Inspiring Quotes by Women
Women have been fighting for their rights, and the rights of others, for centuries.
In fact, there are countless women throughout history who have stood up for women and girls, inspiring us to reach for our dreams, fight for our rights, and create a better more equal world.
During Women’s History Month, it’s so important to remember this and celebrate those courageous women.
We gathered some inspiring feminist quotes from women who have made history and inspired others—check out these quotes, save them, and share them!
“Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.”
“The true republic: men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.”
“When you lift up women, you lift up families, you lift up communities, you lift up economies – and you lift up America.”
“We need to live in a culture that values and respects and looks up to and idolizes women as much as men.”
“Feminism isn’t about making women strong. Women are already strong. It’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength.”
“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.”
“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.”
“The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn.”
“Every woman’s success should be an inspiration to another. We’re strongest when we cheer each other on.”
“You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time.”
“I raise up my voice – not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.”
“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.”
“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.”
“Let us continue the work together and with others, toward the development of a better womanhood, a better manhood, and a better citizenship.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman.”
“Feminism is for everybody.”
“When girls are educated, their countries become stronger and more prosperous.”
“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.”
“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”
“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.”
“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.”
“Women feel like we need permission… We need to lead and change that.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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?”
“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.”
“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.”
“A huge part of being a feminist is giving other women the freedom to make choices you might not necessarily make yourself.”
“Girls are weighed down by restrictions, boys with demands—two equally harmful disciplines.”
“Women will only have true equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation.”
“A gender-equal society would be one where the word ‘gender’ does not exist: where everyone can be themselves.”
“What I want young women and girls to know is: You are powerful and your voice matters.”
“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?”
“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.”
“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.”
“Women have been called queens for a long time, but the kingdom given them isn’t worth ruling.”
“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.”
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
“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.’”
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish, whether that’s in politics or other fields.”
“I can promise you that women working together—linked, informed and educated—can bring peace and prosperity to this forsaken planet.”
“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.”
“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.”
“No woman should be told she can’t make decisions about her own body. When women’s rights are under attack, we fight back.”
“We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.”
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