watson

"I know what every colored woman in this country is doing. . . . Dying. Just like me. But the difference is they dying like a stump. Me, I'm going down like one of those redwoods. I sure did live in this world."

- Toni Morrison

"There is a stubbornness about me that can never bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me."

- Jane Austen

"Success isn’t about the end result, it’s about what you learn along the way."

- Vera Wang

"Do not live someone else’s life and someone else’s idea of what womanhood is. Womanhood is you."

- Viola Davis

"I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I always knew the woman I wanted to be."

- Diane von Furstenberg

"A woman in harmony with her spirit is like a river flowing. She goes where she will without pretense and arrives at her destination prepared to be herself and only herself."

- Maya Angelou

"Girls should never be afraid to be smart."

- Emma Watson

"Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance."

- Verna Myers

"Extremists have shown what frightens them most. A girl with a book."

- Malala Yousafzai

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

- G.D. Anderson

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

- Angela Davis

"I will always be the girl who believed she could make it to the moon, in a world that still debates whether girls should have an education and whether women should have reproductive rights."

- G.D. Anderson

"The worst thing that we can do as women is not stand up for each other, and this is something we can practice every day, no matter where we are and what we may believe, it is both possible and, more importantly, it becomes powerful to come together in common purpose and common effort."

- Oprah Winfrey

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

- Mindy Kaling

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

- Audrey Hepburn

"The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity."

- Amelia Earhart

"It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default."

- J.K. Rowling

"If you’re comfortable with yourself and know yourself, you’re going to shine and radiate and other people are going to be drawn to you."

- Dolly Parton

"If you were born with the weakness to fall, you were born with the strength to rise."

- Rupi Kaur

"The older I get, the greater power I seem to have to help the world; I am like a snowball – the further I am rolled the more I gain."

- Susan B. Anthony

"Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold."

- Helen Keller

"True freedom is understanding that we have a choice in who and what we allow to have power over us."

- Meryl Streep

"Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world's estimation."

- Susan B. Anthony

"Never limit yourself because of others' limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination."

- Mae Jemison

"Don't compromise yourself. You are all you've got."

- Janis Joplin

"Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work."

- Mother Teresa

"If society will not admit of woman's free development, then society must be remodeled."

- Elizabeth Blackwell

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton

"My wish is to ride the tempest, tame the waves, kill the sharks. I will not resign myself to the usual lot of women who bow their heads and become concubines."

- TrieuThi Trinh

"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood."

- Marie Curie

"I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too."

- Elizabeth I

"We deny the right of any portion of the species to decide for another portion what is and what is not their 'proper sphere.' The proper sphere for all human beings is the largest and highest which they are able to attain to."

- Harriet Taylor Mill

"Helmer: "Before all else you are a wife and a mother." Nora: 'That I no longer believe. I believe that before all else I am a human being.'"

- Ibsen, The Dolls' House

"We can do no great things, only small things with great love."

- Mother Theresa

"Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained."

- Helen Keller

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."

- Anne Frank

"Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!"

- Anne Frank

"We all deserve to have our stories told. And we all have much to gain by walking in other people's shoes."

- Kerry Washington

"The question isn't who's going to let me; it's who's going to stop me."

- Ayn Rand

"My coach said I run like a girl. And I said if he ran a little faster he could too."

- Mia Hamm

"I never dreamed about success. I worked for it."

- Estée Lauder

"Women don’t need to find a voice, they have a voice, and they need to feel empowered to use it, and people need to be encouraged to listen."

- Meghan Markle

"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

"A surplus of effort could overcome a deficit of confidence."

- Sonia Sotomayor

"You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas."

- Shirley Chisholm

"I don’t believe in perfection. I don’t think there is such a thing. But the energy of wanting things to be great is a perfectionist energy."

- Reese Witherspoon

"Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change."

- Brené Brown

"A woman is like a tea bag – you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."

- Helen Keller

"I have chosen to no longer be apologetic for my femaleness and my femininity. And I want to be respected in all of my femaleness because I deserve to be."

- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

"Well-behaved women seldom make history."

- Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

"I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman."

