Most lists of empowering quotes are dominated by the counsel of men, and it certainly isn’t because women lack words of wisdom. In celebration of International Women’s Day, we have compiled 10 of the greatest feminist empowering quotes, from Marilyn Monroe to Emma Watson, from the humorous to the moving, from inspirational women throughout history…
Madeline Albright, Politician
“There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.”
Madeline Albright
Marilyn Monroe, Actress
“I’m very definitely a woman and I enjoy it.”
Marilyn Monroe
Gloria Steinem, Writer and Activist
“The best way for us to cultivate fearlessness in our daughters and other young women is by example. If they see their mothers and other women in their lives going forward despite fear, they’ll know it’s possible.”
Gloria Steinem
Simone de Beauvoir, Writer
“The point is not for women simply to take power out of men’s hands, since that wouldn’t change anything about the world. It’s a question precisely of destroying that notion of power.”
Simone de Beauvoir
Martina Navratilova, Tennis Player
“I think the key is for women not to set any limits.”
Martina Navratilova
Nancy Pelosi, Politician
“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
Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister 1979-1990
“If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.”
Margaret Thatcher
Rosalyn Yalow, Medical Physicist & 1977 Nobel Prize Winner
“We must believe in ourselves or no one else will believe in us; we must match our aspirations with the competence, courage and determination to succeed.”
Rosalyn Yalow
Audrey Hepburn, Actress, Model, Dancer and Humanitarian
“The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she knows.”
Audrey Hepburn
Emma Watson, Actress and Activist
“It is time that we all see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals. We should stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by who we are.”
Emma Watson
