Here’s the thing: Women don’t need empowerment. We already have power. We already have the strength, resilience, and courage to fight the systems that keep us from feeling like we don’t.
But sometimes we just need a little reminder.
For those moments, and for the rallying cries that will lead us all to a more just, equitable future, we’ve compiled a list of quotes that help us all tap into our inherent tenacity and make our voices echo even further.
From world leaders, activists, artists, poets, and fictional characters alike, we hope these quotes leave you feeling energized and encouraged to take on the world. Spoiler alert: it’s already yours.
The Best Quotes To Empower Women
Famous Quotes
“Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.”
— Maya Angelou
“I’m not going to limit myself just because people won’t accept the fact that I can do something else.”
— Dolly Parton
“Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe you must become its soul.”
— Coretta Scott King
“Women, like men, should try to do the impossible. And when they fail, their failure should be a challenge to others.”
— Amelia Earhart
“It’s not about how many times you get rejected or fall down or are beaten up, it’s about how many times you stand up and are brave and you keep on going.”
— Lady Gaga
“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
“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.”
— Meghan Markle
“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
“Women should be tough, tender, laugh as much as possible, and live long lives.”
— Maya Angelou
Strong Woman Quotes
“A strong woman is a woman determined to do something that others are determined not to be done.”
— Marge Piercy
“You don’t know the background story of resilience, struggles and strength of beautiful and outgoing women. All you see is what is showcased.”
— Germany Kent
“Anyone can hide. Facing up to things, working through them, that’s what makes you strong.”
—Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever
“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
“Though we tremble before uncertain futures, may we meet illness, death and adversity with strength. May we dance n the face of our fears.”
— Gloria Anzaldúa
“We all have an unsuspected reserve of strength inside that emerges when life puts us to the test.”
— Isabel Allende
“The emerging woman… will be strong-minded, strong-hearted, strong-souled, and strong-bodied… strength and beauty must go together.”
— Louisa May Alcott, An Old-Fashioned Girl
→ Read more quotes about staying strong
Inspirational Quotes
“For me, the process of embodying confidence was less about convincing myself of my own worth and more about rejecting and unlearning what society had hammered into me.”
— Lindy West
“When life hands you a difficult situation where you feel undervalued and disrespected, be bold and brave enough to know your worth.”
— Yai Vargas
“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.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“Don’t be afraid if things seem difficult in the beginning. That’s only the initial impression. The important thing is not to retreat: You have to master yourself.”
— Olga Korbut
“I think it is about time that equipped women began to take on some of the ethical questions which a male-dominated culture has produced and dissect and analyze them quite to pieces in a serious fashion. It is time that ‘half the human race’ had something to say about the nature of its existence.”
— Lorraine Hansberry
“To all the little girls… 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
“Deadly and graceful, poised and ruthless. Quiet and cunning. A queen offers her hand to be kissed, and can form it into a fist while smiling the whole damn time.”
— Elizabeth Acevedo
“The extremists are afraid of books and pens, the power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“A gender-equal society would be one where the word ‘gender’ does not exist: where everyone can be themselves.”
— Gloria Steinem
“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, We Should All Be Feminists
“Sometimes a breakdown can be the beginning of a kind of breakthrough, a way of living in advance through a trauma that prepares you for a future of radical transformation.”
— Cherrie Moraga
“The biggest problem that women have is being ambivalent about their own power… We should be comfortable with the idea of wielding power. We shouldn’t feel that it detracts from our femininity.”
— Elizabeth Wurtzel, Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women
Female Empowerment Quotes
“When women lose themselves, the world loses its way. We do not need more selfless women. What we need right now is more women who have detoxed themselves so completely from the world’s expectations that they are full of nothing but themselves. What we need are women who are full of themselves. A woman who is full of herself knows and trusts herself enough to say and do what must be done. She lets the rest burn.”
— Glennon Doyle
“There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.”
— Kofi Annan
“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
“I am a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.”
— Maya Angelou
On Freedom
“Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”
— Toni Morrison
“Freedom is to live with dignity.”
