50 Empowering Women Quotes To Encourage Women Everywhere

By Stephanie Kirby | Published February 16, 2023

Check out these empowering women quotes to get ideas on how to empower the women in your life.

Women have been working to be empowered for centuries, as shown by some of the impactful moments below.

In 1776 Abigail Adams wrote a letter to her husband, John, a founding father, that said, “remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors.”

In 1848 the first women’s rights convention was held in New York, and in 1849 Elizabeth Blackwell graduated from medical school and became a doctor and was the first woman to do so.

In 1869 Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association.

In 1917 Jeannette Rankin became the first woman to be elected to the House of Representatives.

In 1920, the 19th amendment was ratified to give women voting rights.

In 1963 President John F. Kennedy signed the law “Equal Pay Act” into law to discontinue wage discrimination between men and women.

Look at these empowering women quotes to learn more about women’s empowerment.

Encouraging Empowering Women Quotes

Check out these encouraging quotes on empowering women.

1. “Women have always been the strong ones of the world.” — Coco Chanel

2. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” — Arthur Ashe

3. “Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.” — Bréne Brown

4. “When you can’t find someone to follow, you have to find a way to lead by example.” — Roxane Gay

5. “I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” — Estée Lauder

6. “Be the woman who fixes another woman’s crown without telling the world it was crooked.” — Amy Morin

7. “We all have purpose even if we’re still striving to understand what it is.” — Angela Bassett

8. “So ask yourself: What would I do if I weren’t afraid? And then go do it.” — Sheryl Sandberg

9. “A well-read woman is a dangerous creature.” — Lisa Kleypas

10. “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain!” — Dolly Parton

Impactful Empowering Women Quotes

Here are some impactful quotes on empowering women!

11. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

12. “When women affirm women, it unlocks our power. It gives us permission to shine brighter.” — Elaine Welteroth

13. “When you give up comparing yourself to other people, you’ll be free to focus on your best effort.” — Amy Morin

14. “You’ve always had the power, my dear; you just had to learn it for yourself.” — Glinda the Good Witch

15. “You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.” ― Brigham Young

16. “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” — Maya Angelou

17. “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

18. “Be patient with yourself. The journey between practice and perfect is mistakes.” — Toloupe Dyewole

19. “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

20. “It’s just learning not to take the first no. And if you can’t go straight ahead, you go around the corner.” — Cher

21. “I think that passion is the secret ingredient that drives hard work and excellence.” — Kelly Ayotte

22. “No one ever became a success without taking chances… One must be able to recognize the moment and seize it without delay.” — Estée Lauder

23. “Drama is very important in life: You have to come on with a bang. You never want to go out with a whimper.” — Julia Child

Powerful Empowering Women Quotes for Life

If you need a little motivation to find your strength as a woman, here are some quotes for you.

24. “Tell the story of the mountain you climbed. Your words could become a page in someone else’s survival guide.” — Margan Harper Nichols

25. “We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.” — Carlos Castenada

26. “A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” ― Oprah Winfrey

27. “You don’t know the background story of resilience, struggles, and strength of beautiful and outgoing women. All you see is what is showcased.” ― Germany Kent

28. “The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian makes me a different kind of woman.” ― Elisabeth Elliot

29. “I raise up my voice — not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard … we cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.” ― Malala Yousafzai

30. “Don’t make excuses; rather, find support and resources to make good things happen for yourself, your family, your businesses, your community, and the world you live in.” — Anna Stevens

31. “Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That’s what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice.” — Bethany Hamilton

32. “If you can’t fly, then run; if you can’t run, then walk; if you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” — Martin Luther King Jr.

33. “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” — Helen Keller

Empowering Women Quotes to Motivate You to Action

These quotes motivate and empower women to take action in life.

34. “Fearlessness is like a muscle. I know from my own life that the more I exercise it, the more natural it becomes to not let my fears run me.” — Arianna Huffington

35. “I found that ultimately if you truly pour your heart into what you believe in — even if it makes you vulnerable — amazing things can and will happen.” — Emma Watson

36. “By God’s grace, I can resist the temptation to treat my children as interruptions to my will for my life. Instead, God enables me to treat my children as precious gifts he is using to shape me into his image according to his will for my life.” ― Gloria Furman

37. “There is nothing more rare, nor more beautiful, than a woman being unapologetically herself, comfortable in her perfect imperfection. To me, that is the true essence of beauty.” — Steve Maraboli

38. “Let’s prove to ourselves that the judgment of others does not define us, that we are strong, brave, capable women who can do whatever the heck we set our minds to! Let us also remind each other when we forget.” — Julie Maida

39. “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

40. “As women, we have to start appreciating our own worth and each other’s worth. Seek out strong women to befriend, to align yourself with, to learn from, to collaborate with, to be inspired by, to support, and enlightened by.” — Madonna

Empowering Women Quotes for Mothers

These quotes share encouragement and inspiration for mothers.

41. “Motherhood…is an act of infinite optimism.” — Gilda Radner

42. “Birth is the epicenter of women’s power.” — Ani Di Franco

43. “A mother is always the beginning. She is how things begin.” — Amy Tan

44. “Perhaps it takes courage to raise children.” — John Steinbeck

45. “There is no way to be a perfect mother, but a million ways to be a good one.” — Jill Churchill

46. “Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.” — Barbara Kingsolver

47. “There are places in the heart you don’t even know exist until you love a child.” — Anne Lamott

48. “We have a secret in our culture, and it’s not that birth is painful. It’s that women are strong.” — Laura Stavoe Harm

49. “Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn’t know you had, and dealing with fears, you didn’t know existed.” — Nishan Panwar

50. “To all mothers in every circumstance, including those who struggle, I say, be peaceful. Believe in God and yourself. You are doing better than you think you are.” — Jeffery R. Holland