51 Inspirational Quotes for Women Everywhere

Occasionally we have a bad day. Maybe work is not going the way we want, we backslid on a major personal project or we just need a pick-me-up. Inspirational quotes often tell us exactly what we need to hear when we need some motivation. But in a world that’s largely slanted in favor of men it can be hard for women to believe in their natural abilities and talents. Many lists of inspirational quotes are even dominated with male centered wisdom. Women have fought throughout history for rights that men have always had. And along the way, many powerful women have provided plenty of inspirational quotes. If you need a little extra motivation today, here are 51 inspirational quotes for women for strong women.

“Successful women are not liked. I think the biggest danger for women in science is colleagues who are not as good as you are.” – Christiane Nusslein-Volhard

“If I stop to kick every barking dog I am not going to get where I’m going.” – Jackie Joyner-Kersee

“Buckle up and know that it’s going to be a tremendous amount of work but embrace it.” – Tory Burch

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.” – Helen Keller

“I was smart enough to go through any door that opened.” – Joan Rivers

“When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.” – Malala Yousafzai

“Knowing what must be done does away with fear.” – Rosa Parks

“I didn’t get there by wishing for it or hoping for it, but by working for it.” – Estée Lauder

“Power’s not given to you. You have to take it.” – Beyoncé Knowles Carter

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” – Amelia Earhart

“I learned compassion from being discriminated against. Everything bad that’s ever happened to me has taught me compassion.” – Ellen DeGeneres

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

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

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

“If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.” – Dolly Parton

“Be first and be lonely.” – Ginni Rometty

“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

“You can imprison a man, but not an idea. You can exile a man, but not an idea. You can kill a man, but not an idea.” – Benazir Bhutto

“Step out of the history that is holding you back. Step into the new story you are willing to create.” – Oprah Winfrey

“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” – Jane Goodall

“A good compromise is one where everybody makes a contribution.” – Angela Merkel

“A strong woman is a woman determined to do something others are determined not be done.” – Marge Piercy

“I choose to make the rest of my life the best of my life.” – Louise Hay

“In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.” – Coco Chanel

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

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

“When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak.” – Audre Lorde

“Women are like teabags. We don’t know our true strength until we are in hot water.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

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

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

“Change your life today. Don’t gamble on the future, act now, without delay.” – Simone de Beauvoir

“A surplus of effort could overcome a deficit of confidence.” – Sonia Sotomayor

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

“Hold your head and your standards high even as people or circumstances try to pull you down.” – Tory Johnson

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

“I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself.” – Arianna Huffington

“If you don’t get out of the box you’ve been raised in, you won’t understand how much bigger the world is.” – Angelina Jolie

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

“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

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

“If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.” – Margaret Thatcher

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

“There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.” – Indira Gandhi

“We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.” – J.K. Rowling

“We need to start work with the idea that we’re going to learn every day. I learn, even at my position, every single day.” – Chanda Kochhar

“Cherish forever what makes you unique, ‘cause you’re really a yawn if it goes.” – Bette Midler

“It’s not the absence of fear, it’s overcoming it. Sometimes you’ve got to blast through and have faith.” – Emma Watson

“When I believe in something, I’m like a dog with a bone.” – Melissa McCarthy

“Women asking for raises should not only know their value, but they should ask with the confidence that they’re helping the company to be successful.” – Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

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

“Whenever you are blue or lonely or stricken by some humiliating thing you did, the cure and the hope is in caring about other people.” – Diane Sawyer

These women from around the world have given us the gift of motivation with their inspirational quotes. Inspirational quotes for women helps us to feel empowered and motivated to take on whatever task we may feel has been holding us back. You may be working towards a promotion at work or writing your first book. While inspirational quotes from men can be helpful, there is something empowering about a motivating inspirational quotes from strong female figures. Whatever you need at this time, hopefully this list of inspirational quotes for women will give you the strength you need to carry on with whatever is holding you back.