200+ Inspirational Quotes for Women
Getting words of wisdom from some empowering women is always a great thing, not only because it is helpful but also because it is powerful. It’s good for young girls to get inspired by other females to go after their dreams and women of all ages to feel empowered to keep pushing and keep moving forward.
Whether it be a well-known actress, author, athlete, or an influential voice in politics, there is always one inspirational woman who can inspire–or who has inspired–others. And so, here are some inspirational quotes from these women for the women who might be reading this.
Inspirational Quotes for Women About Feminism and Equality
Although March is Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day (March 8) is a day for every feminist, it is important to celebrate every woman in your life every day.
It’s when extraordinary women are praised, and young girls can feel empowered to go after their dreams to become an entrepreneur or a powerful woman who isn’t afraid to defy stereotypes. It’s when every person who identifies as a strong woman loves and embraces their courage, beauty, kindness, smarts, and strength. It’s a day to put more focus on every activist fighting for women’s voices, gender equality, and human rights, despite the fear of those against us.
Here are some of our favorite inspirational quotes by female leaders to inspire every little girl or little boy to become the great woman they want to be. If you are a young girl or a young woman looking for some inspiration or affirmation about your success, these positive quotes by some remarkable women just might inspire you:
“We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back. We call upon our sisters around the world to be brave – to embrace the strength within themselves and realize their full potential.”
– Malala Yousafzai
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”
— Alice Walker
“I am too intelligent, too demanding, and too resourceful for anyone to be able to take charge of me entirely. No one knows me or loves me completely. I have only myself.”
— Simone de Beauvoir
“Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That’s what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice.”
— Bethany Hamilton
“They tried to bury us; they did not know we were the seeds.”
— Mexican Proverb
“She is water. Soft enough to offer life, tough enough to drown it away.”
— Rupi Kaur
“No woman should be told she can’t make decisions about her own body. When women’s rights are under attack, we fight back.”
— Kamala Harris
“Here’s to strong women. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them.”
— Unknown
“There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.”
— Michelle Obama
“Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”
— Toni Morrison
“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.”
— Audre Lorde
“Our country was built by strong women, and we will continue to break down walls and defy stereotypes.”
— Nancy Pelosi
“There is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.”
— Virginia Woolf
“Amazing things happen when women help other women.”
— Kasia Gospos
“If you want to run for Prime Minister, you can. If you don’t, that’s wonderful, too. Shave your armpits, don’t shave them, wear flats one day, heels the next. These things are so irrelevant and surface to what it is all really about, and I wish people wouldn’t get caught up in that. We want to empower women to do exactly what they want, to be true to themselves, to have the opportunities to develop. Women should feel free.”
– Emma Watson
“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
“A feminist is a person who believes in the power of women just as much as they believe in the power of anyone else. It’s equality, it’s fairness, and I think it’s a great thing to be a part of.”
— Zendaya
“Women are the real architects of society.”
— Harriet Beecher Stowe
“One is not born, but rather becomes a woman.”
— Simone de Beauvoir
“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
“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
“We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“I think trans women, and trans people 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
“Feminism isn’t about making women strong. Women are already strong; it’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength.”
— G.D. Anderson
“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.”
—Ruth Bader Ginsburg
“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
“Don’t be afraid to speak up for yourself. Keep fighting for your dreams!”
— Gabby Douglas
“I do not wish [women] to have power over men, but over themselves.”
— Mary Wollstonecraft
“A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman.”
— Melinda Gates
“Black women have had to develop a larger vision of our society than perhaps any other group. They have had to understand white men, white women, and black men. And they have had to understand themselves. When black women win victories, it is a boost for virtually every segment of society.”
— Angela Davis
“Only love can save this world. So I stay, I fight, and I give. This is my mission now. Forever.”
— Diana Prince, Wonder Woman
“A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do. A woman must do what he can’t.”
— Rhonda Hansome
“Have no fear of perfection; you’ll never reach it.”
— Marie Curie
“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
“I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.”
“What would men be without women? Scarce, sir…mighty scarce.”
“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
“As a woman, I have no country. As a woman, I want no country. As a woman, my country is the whole world.”
— Virginia Woolf
“There is nothing more intimidating to a boy than a woman with self-esteem. There is nothing more beautiful to a man than a woman with self-esteem.”
— Jeremy Penn
“The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it.”