— Manal al-Sharif, Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman’s Awakening
“Who knows what women can be when they are finally free to be themselves.”
— Betty Friedan
“Imagine how much happier we would be, how much freer to be our true individual selves, if we didn't have the weight of gender expectations.”
— Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
“It is a blessing to know a free woman. Sometimes she will stop by and hold up a mirror for you. She will help you remember who you are.”
— Glennon Doyle
“Freedom is not being for or against an ideal, but creating your own existence from scratch.”
— Glennon Doyle
“There is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.”
— Virginia Woolf
“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.”
— Audre Lorde
On Independence
“I will not stay, not ever again — in a room or conversation or relationship or institution that requires me to abandon myself.”
— Glennon Doyle
“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 only herself”
— Maya Angelou
“I’m not going to continue knocking that old door that doesn’t open for me. I’m going to create my own door and walk through that.”
— Ava DuVernay
“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
“A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform.”
— Diane Mariechild
On Growth
“Sometimes you need to scorch everything to the ground, and start over. After the burning the soil is richer, and new things can grow. People are like that, too. They start over. They find a way.”
— Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere
“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.”
— Marissa Mayer
“If you’re one of those people who has that little voice in the back of her mind saying, ‘Maybe I could do [fill in the blank],’ don’t tell it to be quiet. Give it a little room to grow, and try to find an environment it can grow in.”
— Reese Witherspoon
“Change is incremental, and it is sometimes quiet. And it is happening. I promise you it is happening.”
— Glennon Doyle
Feminist Quotes
“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
“Teach her that the idea of ‘gender roles’ is absolute nonsense. Do not ever tell her that she should or should not do something because she is a girl. ‘Because you are a girl’ is never a reason for anything. Ever.”
— Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions
“I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat.”
— Rebecca West
“I embrace the label of bad feminist because I am human. I am messy. I’m not trying to be an example. I am not trying to be perfect. I am not trying to say I have all the answers. I am not trying to say I’m right. I am just trying — trying to support what I believe in, trying to do some good in this world, trying to make some noise with my writing while also being myself.”
— Roxane Gay
“My movement is my movement. When all the dust has settled on the groundbreaking-ness, I’m going to still be doing this. I’m not going to suddenly change. I’m going to still be telling my life story through music. And if that’s body-positive to you, amen. If that’s feminist to you, amen. If that’s pro-Black to you, amen. Because ma’am, I’m all of those things.”
— Lizzo
“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.”
— Laverne Cox
“A huge part of being a feminist is giving other women the freedom to make choices you might not necessarily make yourself.”
— Lena Dunham
“Feminism is for everybody.”
— bell hooks
→ Read more feminist quotes
From Literature and Books
“There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”
— Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
“I ask not for any crown
But that which all may win;
Nor try to conquer any world
Except the one within.”
— Louisa May Alcott, The Complete Poetry
“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”
— Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
“My true potential had more to do with my willingness to struggle than with my past and present circumstances.”
— Hope Jahren, Lab Girl
“When you can’t find someone to follow, you have to find a way to lead by example.”
— Roxane Gay, Bad Feminist
“There’s not a stratum of the world that doesn’t need girls. Maybe we’re devalued precisely because we’re so valuable. The world is too afraid of not being able to obtain and control us to respect our true worth.”
— Xiran Jay Zhao, Iron Widow
“When we police a woman’s affect, when we privilege it or equate it with her actions, with what she actually does, we’re engaging in our most pervasive and yet our most quiet form of sexism, our most quiet form of everyday violence.”
— Toni Jensen, Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land
“Agency. Self-determination. Dignity. Solidarity. We could not discount the potential impact of even one such altered perspective on a young girl, her family, and, eventually, on an entire community.”
— Samantha Power, The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir
“It is critical to unearth and understand our stories — both as individuals and as entrepreneurs. Once we do that, make peace with it, and embrace it, not only can we live empowered, transformed, and fulfilling lives, we can help others do that too as models and as guides.”
