Inspirational and Motivational Women Empowerment Quotes

Get inspired by motivational and inspirational quotes that promote women empowerment, gender equality, and gender inclusion.

Women Empowerment Quotes

“There is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.”

Virginia Woolf, English writer

“When women do better, economies do better.”

Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund.

“I am a woman. Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman. That’s me.”

Maya Angelou, American memoirist and poet

“A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman.”

Melinda Gates, Chairperson Gates Foundation.

“There are some people who still feel threatened by strong women. That’s their problem. It’s not mine.”

Gloria Allred, American attorney

“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, Singer and Businesswoman.

“If you ever uncover parts of yourself that make you feel electric in a world that thrives and evolves at the expense of your insecurities, please cherish them. These are your best bits.”

Florence Given, British illustrator and writer

“Security is mostly a superstition. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”

Helen Keller, American author

“We realized the importance of our voices only when we are silenced”

Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani education activist

“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”

Audre Lorde, American writer and professor

“Each time a woman stands up for herself, she stands up for all women”

Maya Angelou, Author, Poet, and Civil rights activist.

“Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.”

Margaret Atwood, Canadian poet and novelist

“There’s nothing a man can do, that I can’t do better and in heels.”

Ginger Rogers, American actress and dancer

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

Beyonce, Singer-songwriter and Businesswoman

“If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito.”

Anita Roddick, British businesswoman and human rights activist

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

Alice Walker, American novelist and short story writer

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

Coco Chanel, French fashion designer

“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, American actress and Duchess of Sussex

“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, Polish-French physicist and chemist

“I think the best role models for women are people who are fruitfully and confidently themselves, who bring light into the world”.

Meryl Streep, American actress

“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, Australian writer and ocial activitist

“A strong woman looks a challenge in the eye and gives it a wink.”

Gina Carey, American filmmaker

“We are living with small tiny cuts, and we are bleeding every single day. And we’re still getting up.”

Michelle Obama, Former First Lady of the United States

“The biggest barrier for women is the thought that they can’t have it all.”

Cathy Engelbert, Commissioner of the WNBA

“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, American technology executive, philanthropist, and writer

“Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brains and instincts, hence, grappling with hard work.”

Adrienne Rich, American poet and essayist

“You don’t have to be pretty. You don’t owe prettiness to anyone. Not to your boyfriend/spouse/partner, not to your co-workers, especially not to random men on the street. You don’t owe it to your mother; you don’t owe it to your children; and you don’t owe it to civilization in general. Prettiness is not a rent you pay for occupying a space marked ‘female.’”

Erin McKean, American lexicographer

“Women are always saying,’ We can do anything that men can do,’ but men should be saying,’ We can do anything that women can do.”

Gloria Steinem, American journalist and social activist

“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.”

Maya Angelou, American memoirist and poet

“Be a first-rate version of yourself, not a second-rate version of someone else.”

Judy garland, American actress and singer

“My coach said I run like a girl. And I said if he ran a little faster, he could too.”

Mia Hamm, American former soccer player

“Women have always been the strong ones of the world.”

Coco Chanel, French fashion designer

“You are more powerful than you know; you are beautiful just as you are.”

Melissa Etheridge, American singer-songwriter and musician

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Gender Equality Quotes

“You can’t please everyone, and you can’t make everyone like you.”

Katie Couric, American journalist and presenter

“No one ever became a success without taking chances. One must be able to recognize the moment and seize it without delay”.

Estée Lauder, Businesswoman

“Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.”

Julia Child, American chef and author

“There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.” 

Michelle Obama, Former First Lady of the United States

“Feminist politics aims to end domination to free us to be who we are — to live lives where we love justice, where we can live in peace. Feminism is for everybody.”

bell hooks, American author

“You can waste your lives drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them.”

Shonda Rhimes, American television producer and screenwriter

“Each person is born with very individual qualities and potential. We as a society owe it to women to create a truly supportive environment in which they too can grow and move forward.”

Princess Diana, Princess of Wales

“The worst thing that we can do as women is not stand up for each other, and this is something we can practice every day, no matter where we are and what we do – women sticking up for other women, choosing to protect and celebrate each other instead of competing or criticizing one another.”

Amal Clooney, Lebanese-British barrister

“We need to live in a culture that values and respects and looks up to, and idolizes women as much as men.”

Emma Watson, Actor & activist

“Feminism is not just about women; it’s about letting all people lead fuller lives.”

Jane Fonda, American actress and activist

“Women will only have true equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation.”

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

“We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.”

Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani education activist

“Achieving gender equality requires the engagement of women and men, girls and boys. It is everyone’s responsibility.”