— Roseanne Barr
“Once you figure out what respect tastes like, it tastes better than attention.”
— Pink
“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
“The fastest way to change society is to mobilize the women of the world.”
— Charles Malik
“You don’t have to play masculine to be a strong woman.”
— Mary Elizabeth Winstead
“Women will be hidden no more. We will not remain hidden figures. We have names. … It was a woman that gave you Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was a woman that gave you Malcolm X. And according to the Bible, it was a woman that gave you Jesus. Don’t you ever forget it.”
— Janelle Monáe
“We need to reshape our own perception of how we view ourselves. We have to step up as women and take the lead.”
— Beyoncé
“A man told me that for a woman, I was very opinionated. I said, ‘for a man, you’re kind of ignorant.'”
— Anne Hathaway
“A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.”
— Gloria Steinem
“I feel now that the time has come when even a woman or a child who can speak a word for freedom and humanity is bound to speak.”
— Harriet Beecher Stowe
“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”
— Charlotte Brontë
“When there are no ceilings, the sky’s the limit. So let’s keep going—let’s keep going until every one of the 161 million women and girls across America has the opportunity she deserves to have.”
— Hillary Clinton
“The strength of a woman is not measured by the impact that all her hardships in life have had on her, but the strength of a woman is measured by the extent of her refusal to allow those hardships to dictate her and who she becomes.”
— C. JoyBell C.
“Women have discovered that they cannot rely on men’s chivalry to give them justice.”
“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
“Whenever you see a successful woman, look out for three men who are going out of their way to try to block her.“
— Yulia Tymoshenko
“Power is not given to you. You have to take it.”
— Beyoncé Knowles
Inspiring Quotes About Success and Passion
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
“If you are always trying to be normal, you’ll never know how amazing you can be.”
— Maya Angelou
“You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.”
— Brigham Young
“If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not making decisions.”
— Catherine Cook
“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
“People think at the end of the day that a man is the only answer [to fulfillment]. Actually, a job is better for me.”
— Princess Diana
“Success, they taught me, is built on the foundation of courage, hard work, and individual responsibility. Despite what some would have us believe, success is not built on resentment and fears.”
— Susana Martinez
“It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but even more to stand up to your friends.”
— J. K. Rowling
“Be that strong girl that everyone knew would make it through the worst, be that fearless girl, the one who would dare to do anything, be that independent girl who didn’t need a man; be that girl who never backed down.”
— Taylor Swift
“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
“The only safe ship in a storm is leadership.”
— Faye Wattleton
“There’s no situation — none — that isn’t improved with a couple of laughs. Everybody needs laughs.”
— Julia Louis-Dreyfus
“My best successes came on the heels of failures.”
— Barbara Corcoran
“I am a woman with thoughts and questions and shit to say. I say if I’m beautiful. I say if I’m strong. You will not determine my story – I will.”
— Amy Schumer
“I have learned that as long as I hold fast to my beliefs and values – and follow my own moral compass – then the only expectations I need to live up to are my own.”
— Michelle Obama
“I’m tough, ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay.”
— Madonna
“The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”
— Ayn Rand
“We can do no great things, only small things with great love.”
“Everything is within your power, and your power is within you.”
— Janice Trachtman
“Courage is the most important of all the virtues because, without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.”
— Maya Angelou
“One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals.”
— Michelle Obama
“Women must learn to play the game as men do.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt
“The only way you can grow is to let yourself make mistakes and create contradictions.”
— Nikki Giovanni
“Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow them.”
— Louisa May Alcott
“A man is absolutely not a necessity. I love men, I think men are the coolest, but you really don’t need them to live. My mom said to me, ‘You know, sweetheart, one day you should settle down and marry a rich man.’ I said, ‘Mom, I am a rich man.’”
— Cher
“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt
“We need to get women to the point where they aren’t apologizing. It is time to take ownership in our success.”
— Tory Burch
“If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.”
— Margaret Thatcher
“Take criticism seriously, but not personally. If there is truth or merit in the criticism, try to learn from it. Otherwise, let it roll right off you.”
— Hillary Clinton
“Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got. There is no yesterday, no tomorrow, it’s all the same day.”
— Janis Joplin
“If you are successful, it is because somewhere, sometime, someone gave you a life or an idea that started you in the right direction. Remember also that you are indebted to life until you help some less fortunate person, just as you were helped.”
