15 Famous Feminist Quotes to Inspire and Empower
15 Famous Feminist Quotes to Inspire and Empower
For the last day of our week-long celebration of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month here are 15 famous feminist quotes by women who use their powerful voices for good! Their words of wisdom inspire and empower us to be the best women (and people!) we can be – we hope they do the same for you!
Photo by Gage Skidmore
“To all the little girls who are watching, 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
Photo by Chuck Kennedy
“There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.”
– Michelle Obama
Photo by Adrian Cabrero via Wikimedia Commons
“I’m tough, ambitious and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay.”
– Madonna
Photo by Simon Davis/DFID
“I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard…we cannot succeed when half of us are held back.”
– Malala Yousafzai
Photo via Oprah.com
“Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to greatness.”
– Oprah
Related Article: Famous Feminists of 2017
Photo by Gage Skidmore
“I was told that I was different — and I felt out of place, and too loud, too full of fire, never good at sitting still, never good at fitting in and then one day I realized something, something I hope you all realize. Different is good. When someone tells you that you are different, smile and hold your head up and be proud.”
– Angelina Jolie
Photo by World Economic Forum
“We hold ourselves back in ways both big and small, by lacking self-confidence, by not raising our hands, and by pulling back when we should be leaning in.”
– Sheryl Sandberg
Photo via www.chimamanda.com
“We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller. We say to girls, you can have ambition, but not too much. You should aim to be successful, but not too successful. Otherwise, you would threaten the man. Because I am female, I am expected to aspire to marriage. I am expected to make my life choices always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important. Now marriage can be a source of joy and love and mutual support but why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage and we don’t teach boys the same? We raise girls to see each other as competitors not for jobs or accomplishments, which I think can be a good thing, but for the attention of men. We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings in the way that boys are.”
– Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Photo by Pete Sekesan from New York, USA via Wikimedia
“We need to reshape our own perception of how we view ourselves. We have to step up as women and take the lead.”
– Beyoncé
Photo by David Shankbone
“The more I have spoken about feminism, the more I have realized that fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop.”
– Emma Watson
“My body, my mind, my choice.”
– Deepika Padukone
Photo by US Embassy London via Wikimedia
“Don’t wait until there is tragedy in your life. Don’t wait until you lose somebody. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Appreciate the beautiful people that you have in your life now.”
– Katie Piper
Photo by Andy Mettler, World Economic Forum
“I don’t think women can have it all. I just don’t think so. We pretend we have it all. We pretend we can have it all. My husband and I have been married for 34 years. And we have two daughters. And every day you have to make a decision about whether you are going to be a wife or a mother, in fact many times during the day you have to make those decisions. And you have to co-opt a lot of people to help you. We co-opted our families to help us. We plan our lives meticulously so we can be decent parents. But if you ask our daughters, I’m not sure they will say that I’ve been a good mom. I’m not sure. And I try all kinds of coping mechanisms.”
– Indra Nooyi
Photo by World Economic Forum via Flickr
“A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman.”
– Melinda Gates