Ban Ki-Moon, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations

“If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights, once and for all.”

Hillary Clinton, Former United States Secretary of State

“No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half its citizens.”

Michelle Obama, Former First Lady of the United States

“A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.”

Gloria Steinem, American journalist and social activist

“Here’s my feeling: For everyone, men and women, it’s important to be a feminist. It’s important to have female characters. It’s wonderful for women to mentor other women, but it’s just as important for women to mentor men and vice-versa.”

Mindy Kaling, American actress and screenwriter

Inspirational Women Quotes

“Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.”

Oprah Winfrey, American host and television producer

“I tell my story not because it is unique but because it is not. It is the story of many girls.”

Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani education activist

“I know what I want, I have a goal, an opinion… Let me be myself, and then I am satisfied.”

Anne Frank, German diarist

“I think women are scared of feeling powerful and strong and brave sometimes. There’s nothing wrong with being afraid. It’s not the absence of fear, it’s overcoming it and sometimes you just have to blast through and have faith.”

Emma Watson, Actor & activist

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.”

Helen Keller, American author

“To the doubters and naysayers and everyone who gave me hell and said I could not, that I would not or I must not – your resistance made me stronger, made me push harder, made me the fighter that I am today.”

Madonna, singer, American singer-songwriter and actress

“One of the best guides to how to be self-loving is to give ourselves the love we are often dreaming about receiving from others.”

bell hooks, American author

“If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.”

Margaret Thatcher, Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

Helen Keller, American author

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

Jane Goodall, English primatologist and anthropologist

“The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it.”

Roseanne Barr, American actor

“I’m 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, American memoirist and poet

“I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. (And) I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I believe in miracles.”

Audrey Hepburn, British actress

“After all those years as a woman hearing ‘not thin enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, not thin enough, not that enough,’ almost overnight, I woke up one morning and thought: I’m enough.”

Anna Quindlen, American author and journalist

“Imperfections are beauty, madness is genius, and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”

Marilyn Monroe, American actress and model

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

Estée Lauder, Businesswomen

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.”

Mary Anne Radmacher, Author and artist

“If we understood the awesome power of our words, we would prefer silence to almost anything negative.”

Betty Eadie, American author

“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, Polish-French physicist and chemist

“Nothing is impossible; the word itself says, I’m possible.”

Audrey Hepburn, British actress

“So please ask yourself: What would I do if I weren’t afraid? And then go do it.”

Sheryl Sandberg, American technology executive, philanthropist, and writer

“Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That’s what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice.”

Bethany Hamilton, American surfer and writer

“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, American jazz singer

Motivational Women Quotes

“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, Former United States Secretary of State

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

Eleanor Roosevelt, Former First Lady of the United States

“Women, like men, should try to do the impossible. And when they fail, their failure should be a challenge to others.”

Amelia Earhart, American aviator

“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.”

Nora Ephron, American journalist and writer

“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, Vice President of the United States

“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, Greek-American author

“No one changes the world who isn’t obsessed.”

Billie Jean King, American tennis player

“When you help a woman fulfill her potential, magic happens.”

Sara Blakely, American businesswoman and philanthropist

“In our thoughts and words, we create our own weaknesses and our own strengths.”

Betty Eadie, American author

“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.”

Nancy Pelosi, United States Representative

“Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe you must become its soul.”

Coretta Scott King, American author and activitist

“You’re born worthy, and I think that’s a message a lot of women need to hear.”

Viola Davis, American actress and film producer

“In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.”

Sheryl Sandberg, American technology executive, philanthropist, and writer

“Just because you are blind and unable to see my beauty doesn’t mean it does not exist.”

Margaret Cho, American comedian and actress

“The most effective way to do it is to do it.”

Amelia Earhart, American aviator

“It is amazing what a woman can do if only she ignores what men tell her she can’t.”

Carol K. Carr, Author

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” 

Anaïs Nin, French-American diarist and essayist

“You don’t have to be perfect, but you do have to be 100% committed.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, United States Representative

“We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.”

Maya Angelou, American memoirist and poet

“You could certainly say that I’ve never underestimated myself. There’s nothing wrong with being ambitious.”

Angela Merkel, Former Chancellor of Germany

“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, American singer-songwriter and actress

“At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.”

Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter

“Don’t be afraid. By questioning everything, you can only become a more refined version of your already incredible self.”

Florence Given, British illustrator and writer

“The truth will set you free, but first, it will piss you off.”

Gloria Steinem, American journalist and social activist

“Walk away from friendships that make you feel small and insecure, and seek out people who inspire you and support you.”

Michelle Obama, Former First Lady of the United States

“If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.”

Dolly Parton, American singer-songwriter and actress

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