1.“When a woman rises up in glory, her energy is magnetic and her sense of possibility contagious.”
2.“I am a woman and a warrior. If you think I can’t be both, you’ve been lied to.”
3.“Every woman’s success should be an inspiration to another. We’re strongest when we cheer each other on.”
4.“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.”
5.“Friends. Sisters. Mothers. Professors. When women affirm women, it unlocks our power. It gives us permission to shine brighter.”
6.“Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe you must become its soul.”
7.“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
8.“My mother always used to say, ‘The older you get, the better you get. Unless you’re a banana.'”
9.“Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.”
10.“The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”
11.“It actually doesn’t take much to be considered a difficult woman. That’s why there are so many of us.”
12.“So please ask yourself: What would I do if I weren’t afraid? And then go do it.”
13.“Do not live someone else’s life and someone else’s idea of what womanhood is. Womanhood is you.”
14.“You have to make your own luck. You make it in practice and with training and conditioning.”
15.“You can waste your lives drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them.”
16.“I’m not here to be perfect and I’m not here to be anything but my best, whatever that means for me.”
17.“All you need to know is that the future is wide open and you are about to create it by what you do.”
18.“The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.”
19.“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.”
20.“I learned a long time ago that there is something worse than missing the goal, and that’s not pulling the trigger.”
21.“Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else.”
22.“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.”
23.“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.”
24.“You never have to ask anyone permission to lead. When you want to lead, you lead.”
25.“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.”
26.“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.”
27.“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.”
28.“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.”
29.“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”
30.“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.”
31.“We need to encourage girls that their voice matters. I think there are hundreds and thousands of Malalas out there.”
32.“You deserve to be here. You deserve to exist. You deserve to take up space in this world of men.”
33.“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.”
34.“Females are the most beautiful, gorgeous creatures in the whole world. And I think that we are gorgeous no matter what size we are.”
35.“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.”
36.“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.”
37.“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.”
38.“Whatever the problem, be part of the solution. Don’t just sit around raising questions and pointing out obstacles.”
39.“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”
40.“Anyone can hide. Facing up to things, working through them, that’s what makes you strong.”
41.“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.”
42.“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.”
43.“You should never be surprised when someone treats you with respect. You should expect it.”
44.“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.”
45.“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.”
46.“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.”
47.“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.”
48.“No one ever became a success without taking chances… One must be able to recognize the moment and seize it without delay.”
49.“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.”
50.“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”
51.“I say if I’m beautiful. I say if I’m strong. You will not determine my story – I will.”
52.“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.”
53.“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.”
54.“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.”
55.“No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.”
56.“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.”
57.“Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That’s what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice.”
58.“You could certainly say that I’ve never underestimated myself. There’s nothing wrong with being ambitious.”
59.“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.”
60.“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.”
61.“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.”
62.“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.”
63.“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.”
64.“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.”
65.“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.”
66.“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.'”
67.“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.”
68.“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.”
69.“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.”
70.“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.”
71.“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.”
72.“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.”
73.“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.'”
74.“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.”
75.“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.”