30 Powerful Quotes for Women’s History Month

In honor of Women’s History Month, we’ve put together a list of our favorite quotes — from luminaries living and dead, activists, authors, athletes, actors and leaders — all women.

These quotes are here to motivate you and remind you that no dream is too big and no good deed too small! They also highlight how far we’ve come as women, and the barriers that remain to creating a fully equitable society.

I don’t want other people to decide who I am. I want to decide that for myself.

— Emma Watson

We need to reshape our own perception of how we view ourselves. We have to step up as women and take the lead.

— Beyoncé

A man told me that for a woman, I was very opinionated. I said, ‘For a man, you’re very ignorant.’

— Anne Hathaway

Whenever one person stands up and says, ‘Wait a minute, this is wrong,’ it helps other people do the same.

— Gloria Steinem

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

— Alice Walker

We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.

— Malala Yousafzai

A woman is like a teabag – only in hot water do you realize how strong she is.

— Eleanor Roosevelt

It is a fact that when you change a girl’s life, you effect her vision of herself and her immediate world and the world that she will have an impact on.

— Oprah Winfrey

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.

— Marie Curie

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

The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.

— Coco Chanel

We still think of a powerful man as a born leader and a powerful woman as an anomaly.

— Margaret Atwood

The problem with gender is that it prescribes how we should be rather than recognizing how we are. 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

The success of every woman should be the inspiration to another. We should raise each other up. Make sure you’re very courageous: be strong, be extremely kind, and above all be humble. 

— Serena Williams

When women and girls are empowered to participate fully in society, everyone benefits.

— Melinda Gates

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

Life shrinks or expands in proportion with one’s courage.

— Anaïs Nin

I just love bossy women. I could be around them all day. To me, bossy is not a pejorative term at all. It means somebody’s passionate and engaged and ambitious and doesn’t mind learning.

— Amy Poehler

Whatever the problem, be part of the solution. Don’t just sit around raising questions and pointing out obstacles.

— Tina Fey

We believe that equal means equal, and that’s true in the workplace, it’s true in marriage, it’s true ever place.

— Elizabeth Warren

Every day as I get older, I appreciate women more and more. When you’re between the ages of 15 and 19, maybe you see women as competition, as opposed to lifesavers and people that hold your hand and have experienced pretty much everything that you have. So the more women in my life, the better.

— Adele

I do know one thing about me: I don’t measure myself by others’ expectations or let others define my worth.

— Sonia Sotomayor

Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another.

— Toni Morrison

Never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance in the world to pursue your dreams.

— Hillary Clinton

Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.

— Helen Keller

Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!

— Audrey Hepburn

Never limit yourself because of others’ limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination.

— Mae Jemison

If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not making decisions.

— Catherine Cook

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

— Ruth Bader Ginsburg

The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn.

— Gloria Steinem