Ahhh, women, the silent and meek housekeepers, the unacknowledged grey cardinals with a well-deserved place in the kitchen. Thankfully, the times when the sentence above would’ve made sense are long gone (but not forgotten), and all thanks to the fair sex themselves. It’s women that have raised generation upon generation of people destined to make our world a better place. With love, care, and compassion. It’s women that have changed society’s view on many pressing issues. All with love, care, and compassion. It’s the ladies that have made some of the most important breakthroughs in science, and it’s the fairer sex that turns out to be the most worthy leaders of countries. Because they do it all with love, care, and compassion. And that is probably why women are so strong, so powerful, and intelligent (despite being told for ages that all they are good for is knitting, making sandwiches, and being pleasant for the eye).
This article is truly a celebration of women - their words gathered in one place make it a dynamite read, sure to inspire you. Some of these powerful women’s quotes might even change your perspective on life 180 degrees, and it will be enlightening! And these are also not just some ladies (although every woman has the qualities to be mighty); these smart words came from scientists, politicians, writers, and actresses who have paved their paths all by themselves, proving that they (and we!) can do it all.
Now, hopefully, our intro made you quite excited about what’s to come, and we promise these quotes by women won’t disappoint you but rather give you some quite nutritious food for thought. So pick the ones that lit a fire in you, vote for them, and don’t forget to tell the world about these intelligent, brave, and affectionate ladies!
“Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.” — Charlotte Whitton
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“Storms make trees take deeper roots.” – Dolly Parton
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“Women are like teabags. We don’t know our true strength until we are in hot water.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
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“We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis. […] And if solutions within the system are so impossible to find, then maybe we should change the system itself?” – Greta Thunberg
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“I raise up my voice—not so I can shout but so that those without a voice can be heard… We cannot succeed when half of us are held back.” – Malala Yousafzai
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“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” – Angela Davis
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“If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.” – Margaret Thatcher
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“Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.” —Ingrid Bergman
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“In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.” —Sheryl Sandberg
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“I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” – Anne Frank
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“Understand that getting help isn’t a sign of weakness but a sign of strength.” – Michelle Obama
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“Some women choose to follow men, and some choose to follow their dreams. If you’re wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn’t love you anymore.” – Lady Gaga
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“If fighting for women’s health care and paid family leave and equal pay is playing the women’s card, then deal me in.” — Hillary Clinton
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“Every time someone writes that I play ‘strong women’ what they’re implying is that most women aren’t. How about I just play well-written parts?” — Jessica Chastain
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“The most effective way to do it, is to do it.” —Amelia Earhart
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“If you live off a man’s compliments, you’ll die from his criticism.” – Cornelius Lindsey
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“It’s not your job to be likeable. It’s your job to be yourself. Someone will like you anyway.” — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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“Instead of looking at the past, I put myself ahead twenty years and try to look at what I need to do now in order to get there then.” — Diana Ross
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“I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done.” —Lucille Ball
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“A really strong woman accepts the war she went through and is ennobled by her scars.” — Carly Simon
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“Women that believe in each other can survive anything. Women who believe in each other create armies that will win kingdoms and wars.” – Nikita Gill
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“When you are a strong woman, you will attract trouble. When a man feels threatened, there is always trouble.” – Barbara Taylor Bradford
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“I’ve often thought it unfair that women are expected to stay at home when there’s a fight to be won. If a woman has the strength to bear a child, she can swing a sword as well as any man.” — Karen Hawkins
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“Call me whatever you want. It’s not going to stop me from trying to do the right thing. Because it doesn’t just affect me, it affects all the other women who are in this with me, and it affects all the other men who are in this with me, too.” — Emma Watson
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“I am mine before I am anyone else’s.” – Nayyirah Waheed
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“Some people say I have attitude – maybe I do… but I think you have to. You have to believe in yourself when no one else does – that makes you a winner right there.” — Venus Williams
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“As for my girls, I’ll raise them to think they breathe fire.” – Jessica Kirkland
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“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” —Audre Lorde
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“You don’t have to play masculine to be a strong woman.” – Mary Elizabeth Winstead
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“I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls.” — Audrey Hepburn
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“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
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“Tremendous amounts of talent are being lost to our society just because that talent wears a skirt.” – Shirley Chisholm
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“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 we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” – Marie Curie