- Virginia Woolf

"The older I get, the greater power I seem to have to help the world; I am like a snowball—the further I am rolled the more I gain."

- Susan B. Anthony

"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."

- Marie Curie

"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will."

- Charlotte Brontë

"I’ve been a female for a long time now. It’d be stupid not to be on my own side."

- Maya Angelou

"Feminism is not a dirty word. It does not mean you hate men, it does not mean you hate girls that have nice legs and a tan, and it does not mean you are a ‘bitch’ or a ‘dyke’; it means you believe in equality."

- Kate Nash

"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

"When women lose themselves, the world loses its way. We do not need more selfless women. What we need right now is more women who have detoxed themselves so completely from the world’s expectations that they are full of nothing but themselves. What we need are women who are full of themselves. A woman who is full of herself knows and trusts herself enough to say and do what must be done. She lets the rest burn."

- Glennon Doyle

"Success isn’t about how much money you make. It’s about the difference you make in people’s lives."

- Michelle Obama

"Friends. Sisters. Mothers. Professors. When women affirm women, it unlocks our power. It gives us permission to shine brighter."

- Elaine Welteroth

"Figure out who are you separate from your family, and the man or woman you’re in a relationship with. Find who you are in this world and what you need to feel good alone. I think that’s the most important thing in life. Find a sense of self. With that, you can do anything else."

- Angelina Jolie

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

- Melinda Gates

"At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can."

- Frida Kahlo

"Women are the real architects of society."

- Cher

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

- Shirley Chisholm

"We need women who are so strong they can be gentle, so educated they can be humble, so fierce they can be compassionate, so passionate they can be rational, and so disciplined they can be free."

- Kavita Ramdas

"You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist."

- Indira Gandhi

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world."

- Harriet Tubman

"A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform."

- Diane Mariechild

"Women’s History Month pays homage to the trailblazers before us, builds hope and inspiration to us and offers an example of pride and excellence for younger generations."

- Kron Moore

"There must be more equality established in society, or morality will never gain ground, and this virtuous equality will not rest firmly even when founded on a rock, if one half of mankind be chained to its bottom by fate, for they will be continually undermining it through ignorance or pride."

- Mary Wollstonecraft

"Careers are a jungle gym, not a ladder."

- Sheryl Sandberg

"Parents can only give good advice or put them [children] on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands."

- Anne Frank

"The challenge is not to be perfect… it’s to be whole."

- Jane Fonda

"For what is done or learned by one class of women becomes, by virtue of their common womanhood, the property of all women."

- Elizabeth Blackwell

"Whatever the struggle, continue the climb. It may only be one step to the summit."

- Diane Westlake

"You can give without loving. But you cannot love without giving."

- Amy Carmichael

"Nobody has ever become poor by giving."

- Anne Frank

"Great necessities call out great virtues."

- Abigail Adams

"I think beauty comes from actually knowing who you are. That’s real beauty to me."

- Ellen DeGeneres

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

- Edith Wharton

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen nor touched but are felt in the heart."

- Helen Keller

"In Iroquois society, leaders are encouraged to remember seven generations in the past and consider seven generations in the future when making decisions that affect the people."

- Wilma Mankiller

"The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and the acceptance of love."

- Marianne Williamson

"Since when do you have to agree with people to defend them from injustice?"

- Lillian Hellman

"We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily difference we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee."

- Marian Wright Edelman

"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring."

- Marilyn Monroe

"As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you otherwise might."

- Marian Anderson

"Women more than men can strip war of its glamour and its out-of-date heroisms and patriotisms, and see it as a demon of destruction and hideous wrong."

- Lillian Wald

"Today it is fashionable to talk about the poor. Unfortunately, it is not fashionable to talk with them."

- Mother Teresa

"If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place."

- Margaret Mead

"How very little can be done under the spirit of fear."

- Florence Nightingale

"It's wonderful to climb the liquid mountains of the sky. Behind me and before me is God and I have no fears."

- Helen Keller

"How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!"

- Maya Angelou

"Toughness doesn't have to come in a pinstripe suit."

- Dianne Feinstein

"Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost."

- Helen Keller

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature, and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be."

