Ignite Your Inner Fire With These 125 Empowering Quotes From Some of the Strongest Women in History

Maybe you're feeling down, or maybe you need an extra dose of encouragement to help you stick to those goals you've set for yourself. Whatever the case, there's nothing quite like reading some of the best quotes to empower women to get you through—especially when they're spoken by some of the strongest women in history.

Here are 125 women empowerment quotes to help ignite your inner female fire when you need it most. 

Related: International Women's Day Quotes

125 Quotes To Empower Women

1. 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 

2. "I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself.” — Arianna Huffington 

3. “I have chosen to no longer be apologetic for my femaleness and my femininity. And I want to be respected in all of my femaleness because I deserve to be.”—Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 

4. "Whatever the problem, be part of the solution. Don’t just sit around raising questions and pointing out obstacles.” — Tina Fey 

5. “No one changes the world who isn’t obsessed.” — Billie Jean King

6. "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, you don't owe it to civilization in general. Prettiness is not a rent you pay for occupying a space marked 'female.'" — Erin McKean 

7. “I’m always perpetually out of my comfort zone.” — Tory Burch 

8. “A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.” ― Irina Dunn 

9. “I am always busy, which is perhaps the chief reason why I am always well.” — Elizabeth Cady Stanton 

10. “More than ever, I am aware of the need to support and celebrate each other. I like to believe I am part of a global support group network of 3.4 billion. Imagine: if you can fall back on the 3.5 billion sisters, and the many good men who are with us, what could we possibly not achieve?” – Nicole Kidman 

11. “I believe the rights of women and girls is the unfinished business of the 21st century.” – Hillary Clinton 

12. "Women have to harness their power—it’s absolutely true. It’s just learning not to take the first ‘no’. And if you can’t go straight ahead, you go around the corner.” – Cher 

13. "A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman." — Melinda Gates 

14. "A woman is like a tea bag—you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” – Eleanor Roosevelt 

Related: March Is Women's History Month! Learn More About Its Backstory and Celebration

15. “I learned a long time ago that there is something worse than missing the goal, and that’s not pulling the trigger.” — Mia Hamm 

16. “If you’re someone people count on, particularly in difficult moments, that’s a sign of a life lived honorably.” — Rachel Maddow 

17. "Nothing liberates our greatness like the desire to help, the desire to serve." — Marianne Williamson 

18. "A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men." — Gloria Steinem 

19. "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 

20. “We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.” – Malala Yousafzai 

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

22. "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 

Related: Positive Quotes for Women 

23. "I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse." — Florence Nightingale 

24. “I’ve never been interested in being invisible and erased.” — Laverne Cox 

25. “You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute.” — Tina Fey 

26. "This is your moment. Own it." — Oprah Winfrey 

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

28. "In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders."— Sheryl Sandberg 

29. "I hate to hear you talking so like a fine gentleman, and as if women were all fine ladies, instead of rational creatures. We none of us expect to be in smooth water all our days." -Jane Austen 

30. “Girls should never be afraid to be smart.” ― Emma Watson 

31. "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 

32. “Courage is like a muscle. We strengthen it by use.” – Ruth Gordon 

33. "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 

34. “Don’t look at your feet to see if you are doing it right. Just dance.” — Anne Lamott 

35. “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” — Mae West 

36. “I want women’s rights to be equally honored, and uplifted, and heard…but I want to see us fighting the fight for all women — women of color, our LGBTQ sisters, our Muslim sisters. I want to see millions of us marching out there for our rights, and I want to see us out there marching for the rights of women like Dajerria Becton, who was body slammed by a cop while she was in her swimsuit for simply existing as a young, vocal, black girl. I think we are inching closer and closer there, and for that, I am very proud.” – Solange Knowles 

37. "The beauty of standing up for your rights is others see you standing and stand up as well." – Cassandra Duffy 

38. “I am too intelligent, too demanding, and too resourceful for anyone to be able to take charge of me entirely. No one knows me or loves me completely. I have only myself”– Simone de Beauvoir 

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

40. "Hard work keeps the wrinkles out of the mind and spirit." — Helena Rubinstein 

41. “All careers go up and down like friendships, like marriages, like anything else, and you can’t bat a thousand all the time.” — Julie Andrews 

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

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

44. “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 

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

46. “The difference between successful people and others is how long they spend time feeling sorry for themselves.” — Barbara Corcoran 

47. “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 

48. "When I’m tired, I rest. I say, ‘I can’t be a superwoman today.’” — Jada Pinkett Smith 

49. “If you find someone you love in your life, then hang on to that love.” — Princess Diana

50. “Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputations can never effect a reform.” —Susan B. Anthony

51. “I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.” ― Jane Austen

52. “Many receive advice, only the wise profit from it.” — Harper Lee

53. “I’m learning how to drown out the constant noise that is such an inseparable part of my life. I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. I only have to follow my heart and concentrate on what I want to say to the world. I run my world.” – Beyoncé

54. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

55. “Feminism is about giving women choice. Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women with.” – Emma Watson

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

57. "I have learned that as long as I hold fast to my beliefs and values – and follow my own moral compass – then the only expectations I need to live up to are my own.” – Michelle Obama

58. “It took me quite a long time to develop a voice and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.” — Madeleine Albright

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

60. “A strong woman understands that the gifts such as logic, decisiveness, and strength are just as feminine as intuition and emotional connection. She values and uses all of her gifts.” — Nancy Rathburn

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

62. “Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” – Nora Ephron

63. “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

64. “If you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.” — Erica Jong

65. “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” – Audre Lorde

66. “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

67. “I am not ashamed to dress ‘like a woman’ because I don’t think it’s shameful to be a woman.” – Iggy Pop

68. “There is a stubbornness about me that can never bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.” – Jane Austen

69. “Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else.”– Judy Garland

70. “Of course I am not worried about intimidating men. The type of man who will be intimidated by me is exactly the type of man I have no interest in.” – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

71. "To be afraid is to behave as if the truth were not true." — Dolly Parton

72. "My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant to be your own person, be independent." — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

73. “[Unlikeable women] accept the consequences of their choices, and those consequences become stories worth reading.” – Roxane Gay

74. “You can’t please everyone, and you can’t make everyone like you.” – Katie Couric

75. “One of the secrets to staying young is to always do things you don’t know how to do, to keep learning.” —Ruth Reichl

76. “Each time a woman stands up for herself, she stands up for all women.” – Maya Angelou

77. “I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves.” – Mary Shelley

78. “A huge part of being a feminist is giving other women the freedom to make choices you might not necessarily make yourself.” – Lena Dunham

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

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

81. “Like art, revolutions come from combining what exists into what has never existed before.” – Gloria Steinem

82. “Whatever you do, be different – that was the advice my mother gave me, and I can’t think of better advice for an entrepreneur. If you’re different, you will stand out.” — Anita Roddick

83. “I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.” – Malala Yousafzai

84. “Every woman’s success should be an inspiration to another. We’re strongest when we cheer each other on.” – Serena Williams

85. "The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity." — Amelia Earhart

86. “Women, we endure those cuts in so many ways that we don’t even notice we’re cut. We are living with small tiny cuts, and we are bleeding every single day. And we’re still getting up.” – Michelle Obama

85. “I can’t think of any better representation of beauty than someone who is unafraid to be herself.” – Emma Stone

86. "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

87. “I don’t know what I am if I’m not a woman.” — Marsha P. Johnson