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“We need to get women to the point where they aren’t apologizing. It’s time to take ownership in our success.” — Tori Burch
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“You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.” – Indira Gandhi
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“If you don’t see a clear path for what you want, sometimes you have to make it yourself.” — Mindy Kaling
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“Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.” —Dr. Harriet Braiker
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“Aging is not “lost youth” but a new stage of opportunity and strength.” – Betty Friedan
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“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.” – Mary Oliver
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“She’s a strong cup of black coffee in a world that is drunk on the cheap wine of shallow love.” – JM Storm
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“I don’t want to be better than you or her or him – I want to be better than I am right now.” — Kerri Walsh
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“Always be a first-rate version of yourself instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” —Judy Garland
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“In a world that wants women to whisper, I choose to yell.” —Luvvie Ajayi
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"Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement." - Golda Meir
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“We’re all water from different rivers, that’s why it’s so easy to meet; we’re all water in this vast, vast ocean, someday we’ll evaporate together.” – Yoko Ono
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“The beauty of being a feminist is that you get to be whatever you want. And that’s the point.” — Shonda Rhimes
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“The next decade cannot be a decade of confrontation and contention. It cannot be East vs. West. It cannot be men vs. women. It cannot be Islam vs. Christianity. That is what the enemies of dialogue want.” – Benazir Bhutto
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"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
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“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
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"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier." - Mother Teresa
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“A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform.” — Diane Mariechild
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“Nothing can dim the light that shines from within.” – Maya Angelou
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"If you think taking care of yourself is selfish, change your mind. If you don't, you're simply ducking your responsibilities." - Ann Richards
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“Some people are old at 18 and some are young at 90. Time is a concept that humans created.” – Yoko Ono
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“Be strong enough to stand alone, smart enough to know when you need help, and brave enough to ask for it.” – Ziad K. Abdelnour
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"No matter how difficult and painful it may be, nothing sounds as good to the soul as the truth." - Martha Beck
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“Find your ‘why’ so that you have the strength and resilience to push through those times when everything else is telling you no.”— Lisa Wimberger
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“And you, you scare people because you are whole all by yourself.” – Lauren Alex Cooper
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“Everyone has inside of her 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
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“She understood that the hardest times in life to go through were when you were transitioning from one version of yourself to another.” – Sarah Addison Allen
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“I can do anything when I am in a tutu.” — Misty Copeland
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“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
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“Don’t ever make decisions based on fear. Make decisions based on hope and possibility. Make decisions based on what should happen, not what shouldn’t.” – Michelle Obama
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"One of the secrets to staying young is to always do things you don't know how to do, to keep learning." - Ruth Reichl
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“We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes—understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.” — Arianna Huffington
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“Those who have a strong sense of love and belonging have the courage to be imperfect.” —Brene Brown
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"If I stop to kick every barking dog I am not going to get where I'm going." - Jackie Joyner-Kersee
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“Women are always saying, ‘We can do anything that men can do.’ But men should be saying, ‘We can do anything that women can do.'” — Gloria Steinem
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“Anyone can hide. Facing up to things, working through them, that’s what makes you strong.” — Sarah Dessen
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“She is both hellfire and holy water. And the flavor you taste depends on how you treat her.” – Sneha Pal
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“You have to be careful when you’re getting feedback because people will give you conflicting feedback all the time, but ultimately you end up following your own inner guide.” —Natalie Portman
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"In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different." - Coco Chanel
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"If you're someone people count on, particularly in difficult moments, that's a sign of a life lived honorably." - Rachel Maddow
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“Perhaps some detours aren’t detours at all. Perhaps they are actually the path.” — Katherine Wolf
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“Just remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears.” — Gillian Anderson
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“One of the most courageous things you can do is identify yourself, know who you are, what you believe in, and where you want to go.” – Sheila Murray Bethel
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“Our backs tell stories no books have the spine to carry.” – Rupi Kaur
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"The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice." - Peggy O'Mara
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“A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult.” — Melinda Gates