- Anne Frank

"Keep your face towards the light of the sunshine, and you cannot see the shadows."

- Helen Keller

"I am not here for women only, but also for women."

- Angela Merkel

"Feminism's agenda is basic: It asks that women not be forced to 'choose' between public justice and private happiness."

- Susan Faludi

"I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is. I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute."

- Rebecca West

"The history of all times, and of today especially, teaches that...women will be forgotten if they forget to think about themselves."

- Louise Otto

"I don't believe in perfection. I don't think there is such a thing. But the energy of wanting things to be great is a perfectionist energy."

- Reese Witherspoon

"We just need to be kinder to ourselves. If we treated ourselves the way we treated our best friend, can you imagine how much better off we would be?"

- Meghan Markle

"One is not born a woman, one becomes one."

- Simone de Beauvoir

"I would rather walk with God in the dark than go alone in the night."

- Mary Gardiner Brainard

"An evidence that our will has been broken is that we begin to thank God for that which once seemed so bitter, knowing that his will is good and that, in His time and in His way, He is able to make the most bitter waters sweet."

- Nancy Leigh DeMoss

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

- Margaret Fuller

"It's not about finding ways to avoid God's judgment and feeling like a failure if you don't do everything perfectly. It's about fully experiencing God's love and letting it perfect you. It's not about being somebody you are not. It's about becoming who you really are."

- Stormie Omartian

"Organize, agitate, educate, must be our war cry."

- Susan B. Anthony

"I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves."

- Mary Shelley

"Following Christ has nothing to do with success as the world sees success. It has to do with love."

- Madeleine L'Engle

"Having family responsibilities and concerns just has to make you a more understanding person."

- Sandra Day O'Connor

"No written law has ever been more binding than unwritten custom supported by popular opinion."

- Carrie Chapman Catt

"I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least."

- Dorothy Day

"I endeavor to make the most of everything."

- Victoria Woodhull

"There is no force more powerful than a woman determined to rise."

- W.E.B. Du Bois

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

- Coco Chanel

"Don't assume you have to be extraordinary to be used by God. You don't have to have exceptional gifts, talents, abilities, or connections. God specializes in using ordinary people whose limitations and weaknesses make them ideal showcases for His greatness and glory."

- Nancy Leigh DeMoss

"She who overcomes her fears will truly be free."

- Edna Pontellier

"I am a woman and a warrior. If you think I can’t be both, you’ve been lied to."

- Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar

"If we do anything to further the kingdom of God, we may expect to find what Christ found on that road - abuse, indifference, injustice, misunderstanding, trouble of some kind. Take it. Why not? To that you were called."

- Elisabeth Elliot

"There is only one way of victory over the bitterness and rage that comes naturally to us--To will what God wills brings peace."

- Amy Wilson-Carmichael

"I am not a theologian or a scholar, but I am very aware of the fact that pain is necessary to all of us. In my own life, I think I can honestly say that out of the deepest pain has come the strongest conviction of the presence of God and the love of God."

- Elisabeth Elliot

"Though my natural instinct is to wish for a life free from pain, trouble, and adversity, I am learning to welcome anything that makes me conscious of my need for Him. If prayer is birthed out of desperation, then anything that makes me desperate for God is a blessing."

- Nancy Leigh DeMoss

"Your path with its unexplained sorrow or turmoil, and mine with its sharp flints and briers - and both our paths, with their unexplained perplexity, their sheer mystery - they are His paths, on which he will show himself loving and faithful. Nothing else; nothing less."

- Amy Wilson-Carmichael

"I decided it is better to scream. . . . Silence is the real crime against humanity."

- Nadezhda Mandelstam

"Doubt is a killer. You just have to know what you stand for and go for it."

- Venus Williams

"Once we agree with God that we exist for His pleasure and His glory, we can accept whatever comes into our lives as a part of His sovereign will and purpose. We will not resent, resist, or reject the hard things, but embrace them as friends, sovereignly designed by God to make us more like Jesus and to bring glory to Himself."

- Nancy Leigh DeMoss

"We are greater than, and greater for, the sum of us."

