Inspiring Quotes

“We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.” Malala Yousafzai

“The only thing worse about being blind is having sight but no vision.” Helen Keller

“Never doubt that you are valuable, powerful, and deserving of every opportunity in the world and every chance to pursue your own dreams.” Hilary Clinton

“You know you can’t hope yourself to a better life – you must take yourself there.” Helen Gurley Brown

“Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?”  Frida Kahlo

“I would have girls regard themselves not as adjectives, but as nouns.” Elizabeth Cady Stanton

“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” Dame Jane Goodall

“Power is not given to you. You have to take it.”  Beyonce Knowles

“We’re here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark.” Whoopi Goldberg

“If not me, who? If not now, when?” Emma Watson

“If you don’t see the book you want on the shelf, write it.”  Beverly Cleary

“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” Maya Angelou

“If we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop and we do nothing, we make ourselves sharers of the guilt.”  Anna Sewell

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” Anais Nin

“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.”  Simone de Beauvoir

“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”  Judy Garland

“All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming.”  Helen Keller

“A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” Rosalynn Carter

“Put blinders on those things that conspire to hold you back, especially the ones in your own head.” Meryl Streep

“There is no great force for change, for peace, for justice and democracy, for inclusive economic growth than a world of empowered women.” Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka – UN Women Executive Director

“Those who don’t know how to weep with their whole heart don’t know how to laugh either.” Golda Meir

“Don’t accept your dog’s admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.” Ann Landers

“Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” Princess Diana of Wales

“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” Ayn Rand

“A stumbling block to the pessimist is a stepping stone to the optimist.” Eleanor Roosevelt

“It’s the moment you think you can’t that you realize you can.” Céline Dion

“Don’t spend time beating on a wall hoping to transform it into a door.” Coco Chanel

“Imagination is the highest kite one can fly.” Lauren Bacall

“You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.” Beverly Sills

“I succeeded by saying what everyone else is thinking.”  Joan Rivers

“Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates youth.”  J. K. Rowling

“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” Judy Garland

“Capabilities are clearly manifested only when they have been realized.”                              Simone de Beauvoir

“What we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down.” Mary Pickford

“We should remember that just as a positive outlook on life can promote good health, so can everyday acts of kindness.” Hilary Clinton

“A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.”  Coco Chanel

“Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings.” Cheris Kramarae

“When a woman becomes her own best friend, life is easier.” Diane Von Furstenburg

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”  Margaret Mead

“There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.”  Madeleine Albright

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” Anaïs Nin

“If you’re not annoying somebody, you’re not really alive.”  Margaret Atwood

“Nobody cares if you can’t dance well.  Just get up and dance. Great dancers are not great because of their technique; they are great because of their PASSION.” Martha Graham

“Empower women and you will see a decrease in poverty, illiteracy, disease and violence.” Michaelle Jean

“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”  Audrey Hepburn

“You can’t shake hands with a clenched fist.” Indira Gandhi

“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 common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”  Alice Walker

“Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.”  Gloria Steinem 

“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.”  Ella Fitzgerald

“Hard work keeps the wrinkles out of the mind and spirit.” Helena Rubinstein

“Self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion.”  Billie Jean King

“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”  Eleanor Roosevelt

“There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it” Edith Wharton

“Being confident and believing in your own self-worth is necessary to achieving your potential.”  Sheryl Sandberg

“There is a special place in hell for women that don’t help other women.” Madeleine Albright

“We still think of a powerful man as a born leader and a powerful woman as an anomaly.” Margaret Atwood

“Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less.” Susan B. Anthony 

“I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done.” Lucille Ball

“To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.”  Eleanor Roosevelt

“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.”  Estée Lauder

“Extremists have shown what frightens them most: a girl with a book.” Malala Yousafzai

“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

“There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you.” Maya Angelou

“We can do no great things, only small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

“I am an example of what is possible when girls from the very beginning of their lives are loved and nurtured by people around them. I was surrounded by extraordinary women in my life who taught me about quiet strength and dignity.” Michelle Obama

“A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult.” Melinda Gates

“A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.” Eleanor Roosevelt

“The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.” Oprah Winfrey

“Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country.” Margaret Thatcher

“I am neither a man nor a woman but an author.”  Charlotte Bronte 

“The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” Ayn Rand

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”  Maya Angelou 

“You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.” Rosalyn Carter 

“Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Eleanor Roosevelt

“I’ve learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances.” Martha Washington

11 Responses to Inspiring Quotes

  1. I love a good quote, thank you for posting

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  2. What a wonderful collection of quotations Betty! I’ve collected quotations most of my life and yet there are a few here that are new to me so I’ve “captured” them. You’ve also included images of some of my favorite women, Lauren Bacall and Eleanor Roosevelt are right up at the top of the list. Thank you so much for the treasure trove of inspiration!

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  3. Linda Ursin says:

    I just had to share the Lauren Bacall one. It fits perfectly for what I do.

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  4. Love this. Thanks for a ton of inspiration. Quite a compilation of great quotes from some great ladies!

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  5. All of ’em. Thanks for compiling!

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  6. Julie Gorges says:

    What a great list of quotes! Love it! My favorite: “Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?” Frida Kahlo Thanks for the inspiration!

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  7. Thanks, Betty for all these awesome quotes! Great way to be inspired. -Stacey 😄

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  8. kimdalferes says:

    Such a great list. Just put this one up on the frig – “Don’t spend time beating on a wall hoping to transform it into a door.” Coco Chanel Thx for sharing!

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  9. Hi! I have a free, ad-free site with 44,000 quotations by some 7,000 women under 1,000 topics. If you like quotes, check it out http://www.quotationsbywomen.com — and please believe that I tell you this only because I love quotations by women, and see that you do, too. I am not, like, “advertising.” Thanks! Rosalie

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