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“Women have discovered that they cannot rely on men’s chivalry to give them justice.” — Helen Keller
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“One of the biggest qualities is having an awareness outside of yourself, and understanding that the world doesn’t revolve around your needs.”— Brie Larson
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“Practice creates confidence. Confidence empowers you.” —Simone Biles
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“The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who’s going to stop me.” – Ayn Rand
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“Do we want to progress? If we want to progress, let women be all they can be. Don’t get in their way.” —Danai Gurira
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"If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one." - Dolly Parton
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“My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent.” —Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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“A girl should not expect special privileges because of her sex but neither should she adjust to prejudice and discrimination.” – Betty Friedan
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“I don't have a feeling of inferiority. Never had. I'm as good as anybody, but no better.” – Katherine Johnson
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“I can’t think of any better representation of beauty than someone who is unafraid to be yourself.” —Emma Stone
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“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
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“Chin up, child. In my experience, when a life seems to be falling to pieces, it is usually falling into place.” – Beau Taplin
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“She remembered who she was and the game changed.” – Lalah Deliah
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“No one is going to tell you all the things you want to hear all the time. You have to know them yourself.” —Busy Philipps
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"If you don't risk anything, you risk even more." - Erica Jong
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"A good compromise is one where everybody makes a contribution." - Angela Merkel
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"Normal is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away from." - Jodie Foster
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“Figure out who are you separate from your family. 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
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“Don’t hold back because you think it’s unladylike. We shouldn’t be shamed out of our anger. We should be using it. Using it to make change in our own lives, and using it to make change in the lives around us.” —Jessica Valenti
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“There’s something 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
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“Some people think that you have to be the loudest voice in the room to make a difference. That is just not true. Often, the best thing we can do is turn down the volume. When the sound is quieter, you can actually hear what someone else is saying. And that can make a world of difference.” — Nikki Haley
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“I’ve always wanted to be a woman who isn’t afraid to tell her story.” — Andra Day
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“Women should do for themselves what men have already done—occasionally what men have not done—thereby establishing themselves as persons, and perhaps encouraging other women toward greater independence of thought and action.” – Amelia Earhart
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“If you're always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” – Maya Angelou
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“Tolerance and compassion are active, not passive states, born of the capacity to listen, to observe and to respect others.” – Indira Gandhi
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"Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right." – Jane Goodall
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“Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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“We’re here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark.” — Whoopi Goldberg
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“Because confidence is really trust in yourself, right? It has nothing to do with what someone else thinks of you; it’s what you think of you.” — Chrissy Metz
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“Don’t settle for average. Bring your best to the moment. Then, whether it fails or succeeds, at least you know you gave all you had. We need to live the best that’s in us.” — Angela Bassett
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“If we cultivate compassion for those who have hurt us, we have the possibility of overcoming our anger, pain, and fear. Compassion is a great medicine.” — Goldie Hawn
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“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
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“I figure, if a girl wants to be a legend, she should go ahead and be one.” – Calamity Jane
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“You may not be everything you thought you’d be by now, but you can be the one who loves, serves, and gives her all, and waters and nurtures every plant in the garden that God has already given her.” – Morgan Harper Nichols
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“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
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“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
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“Life is tough, my darling, but so are you.” – Stephanie Bennett-Henry
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“Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” —Gloria Steinem
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“I always wanted to be a femme fatale. Even when I was a young girl, I never really wanted to be a girl. I wanted to be a woman.” — Diane Von Furstenberg
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“A strong woman is a woman determined to do something others are determined not be done.” — Marge Piercy
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“Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” — Oprah
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“I just love bossy women. I could be around them all day. To me, bossy is not a pejorative term at all. It means somebody’s passionate and engaged and ambitious and doesn’t mind learning.” —Amy Poehler
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“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
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“Women that believe in each other can survive anything. Women who believe in each other create armies that will win kingdoms and wars.” — Nikita Gill
