It’s International Women’s Day and it’s time to celebrate our achievements, our collaborations and potential. I am sharing a group of inspiring quotes* I discovered while researching this day. These women have shown us how to use our voice to inspire and lead others.
“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
2. “I am a woman and I get to define what that means.” – Swati Sharma
3. “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
4. “I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life—and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.”
– Georgia O’Keeffe
5. “Don’t think about making women fit the world — think about making the world fit women.” – Gloria Steinem
6. “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” – Alice Walker
7. “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg
8. “I encourage women to step up. Don’t wait for somebody to ask you.” – Reese Witherspoon, Actor
9. “I’ve never been interested in being invisible and erased.” – Laverne Cox
10. “When the world tells you to shrink, expand.” – Elaine Welteroth
11. “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
12. “Today, we are celebrating the strength, determination, and resilience of women everywhere.”
– Michelle Obama
13. “…this International Women’s Day, allow me to share what I’ve learned. You don’t need to be ‘one of the guys.’ You are strong, brave, and destined to lead. Own it.” – Tammy Duckworth
14. “Women should be celebrated every day…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
15. “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
16. “Women make up more than half of the world’s population and potential, so it is neither just nor practical for their voices, for our voices, to go unheard at the highest levels of decision-making.”
– Meghan Markle
17. “Organize, agitate, educate, must be our war cry.” – Susan B. Anthony
18. “You never completely have your rights, one person, until you all have your rights.” – Marsha P. Johnson
19. “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
20. “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
21. “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” – Shirley Chisholm
22. “It’s okay if you fall down and lose your spark. Just make sure that when you get back up, you rise as the whole damn fire.” – Colette Werden
23. “The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who’s going to stop me.” – Ayn Rand
24. “Do not live someone else’s life and someone else’s idea of what womanhood is. Womanhood is you.” – Viola Davis
25. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt
26. “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 herself only.” – Maya Angelou
27. “I want every girl to know that her voice can change the world.” – Malala Yousafzai
28. “I do not believe in using women in combat, because females are too fierce.” – Margaret Mead
29. “I’m pretty good at weaseling my way into a job, even if I have no business being there.” – Aubrey Plaza
30. “I am 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
31. “Be free, be fierce, but most of all, have fun while being a feminist.” – Nimco Ali
32. A woman is like a tea bag – you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Quotes c/o Unexpected Virtual Tours and Training https://unexpectedvirtualtours.com/resources/womens-history-month-quotes/