— Marta Spirk, The Empowered Woman: The Ultimate Roadmap to Business Success
“Give a girl an education and introduce her properly into the world, and ten to one she has the means of settling well, without further expense to anybody.”
— Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
“When my daughters grow up
and look at the trenches
time will have dug on my forehead
I want them to see the wars
other women have fought
so the lines of those after them
wouldn’t be trenches, but poems”
— Valentina Quarta, The Purpose Ladder
“Sometimes just being yourself is the radical act. When you occupy space in systems that weren’t built for you, your authenticity is activism.”
— Elaine Welteroth, More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say)
“Women have sat indoors all these millions of years, so that by this time the very walls are permeated by their creative force, which has, indeed, so overcharged the capacity of bricks and mortar that it must needs harness itself to pens and brushes and business and politics.”
— Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own
“I was amazed that what I needed to survive could be carried on my back. And, most surprising of all, that I could carry it.”
— Cheryl Strayed, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
From Women in Power
“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.”
— Ruth Bader Ginsburg
“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.”
— Nancy Pelosi
“There will be people who say to you, ‘You are out of your lane’. They are burdened by only having the capacity to see what has always been instead of what can be. But don’t let that burden you.”
— Kamala Harris
“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.”
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
“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
“Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. And, when you stumble, keep faith. And, when you’re knocked down, get right back up and never listen to anyone who says you can’t or shouldn’t go on.”
— Hillary Clinton
“Our collective experience has shown that when women have the power to make their own choices, good things happen.”
— Madeleine Albright
“A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman.”
— Melinda Gates
Short Quotes
“There is no force more powerful than a woman determined to rise.”
— W.E.B. Dubois
“There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.”
— Michelle Obama
“Everything is within your power, and your power is within you.”
— Janice Trachtman
“If you ask a woman who she is, she’ll tell you who she serves and sometimes what she does. But that isn’t the whole story.”
— Glennon Doyle
“We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.”
— Maya Angelou
“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
“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.”
— Estée Lauder
“I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves.”
— Mary Wollstonecraft
“I have met myself and I am going to care for her fiercely.”
— Glennon Doyle
“Everything is within your power, and your power is within you.”
— Janice Trachtman, Catching What Life Throws at You: Inspiring True Stories of Healing.
“We all have purpose even if we’re still striving to understand what that is.”
— Angela Bassett
“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”
— Angela Davis
“You never completely have your rights, one person, until you all have your rights.”
— Marsha P. Johnson
More Quotes
“A powerful woman is a heat-resistant and storm-bracing caliber. There is nothing she cannot handle.”
— Gift Gugu Mona
“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
“I’ve been in so many spaces where I’m the first and only Black trans woman or trans woman period. I just want to work until there are fewer and fewer ‘first and only’s.”
— Raquel Willis
“A woman who is willing to be herself and pursue her own potential runs not so much the risk of loneliness, as the challenge of exposure to more interesting men — and people in general.”
— Lorraine Hansberry
“Respect, Love, and Value yourself. Always remember to be good to yourself by taking care of yourself. Make yourself a priority and know that it’s okay. Don’t feel guilty for loving yourself, first! You’re just as important as anybody else.”
— Stephanie Lahart
“I do realize the importance of having the bravery to live as who you are and I feel like a lot of people don’t have that bravery. Maybe by me opening my big fat mouth like I usually do and stepping up and owning who I am, maybe it might inspire somebody else to do the same.”
— Michelle Rodriguez
“It takes a little bit of bravery to step out, to be like, okay, I don’t look like anybody else around here. I am making the conscious decision to present myself the way I want to today.”
— Hunter Schafer
“Sometimes people try to destroy you, precisely because they recognize your power — not because they don’t see it, but because they see it and they don’t want it to exist.”
— Janet Mock
“Hear me as a woman
Have me as your sister
On purpled battlefield breaking day,
So I might say our victory is just beginning,
See me as change,
Say I am movement,
That I am the year
And I am the era
Of the women.”
— Amanda Gorman, Won’t You Be My Sister
