Strong women have always been at the forefront of progress and change — challenging norms, breaking barriers, and paving the way for future generations. Their resilience, courage, and determination serve as beacons of inspiration for people of all genders.
Across various fields — be it politics, science, literature, or activism — strong women have made their indelible mark, demonstrating that strength comes in many forms and often against formidable odds.
In this article, we’ve curated a collection of quotes from strong women throughout history. Their words not only highlight the diverse facets of strength but also celebrate the enduring impact of women’s voices in shaping a more just and equitable world.
Whether you’re seeking motivation, reflection, or a reminder of your own strength, these quotes from and about strong women offer timeless inspiration...
The Best Quotes By and About Strong Women
Famous Quotes
“Strong women don’t have ‘attitudes’, we have standards.”
— Marilyn Monroe
“I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves.”
— Mary Shelley
“We’re here for a reason. I believe that reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark.”
— Whoopi Goldberg
“Our backs tell stories no books have the spine to carry.”
— Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey
“I stopped being a quiet peacekeeper and started being a loud peacemaker. My anger was good.”
— Glennon Doyle
“I’m tough, I’m ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay.”
— Madonna
“They’ll tell you you’re too loud — that you need to wait your turn and ask the right people for permission. Do it anyway.”
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
“Take criticism seriously, but not personally. If there is truth or merit in the criticism, try to learn from it. Otherwise, let it roll right off you.”
— Hillary Clinton
“There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a third power stronger than both, that of women.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“Life comes with many challenges. The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of.”
— Angelina Jolie, in an article
“It doesn’t matter how strong your opinions are. If you don’t use your power for positive change, you are, indeed, part of the problem.”
— Coretta Scott King
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”
— Alice Walker
“A strong woman is a woman determined to do something others are determined not be done.”
— Marge Piercy
“Power can be taken, but not given. The process of the taking is empowerment in itself.”
— Gloria Steinem
“Our collective experience has shown that when women have the power to make their own choices, good things happen.”
— Madeleine Albright
“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.”
— Audre Lorde
“You don’t even have to believe in anything to be good to people. You should just know you should be a good human being.”
— Dolly Parton
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion with one’s courage.”
— Anaïs Nin
Inspirational Quotes
“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
“Never limit yourself because of others’ limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination.”
— Mae Jemison
“There is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.”
— Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own
“Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.”
— Amelia Earhart
“I am learning every day to allow the space between where I am and where I want to be to inspire me and not terrify me. I can even ask for help! Not feeling that I have to know everything… that’s where the growth comes in, in the not knowing.”
— Tracee Ellis Ross
“At some point in a woman’s life, she just gets tired of being ashamed all the time. After that, she is free to become whoever she truly is.”
— Elizabeth Gilbert
“Real power is born of the humility and grace of sisterhood. That’s what empowerment means. The more power you share, the more power you have, and the more power you have, the more you must share.”
— Kerry Washington
“You have to believe in yourself and believe in your ability to prove yourself wrong.”
— Erin Foster
“No matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.”
— Maya Angelou
“Do you really want to look back on your life and see how wonderful it could have been had you not been afraid to live in?”
— Caroline Myss
“I want all the girls without an exception to have that space for themselves where they have opportunities to be the women they wish to be.”
— Priyanka Chopra
“We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis. And if solutions within the system are so impossible to find, then maybe we should change the system itself.”
— Greta Thunberg
“There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”
— Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
“Sometimes just being yourself is the radical act. When you occupy space in systems that weren’t built for you, your authenticity is activism.”
— Elaine Welteroth, More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say)
“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
“Never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance in the world to pursue your dreams.”
— Hillary Clinton
“Look closely at the present you are constructing: it should look like the future you are dreaming.”
— Alice Walker
“You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.”
— Rosalynn Carter
Strong, Confident Women Quotes
“Be confident, not certain.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt
“We need women who are so strong they can be gentle, so educated they can be humble, so fierce they can be compassionate, so passionate they can be rational and so disciplined they can be free.”
— Kavita Ramdas
“We have to be visible. We should not be ashamed of who we are.”
— Marsha P. Johnson
“The two important things that I did learn were that you are as powerful and strong as you allow yourself to be, and that the most difficult part of any endeavour is taking the first step, making the first decision.”
— Robyn Davidson
“I really think a champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall.”
— Serena Williams
“The best protection any woman can have is courage.”
— Elizabeth Cady Stanton
“While armor is our greatest barrier to being brave, grounded confidence is the heart of daring leadership.”
— Brené Brown, in an article
“You don’t have to play masculine to be a strong woman.”
— Mary Elizabeth Winstead
“Women don’t endure simply because we can; no, women endure because we aren’t given any other choice. They wanted us weak but forced us to be strong.”
