50 Motivational Badass Women Quotes
/The world is filled with amazing, talented, and inspirational women who are making a difference day in and day out. They bring their unique perspective to every situation, showing us that anything is possible if you have the courage and perseverance to make it happen.
We created this list of 50 badass women quotes as a way to celebrate those strong, empowered female role models out there who work hard every single day in order to make our planet a better place. Each of these quotes will serve as an encouragement for us all to remember that we too can be bold and take charge no matter where life takes us. So let’s get started by taking inspiration from these incredible women.
1. “The most dangerous phrase in the language is, ‘We’ve always done it this way.’”
-Grace Hopper
2. “The success of every woman should be the inspiration to another. We should raise each other up.”
-Serena Williams
3. “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.”
-Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
4 "If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman."
-Margaret Thatcher
5. "Women belong in all places where decisions are being made... It shouldn't be that women are the exception."
-Ruth Bader Ginsburg
6. “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”
-Ida B. Wells
7. “Far too many people are looking for the right person, instead of trying to be the right person.”
-Gloria Steinem
8. “You have the right to be involved. You have something important to contribute, and you have to take the risk to contribute it.”
-Mae Jemison
9. “Women, like men, should try to do the impossible. And when they fail, their failure should be a challenge to others.”
-Amelia Earhart
10. “Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice, or representation.”
-Abigail Adams
11. “If Congress refuse to listen to and grant what women ask, there is but one course left then to pursue. What is there left for women to do but to become the mothers of the future government?”
-Victoria Claflin Woodhull
12. "I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard...we cannot succeed when half of us are held back."
-Malala Yousafzai
13. "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
14. “I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand.”
-Susan B. Anthony
15. “My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent.”
-Ruth Bader Ginsburg
16. “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”
-Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
17 "I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own."
-Audre Lorde
18. "When there are no ceilings, the sky's the limit. So let's keep going — let's keep going until every one of the 161 million women and girls across America has the opportunity she deserves to have."
-Hillary Clinton
19. “No woman can call herself free who does not control her own body.”
-Margaret Sanger
20. “I just want to be myself, and I really can't say I'm sorry for it. I just can't.”
-Aidy Bryant
21. “You must never behave as if your life belongs to a man. Do you hear me?’ Aunty Ifeka said. ‘Your life belongs to you and you alone.’”
-Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Half of a Yellow Sun
22. “I will have my voice: Indian, Spanish, white. I will have my serpent’s tongue—my woman’s voice, my sexual voice, my poet’s voice. I will overcome the tradition of silence.”
-Gloria E. Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La Frontera
23. “Never accept ‘because you are a woman’ as a reason for doing or not doing anything.”
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
24. “Whatever women do, they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.”
-Charlotte Whitton
25. "Excellence is the best deterrent to racism or sexism."
-Oprah Winfrey
26. "Who knows what women can be when they are finally free to be themselves."
-Betty Friedan
27. "I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass."
-Maya Angelou
28.“There’s nothing a man can do, that I can’t do better and in heels.”
-Ginger Rogers
29. “The point is not for women simply to take power out of men’s hands, since that wouldn’t change anything about the world. It’s a question precisely of destroying that notion of power.”
-Simone de Beauvoir
30. “In my view, all that is necessary for faith is the belief that by doing our best we shall come nearer to success and that success in our aims (the improvement of the lot of mankind, present and future) is worth attaining.”
-Rosalind Franklin
31. “Your value will not be what you know; it will be what you share”.
-Ginni Rometty
32. “If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.”
-Margaret Thatcher
33. “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
34. “I think women want to take care of themselves, and I think having a voice in how that is done is very important.”
-Madeleine Albright
35. “The emerging woman…will be strong-minded, strong-hearted, strong-souled, and strong-bodied…strength and beauty must go together.”
-Louisa May Alcott
36. "A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water."
-Eleanor Roosevelt
37. “That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman?”
-Sojourner Truth
38. “At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.”
-Frida Kahlo
39. “Success, for me, is staying true to who you are and not deviating off a path.”
-Amy Sherald
40. “Walk away from friendships that make you feel small and insecure, and seek out people who inspire you and support you.”
-Michelle Obama
41. "It’s not the absence of fear. It’s overcoming it. Sometimes you’ve got to blast through and have faith."
-Emma Watson
42. “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
43. “I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.”
-Maya Angelou
44. “Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.”
-Nora Ephron
45. “Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. And, when you stumble, keep faith. And, when you’re knocked down, get right back up and never listen to anyone who says you can’t or shouldn’t go on.”
-Hillary Rodham Clinton
46. “Don’t let anyone speak for you, and don’t rely on others to fight for you.”
-Michelle Obama
47. “You had the power all along my dear.”
-Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
48. “And really, how insulting is it that to suggest that the best thing women can do is raise other people to do incredible things? I’m betting some of those women would like to do great things of their own.”
-Jessica Valenti
49. “Nothing I accept about myself can be used against me to diminish me.”
-Audre Lorde
50. “I like being present in spaces where I am not welcome because you do not deserve to feel comfortable just because you’re racist or sexist or small-minded.”
-Scaachi Koul
Final Note
We hope these motivational badass quotes from some of the most inspiring women of our time have inspired you to take bold steps and make your mark in the world. Remember, never let anyone tell you that you can’t reach for the stars! You have the power within you to achieve greatness. Believe in yourself, stay motivated, and do great things.