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“One of the best things that ever happened to me is that I’m a woman. That is the way all females should feel.” — Marilyn Monroe
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“There are no hopeless situations; there are only men who have grown hopeless about them.”— Clare Boothe Luce
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“Run your own race. Don’t be distracted by what others are doing. Set and go after your own goals.”— Jen Gouldstone
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“A strong woman looks a challenge dead in the eye and gives it a wink.” —Gina Carey
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“I am learning every day to allow the space between where I am and where I want to be to inspire me and not terrify me.” — Tracee Ellis Ross
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“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
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“Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That’s what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice.” — Bethany Hamilton
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“Before the moon I am, what a woman is, a woman of power, a woman’s power, deeper than the roots of trees, deeper than the roots of islands, older than the Making, older than the moon.” —Ursula K. Le Guin
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“She was a wild one; always stomping on eggshells that everyone else tip-toed on.” – Kaitlin Foster
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“Women are never stronger than when they arm themselves with their weaknesses.” – Madame Marie du Deffand
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“Strong women wear their pain like they do stilettos. No matter how much it hurts, all you see is the beauty of it.” – Harriet Morgan
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"I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself." - Arianna Huffington
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"You can't be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute." - Tina Fey
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"Whenever you are blue or lonely or stricken by some humiliating thing you did, the cure and the hope is in caring about other people." - Diane Sawyer
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"I try to live in a little bit of my own joy and not let people steal it or take it." - Hoda Kotb
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“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
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“I am woman phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, that’s me.” — Maya Angelou
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“Pursuing peace means rising above one's own wants, needs, and emotions.” – Benazir Bhutto
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“Technique and ability alone do not get you to the top; it is the willpower that is most important.” – Junko Tabei
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“Be courageous. Challenge orthodoxy. Stand up for what you believe in. When you are in your rocking chair talking to your grandchildren many years from now, be sure you have a good story to tell.” — Amal Clooney
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“Don’t look at the big picture as the only achievement. Start with set, smart goals and work up to something bigger.” — Jordyn Wieber
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“After all those years as a woman hearing ‘not thin enough, not this enough, not that enough’, almost overnight I woke up one morning and thought—I’m enough.” – Anna Quindlen
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“Without an open-minded mind, you can never be a great success.” —Martha Stewart
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“Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got. There is no yesterday, no tomorrow, it’s all the same day.” —Janis Joplin
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“Ditch the dream and be a doer.” —Shonda Rhimes
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“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” —Estée Lauder
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"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage." — Anais Nin
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"I have stood on a mountain of no's for one yes." - B. Smith
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"I need to listen well so that I hear what is not said." - Thuli Madonsela
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"Don't live life in the past lane." - Samantha Ettus
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“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” — Nora Ephron
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“What I want young women and girls to know is: You are powerful and your voice matters. You’re going to walk into many rooms where you may be the only one who looks like you or who has had the experiences you’ve had. So you use that voice and be strong.” — Kamala Harris
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“Ignore the glass ceiling and do your work. If you’re focusing on the glass ceiling, focusing on what you don’t have, focusing on the limitations, then you will be limited.” — Ava DuVernay
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“I like to play a strong woman, but a strong woman can also be very fragile and vulnerable at the same time.” – Carice van Houten
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“Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, ‘She doesn’t have what it takes.’ They will say, ‘Women don’t have what it takes.’” – Clare Boothe Luce
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“Her damaged petals are what made her more beautiful than all the other flowers.” – A.J. Lawless
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“You take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.” —Erica Jong
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“I say if I’m beautiful. I say if I’m strong. You will not determine my story—I will.” — Amy Schumer
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“Champions keep playing until they get it right.” — Billie Jean King
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“I can never be safe; I always try and go against the grain. As soon as I accomplish one thing, I just set a higher goal. That’s how I’ve gotten to where I am.” — Beyoncé
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“Life-fulfilling work is never about the money—when you feel true passion for something you instinctively find ways to nurture it.” —Eileen Fisher
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“A strong woman builds her own world. She is one who is wise enough to know that it will attract the man she will gladly share it with.” – Ellen J. Barrier
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"The difference between successful people and others is how long they spend time feeling sorry for themselves." - Barbara Corcoran
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