50 Empowering Women’s History Month Quotes: Masterpieces, Delightful Treasures

Here’s a list of my 50 favorite women’s history month quotes to get you feeling all the feels! The words from these strong women speak directly to our hearts, motivating us and calling us forth to continue to chart new paths and seek higher ground.

When you need a dose of encouragement, look no further!

Women’s History Month quotes on self-empowerment:

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

“Know what sparks the light in you so that you, in your own way, can illuminate the world” – Oprah Winfrey

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

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

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

“Never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance in the world to pursue your dreams.” – Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.” – Coco Chanel

Quotes on celebrating each other:

“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

“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 

“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 

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” – Helen Keller

“Life is not what you alone make it. Life is the input of everyone who touched your life and every experience that entered it. We are all part of one another.” – Yuri Kochiyama

Women’s History Month quotes on courage:

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

“Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency.” – Maya Angelou

“If you were born with the weakness to fall you were born with the strength to rise.” – Rupi Kaur

“A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman.” – Melinda Gates

” You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” – Rosa Parks

“Walk the street with us into history. Get off the sidewalk.” –  Dolores Huerta 

“The most effective way to do it, is to do it.” – Amelia Earhart 

“Well-behaved women seldom make history.” – Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

Women’s History Month quotes on boldness and overcoming obstacles:

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

“If you’re comfortable with yourself and know yourself, you’re going to shine and radiate, and other people are going to be drawn to you.” – Dolly Parton

“You should never view your challenges as a disadvantage. Instead, it’s important for you to understand that your experience facing and overcoming adversity is actually one of your biggest advantages.” – Michelle Obama

“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made … It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg 

Quotes from influential women on defining your life on your own terms:

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

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

“True freedom is understanding that we have a choice in who and what we allow to have power over us.” – Meryl Streep

“You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.” – Shirley Chisholm

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

“The challenge is not to be perfect… it’s to be whole.” – Jane Fonda 

“I don’t want other people to decide who I am. I want to decide that for myself.” – Emma Watson 

Women’s History Month quotes on taking risks and trusting yourself:

“If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not making decisions.” – Catherine Cook

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

“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 

“Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.” – Golda Meir 

“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

Quotes on making a difference here and now:

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” – Jane Goodall

“The work of today is the history of tomorrow, and we are its makers.” – Juliette Gordon

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

“Women will have achieved true equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation.” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg 

“Nothing is impossible; the word itself says ‘I’m possible!” – Audrey Hepburn

“My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people: those who do the work, and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition there.” – Indira Gandhi 

“As women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what women can do, as women see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we’ll all be better off for it.” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg 

Women’s History Month quotes on self-worth, spirituality, and a vision for the future:

“I know that like every woman of the people, I have more strength than I appear to have” – Eva Peron 

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” – Oprah Winfrey 

“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it.” – Brene Brown

“Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights. Let us not forget that among those rights are the right to speak freely – and the right to be heard.” – Hillary Clinton 

“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 older I get, the greater power I seem to have to help the world; I am like a snowball – the further I am rolled the more I gain.” – Susan B. Anthony 

“Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another.” –  Toni Morrison 

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt 

Did you enjoy these Women’s History Month quotes? I know I did!

Celebrate Women’s History Month by learning about four important charities that empower women here.

Look here for more Women’s History Month quotes!

Also, are you as much of a Maya Angelou fan as me? Take a look at ten great quotes about her mother and motherhood here.

(This post was originally published on March 18, 2021, and has been updated for clarity and thoroughness.)