— Melinda Gates
“The best protection any woman can have … is courage.”
— Elizabeth Cady Stanton
“It’s possible to climb to the top without stomping on other people.”
— Taylor Swift
“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
“There are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints.”
— Rita Dove
“Strong women need not declare they can carry all the burdens in life. They just quietly do it and survive with a smile.”
— Princess Maleiha Bajunaid Candao
“Doubt is a killer. You just have to know who you are and what you stand for.”
— Jennifer Lopez
“In your twenties you’re becoming who you’re going to be, and so you might as well not be an asshole.”
“Fearlessness is like a muscle. I know from my own life that the more I exercise it, the more natural it becomes to not let my fears run me.”
— Arianna Huffington
“You have what it takes to be a victorious, independent, fearless woman.”
— Tyra Banks
“Don’t think or judge, just listen.”
— Sarah Dessen
“If you don’t know what your passion is, realize that one reason for your existence on earth is to find it.”
— Oprah Winfrey
“I found that ultimately 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
“Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.”
— Julia Child
“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
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”
— Anais Nin
“She was powerful not because she wasn’t scared but because she went on so strongly, despite the fear.”
— Atticus
“Whatever you do, be different – that was the advice my mother gave me, and I can’t think of better advice for an entrepreneur. If you’re different, you will stand out.”
— Anita Roddick
“Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory.”
— Betty Smith
“If you push through that feeling of being scared, that feeling of taking a risk, really amazing things can happen.”
— Marissa Mayer
“I am smart, I am talented, I take advantage of the opportunities that come my way, and I work really, really hard.”
— Shonda Rhimes
“If you don’t get out of the box you’ve been raised in, you won’t understand how much bigger the world is.”
—Angelina Jolie
“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.”
– Estée Lauder
“The difference between successful people and others is how long they spend time feeling sorry for themselves.”
— Barbara Corcoran
“There are those who say fate is something beyond our command; that destiny is not our own. But I know better. Our fate lives within us. You only have to be brave enough to see it.”
— Merida, Brave
“Ask any woman & she’ll tell you why Eve bit / into that apple. Why she chose the universe instead / of you.”
— Topaz Winters
“A strong woman looks a challenge dead in the eye and gives it a wink.”
— Gina Carey
“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
“You must always have faith in people. And most importantly, you must always have faith in yourself.”
— Elle Woods, Legally Blonde
“Practice creates confidence. Confidence empowers you.”
— Simone Biles
“You can fall, but you can rise also.”
— Angelique Kidjo
“Creating the culture of burnout is the opposite of creating a culture of sustainable creativity.”
— Arianna Huffington
“Never apologize for being sensitive or emotional. Let this be a sign that you’ve got a big heart and aren’t afraid to let others see it. Showing your emotions is a sign of strength.”
— Brigitte Nicole
“I need to listen well so that I hear what is not said.”
— Thuli Madonsela
“You can waste your life drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them.”
— Shonda Rhimes
“You can’t give up! If you give up, you’re like everybody else.”
— Chris Evert
“Many receive advice, only the wise profit from it.”
— Harper Lee
“If you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.”
— Erica Jong
“Define success on your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you’re proud to live.”
— Anne Sweeney
“I try to maintain a healthy dose of daydreaming to remain sane.”
— Florence Welch
“Buckle up, and know that it’s going to be a tremendous amount of work, but embrace it.”
— Tory Burch
“I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took an excuse.”
— Florence Nightingale
“Tough times never last, but tough people do.”
— Robert H. Schuller
“A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.”
– Coco Chanel
“You is smart, you is kind, you is important.”
— Aibileen Clark, The Help
“Just because you are soft doesn’t mean you are not a force. Honey and wildfire are both the color gold.”
—Victoria Erickson
“Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.”
– Vivian Greene
“You can be the lead in your own life.”
– Kerry Washington
“Take your broken heart, make it into art.”
— Carrie Fisher
“They say it’s the good girls who keep diaries. The bad girls never have the time. Me, I just wanna live a life I’m gonna remember even if I don’t write it down.”
― Tallulah Bankhead
“Don’t let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity. It’s your place in the world; it’s your life.”
— Dr. Mae Jemison
“Words have power. TV has power. My pen has power.”
— Shonda Rhimes
“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”
— Dolly Parton
“And one day, she discovered that she was fierce and strong, and full of fire and that not even she could hold herself back because her passion burned brighter than her fears.”