- Madeleine Albright

"How wrong it is for a woman to expect the man to build the world she wants rather than to create it herself."

- Anais Nin

"Women are the backbone of any society."

- Diane Mariechild

"If I had to live my life again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner."

- Tallulah Bankhead

"We need to get women to the point where they aren’t apologizing. It’s time to take ownership in our success."

- Tory Burch

"Why be a star when you can make a constellation?"

- Octavia Butler

"A strong woman understands that 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

"Women are like teabags. We don’t know our true strength until we are in hot water."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Each of us is accountable to God for our personal holiness. Humbling yourself by letting others into your life and allowing them to help you and hold you accountable will release the sanctifying, transforming grace of God in your life."

- Nancy Leigh DeMoss

"What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God."

- Eleanor Powell

"A strong woman looks a challenge dead in the eye and gives it a wink."

- Gina Carey

"One of the first steps to happiness is deciding that you want to be happy and knowing what that means."

- Julia Roberts

"Accentuate the positive, not the negative. It sounds so trite, but a lot of people will pick out something to complain about, rather than say, ‘Hey, that was great!’ It’s not hard to find great stuff if you look."

- Betty White

"My dreams had to be His dreams, the ones He placed in my heart. They couldn't be the ones I thought I should have, or needed for the purpose of making other people like me."

- Stormie Omartian

"There are people out there who are struggling and I’m struggling, and it’s okay to come to terms with that being okay, to realize that it’s gonna be a bit of a journey."

- Chrissy Teigen

"I've come to believe that seeking happiness is not a frivolous pursuit. It's honorable and necessary. And most people forget even to think about it."

- Goldie Hawn

"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

"The empowered woman is powerful beyond measure and beautiful beyond description."

- Steve Maraboli

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

- Maya Angelou

"The silencing of one woman is the silencing of all women. The awakening of women is the awakening of the whole world."

- Dr. Tererai Trent

"Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world."

- Hillary Clinton

"The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me."

- Ayn Rand

"When a woman rises up in glory, her energy is magnetic and her sense of possibility contagious."

- Marianne Williamson

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

- Audre Lorde

"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

"She believed she could, so she did."

- R. S. Grey

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

- Margaret Thatcher

"There is nothing stronger than a broken woman who has rebuilt herself."

- Hannah Gadsby

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."

- Judy Garland

"Do what you love, and success will follow. Passion is the fuel behind a successful career."

- Meg Whitman

"The world needs strong women. Women who will lift and build others, who will love and be loved. Women who live bravely, both tender and fierce. Women of indomitable will."

- Amy Tenney

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

- Alice Walker

"Dear Superwoman, let no one demean your intelligence. Let no one dribble you from your happiness. Let no one derail you from success. Be a smart, courageous, and determined woman."

- Gift Gugu Mona

"Just to be alive is a grand thing."

- Agatha Christie

"I avoid looking back. I prefer good memories to regrets."

- Grace Kelly

"Women are the heartbeat of humanity."

- DJ Cuppy

"You don’t have to play masculine to be a strong woman."

- Mary Elizabeth Winstead

"There’s nothing a man can do, that I can’t do better and in heels."

- Ginger Rogers

"In our society, the women who break down barriers are those who ignore limits."

- Arnold Schwarzenegger

"Women are the glue that holds everything together."

- Jada Pinkett Smith

"Women are the real superheroes."

- Vanessa Paradis

"Where there is a woman there is magic."

- Ntozake Shange

"Strong women don’t have ‘attitudes’, we have standards."

- Marilyn Monroe

"It actually doesn’t take much to be considered a difficult woman. That’s why there are so many of us."

- Jane Goodall

"Good things happen to those who hustle."

- Chuck Noll

"be gentle, so educated they can be humble, so fierce they can be compassionate, so passionate they can be rational, and so disciplined they can be free."

- Kavita Ramdas

"I’m tough, I’m ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay."

- Madonna

"The most important thing for any of us to be in our jobs is curious."

- Ginni Rometty

"I do not believe in using women in combat, because females are too fierce."

- Margaret Mead

"Where there is great love, there are always miracles."

"When the world tells you to shrink, expand."