— Amanda Lovelace, The Witch Doesn’t Burn in This One
“I think transwomen, and transpeople in general, show everyone that you can define what it means to be a man or woman on your own terms. A lot of what feminism is about is moving outside of roles and moving outside of expectations of who and what you’re supposed to be to live a more authentic life.”
— Laverne Cox
“We all have an unsuspected reserve of strength inside that emerges when life puts us to the test.”
— Isabel Allende
“A true and strong woman is graceful, talented, fearless, brave, and modest, and she embraces the war she went through and is deified by her scars.”
— Sonia Sotomayor
“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 we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.”
— Marie Curie
“The real power behind whatever success I have now was something I found within myself — something that’s in all of us.”
— Tina Turner
“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, We Should All Be Feminists
“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
“The encouraging thing is that every time you meet a situation, though you may think at the time it is an impossibility and you go through the tortures of the damned, once you have met it and lived through it you find that forever after you are freer than you ever were before… You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’”
— Eleanor Roosevelt, You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life
“It is critical to unearth and understand our stories — both as individuals and as entrepreneurs. Once we do that, make peace with it, and embrace it, not only can we live empowered, transformed, and fulfilling lives, we can help others do that too as models and as guides.”
— Marta Spirk, The Empowered Woman: The Ultimate Roadmap to Business Success
“Don’t hold back because you think it’s unladylike. We shouldn’t be shamed out of our anger. We should be using it. Using it to make change in our own lives, and using it to make change in the lives around us.”
— Jessica Valenti
“There is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”
— Amanda Gorman, The Hill We Climb
Stand Up For Yourself Quotes
“Each time a woman stands up for herself, she stands up for all women.”
— Maya Angelou
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m not shutting up. I will always stand up for women and girls, cis and trans.”
— Fae Johnstone
“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
“Remember that no one will hand you power or responsibility; you must take them yourself and make the necessary effort to obtain them.”
— Helen Keller
“I know how to stand my ground. I know how to speak up. I know how to stand sturdy. But that doesn’t mean I’ve hardened my heart.”
— Dolly Parton
“When I dare to be powerful — to use my strength in the service of my vision — then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”
— Audre Lorde
“Doubt is a killer. You just have to know who you are and what you stand for.”
— Jennifer Lopez
“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
Short Quotes
“There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.”
— Michelle Obama
“Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got. There is no yesterday, no tomorrow, it’s all the same day.”
— Janis Joplin
“It is better to be looked over than overlooked.”
— Mae West
“You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself.”
— Ethel Barrymore
“A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform.”
— Diane Mariechild
“Giving up doesn’t always mean you’re weak. Sometimes you’re just strong enough to let go.”
— Taylor Swift
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s the power of using your voice.”
— Michelle Obama, Becoming
“I figure, if a girl wants to be a legend, she should go ahead and be one.”
— Calamity Jane
“Love is not weakness. It’s the bravest act of our lives.”
― Georgia Scott, American Girl: Memories That Made Me
“A really strong woman accepts the war she went through and is ennobled by her scars.”
— Carly Simon
“Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.”
— Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
“Well-behaved women seldom make history.”
— Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
“You take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.”
— Erica Jong
“So often in life, things that you regard as an impediment turn out to be great, good fortune.”
— Ruth Bader Ginsburg
“Don’t let the bastards grind you down.”
— Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale
“Women have discovered that they cannot rely on men’s chivalry to give them justice.”
— Helen Keller
→ Read more short quotes
More Quotes
“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
“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
“I’ve come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that’s as unique as a fingerprint — and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you.”
— Oprah Winfrey
“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
“What I want young women and girls to know is: You are powerful and your voice matters. You’re going to walk into many rooms where you may be the only one who looks like you or who has had the experiences you’ve had. So you use that voice and be strong.”
— Kamala Harris
“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, in a speech
“The world needs strong women. Women who will lift and build others, who will love and be loved, women who live bravely, both tender and fierce, women of indomitable will.”
— Amy Tenney
“We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily difference we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.”
— Marian Wright Edelman
“Hope is often misunderstood. People tend to think that it is simply passive wishful thinking: I hope something will happen but I’m not going to do anything about it. This is indeed the opposite of real hope, which requires action and engagement.”
— Jane Goodall, The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times
“A strong, independent woman will break or bend the rules whenever and wherever it is essential to emerging above social norms that constrict or compel them into compliance.”
— Sonia Sotomayor
“I am convinced that the women of the world, united without any regard for national or racial dimensions, can become a most powerful force for international peace and brotherhood.”
— Coretta Scott King
“A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult.”
— Melinda Gates
“You have to accept whatever comes, and the only important thing is that you meet it with the best you have to give.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt
