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 Adichie
I like to see a young girl go and grab the world by the lapels. Life is a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass. – Maya Angelou
Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim. – Nora Ephron
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
The thing women have yet to learn is that nobody gives you power. You just take it. – Roseanne Barr
I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else’s whim or to someone else’s ignorance. – bell hooks
Any woman who is sure of her own wits, is a match, at any time, for a man who is not sure of his own temper. – Wilkie Collins
Well-behaved women seldom make history. – (Most likely) Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Being a woman is in an incredibly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men. – Joseph Conrad
When a man gives his opinion, he’s a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she’s a bitch. – Bette Davis
Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brains and instincts; hence, grappling with hard work. – Adrienne Rich
The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud. – Coco Chanel
Women hold up half the sky. – Chinese proverb
A woman has to live her life or live to repent not having lived it. – D.H. Lawrence
I do not think, sir, you have any right to command me, merely because you are older than I, or because you have seen more of the world than I have; your claim to superiority depends on the use you have made of your time and experience. – Charlotte Brontë
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 attended. – Marie Curie
I decided it is better to scream. Silence is the real crime against humanity. – Nadezhda Mandelstam
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
A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water. – Eleanor Roosevelt
You can never be overdressed or overeducated. – Oscar Wilde
There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a great competition and rivalry between the two. There is a third power stronger than both, that of the women. – Muhhamad Ali Jinah
Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition. – Timothy Leary
One life is all we have and we live as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying. – Joan of Arc
When there is no enemy within, the enemy outside cannot hurt you. –African proverb
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
I’m tough, I’m ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay. – Madonna
I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat. – Rebecca West
Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings. – Cheris Kramarae
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
We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back. – Malala Yousafzai
I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own. – Audre Lorde
I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman. – Virginia Wolf
Feminism is not about making women stronger. Women are already strong. It’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength. – G.D. Anderson
My idea of feminism is self-determination, and it’s very open-ended: every woman has the right to become herself, and do whatever she needs to do. –Ani DiFranco
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. – Margaret Mead
People ask me sometimes, when – when do you think it will be enough? When will there be enough women on the court? And my answer is when there are nine. –Ruth Bader Ginsburg
There can be no great triumph over racism without addressing capitalism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, the environment that we live in and the food that we consume. We have to recognize all of these connections. –Angela Davis
h/t
Kovie Biakolo, Senior Writer & Cultural Advocate at Thought Catalog (Twitter, Facebook, & Instagram)
Featured image via Buzzfeed