— Mark Anthony
“A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult.”
– Melinda Gates
“You have to have confidence in your ability and then be tough enough to follow through.”
— Rosalynn Carter
“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
“You know, you do need mentors, but in the end, you really just need to believe in yourself.”
— Diana Ross
“Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.”
— Wilma Rudolph
“Just because something works doesn’t mean it can’t be improved.”
— Shuri, Black Panther
“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
“Strategic leaders must not get consumed by the operational and tactical side of their work.”
— Stephanie S. Mead
“Whatever anybody says or does, assume positive intent. You will be amazed at how your whole approach to a person or problem becomes very different.”
— Indra Nooyi
“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
“The most important words that have helped me in life, when things have gone right or when things have gone wrong, are ‘accept responsibility.'”
— Billie Jean King
“I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same as ‘making a life.’”
— Maya Angelou
“Whatever you want in life, other people are going to want it too. Believe in yourself enough to accept the idea that you have an equal right to it.”
— Diane Sawyer
Short Inspirational Quotes About Beauty and Self-Worth
Here are some inspirational quotes for women from other amazing women to remind you that beauty comes from within no matter what you look like. If you have a kind heart and a gentle soul, then you are beautiful.
Some of these can be good as an Instagram caption for a selfie or an inspirational quote to hang up on the wall next to the mirror.
“I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I believe in miracles.”
— Audrey Hepburn
“It’s not your job to like me; it’s mine.”
— Byron Katie
“Look in the mirror and say, ‘there is none other like you, and for that reason alone you are beautiful.'”
— Miranda Hart
“What makes your different or weird, that’s your strength.”
— Meryl Streep
“Do not tame the wolf inside you just because you’ve met someone who doesn’t have the courage to handle you.”
— Belle Estreller
“Taking care of yourself makes you stronger for everyone in your life … including you.”
— Kelly Rudolph
“Once you know who you are, you don’t have to worry anymore.”
— Nikki Giovanni
“You are the one that possesses the keys to your being. You carry the passport to your own happiness.”
— Diane von Furstenberg
“The challenge is not to be perfect…it’s to be whole.”
— Jane Fonda
“The more you can be authentic, the happier you’re going to be, and life will work itself around that.”
— Melinda Gates
“You’re only human. You don’t have to have it together every minute of the day.”
— Anne Hathaway
“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”
— Judy Garland
“There were times I was underestimated a lot. It gave me a unique benefit.”
— Elaine Welteroth
“Happiness and confidence are the prettiest things you can wear.”
— Taylor Swift
“Stop worrying so much about your looks and start looking around you. You have missed so much beauty trying to become beautiful. You have missed your own worth trying to become worthy.”
— Vironika Tugaleva
“Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone.”
— Dorothy Parker
“The way in which we think of ourselves has everything to do with how our world sees us and how we see ourselves successfully acknowledged by the world.”
— Arlene Rankin
“If you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more. If you look at what you don’t have in life, you’ll never have enough.”
— Oprah Winfrey
“I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning to sail my ship.”
— Louisa May Alcott
“Do you want to meet the love of your life? Look in the mirror.”
— Byron Katie
“I don’t want to speak negativity into existence.”
— SZA
“Beauty is not who you are on the outside; it is the wisdom and time you gave away to save another struggling soul like you.”
— Shannon Alder
“You are more powerful than you know; you are beautiful just as you are.”
— Melissa Etheridge
“The more you love yourself, the less nonsense you’ll tolerate.”
— Anonymous
“Embrace everything you are as a woman. Even your flaws too. And the things that you want to fix, you make them better.”
— Kelly Rowland
“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.”
— Nora Ephron
“Imperfections are beauty, madness is genius, and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”
— Marilyn Monroe
“No matter what you look like or think you look like, you’re special, and loved, and perfect just the way you are.”
— Ariel Winter
“No matter what a woman looks like, if she’s confident, she’s sexy.”
― Paris Hilton
“When a woman becomes her own best friend, life is easier.”
― Diane Von Furstenberg
“The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she knows.”
― Audrey Hepburn
“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”
― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
“I can’t think of any better representation of beauty than someone who is unafraid to be herself.”
– Emma Stone
“A witty woman is a treasure; a witty beauty is a power.”
― George Meredith
“You have to believe in yourself when no one else does.”
― Serena Williams
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