90 Motivational & Inspirational Quotes for Women

While it’s still considered a male-dominated world, successful, independent women are here to show us that the ladies are the true foundation of power. Women can nurture, they have grace, wisdom, and very often a better sense of justice.

The list of female strengths is endless, but we’re going to mention a few more that can’t go unnoticed. Women are creative, they have better intuition, patience, emotional connection and are very compassionate. Every young girl should be empowered to become the best version of herself, and every woman should know what she’s capable of if she puts her mind to something.

History has witnessed many great women that have changed its course through their resilience in their own lives, making this world a better place for everyone. Reading the words of these successful women will give you motivation to overcome life’s challenges, be more ambitious, more hopeful and to become a free human being who approaches life with confidence, becoming their own person and letting nothing stand in their way.

Whatever you choose to do in this life, beauty begins with confidence, and we hope that the following motivational quotes for women will help you become the powerful woman you are meant to be. (And after you’re done, if you still want more, check out these inspirational quotes!)

Inspirational quotes on strength and leadership

From standing up for women rights, to running the world’s most famous companies and organizations, and to leading nations, women have proven time and time again that they are capable of shaping the world through their leadership.

Here’s our list of top quotes for women on strength and leadership.

One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals. And so when I hear about negative and false attacks, I really don’t invest any energy in them, because I know who I am. 

Michelle Obama

A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform.

Diane Mariechild

Leadership is hard to define, and good leadership even harder. But if you can get people to follow you to the ends of the earth, you are a great leader. 

Indra Nooy

My mission in life is not merely to survive but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style. 

Maya Angelou

We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all of the power we need inside ourselves already. 

J.K. Rowling

You don’t have to play masculine to be a strong woman. 

Mary Elizabeth Winstead

One of the criticisms I’ve faced over the years is that I’m not aggressive enough or assertive enough or maybe somehow, because I’m empathetic, it means I’m weak. I totally rebel against that. I refuse to believe that you cannot be both compassionate and strong. 

Jacinda Ardern

If you’re not making some notable mistakes along the way, you’re certainly not taking enough business and career chances. 

Sallie Krawcheck

A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult. 

Melinda Gates

Respect tastes better than attention.

Pink

Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult challenges I face.

Carol Moseley-Braun

We need to accept that we don’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes. Understand that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success. 

Arianna Huffington

I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.  

Estée Lauder

Rarely are opportunities presented to you in a perfect way. In a nice little box with a yellow bow on top. 'Here, open it, it's perfect. You'll love it.' Opportunities – the good ones – are messy, confusing and hard to recognize. They're risky. They challenge you. 

Susan Wojcicki

Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence, and making sure that impact lasts in your absence. 

Sheryl Sandberg

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

I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear.

Rosa Parks

It’s okay to admit what you don’t know. It’s okay to ask for help. And it’s more than okay to listen to the people you lead – in fact, it’s essential. 

Mary Barra

I had to make my own living and my own opportunity. But I made it! Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them. 

Madam C.J. Walker

If you are committed to creating value and if you aren’t afraid of hard times; obstacles become utterly unimportant. A nuisance perhaps; but with no real power. The world respects creation; people will get out of your way. 

Candice Carpenter Olson

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

I am lucky that whatever fear I have inside me, my desire to win is always stronger.

Serena Williams

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

There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.  

Michelle Obama

What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make. 

Jane Goodall

Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else. 

Sara Blakely

I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took an excuse. 

Florence Nightingale

But dreams do not come true just because you dream them. It’s hard work that makes things happen. It’s hard work that creates change.

Shonda Rhimes

I learned to always take on things I’d never done before. Growth and comfort do not coexist. 

Ginni Rometty

You have to look at your career and personal life at the big-picture level: it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Doing that helps me feel OK during the weeks when one part of my life overwhelms the other. 

Joanna Horsnail

Always concentrate on how far you have come, rather than how far you have left to go. The difference in how easy it seems will amaze you.  

Heidi Johnson

I just love bossy women. I could be around them all day. To me, bossy is not a pejorative term at all. It means somebody’s passionate and engaged and ambitious and doesn’t mind learning.  

Amy Poehler

If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman. 

Margaret Thatcher

I am thankful for my struggle because, without it, I wouldn’t have stumbled across my strength. 

Alex Elle

Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. … It shouldn't be that women are the exception. 

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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

Motivational quotes every woman should read

Women empowerment is about being able to make your own choices, about your self-worth and about your right to influence social change for you and others as well. So if you feel that you need some encouraging words to remind you that you are strong and capable, we’ve compiled a list of motivational quotes that every woman should read.

Dare to have more dreams and don’t let anyone keep you from achieving them!

Just don’t give up what you’re trying to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.

Ella Fitzgerald

Whatever is bringing you down, get rid of it. Because you’ll find that when you’re free… your true self comes out.

Tina Turner

As an independent woman, you are not defined by your partners or your parents. You are defined by you.  

Kailin Gow

It is so liberating to really know what I want, what truly makes me happy, what I will not tolerate. I have learned that it is no one else’s job to take care of me but me.

Beyoncé

Women are like teabags. We don’t know our true strength until we are in hot water. 

Eleanor Roosevelt

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it. 

Maya Angelou

Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.

Oprah Winfrey

She was powerful not because she wasn’t scared but because she went on so strongly, despite the fear.

Atticus

Don’t try to lessen yourself for the world; let the world catch up to you.

Beyoncé

Don’t let anything stop you. There will be times when you’ll be disappointed, but you can’t stop.

Sadie T. M. Alexander

Everyone has inside of her a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be, how much you can love, what you can accomplish, and what your potential is.  

Anne Frank

When you have a dream, you've got to grab it and never let go. 

Carol Burnett

You can be gorgeous at thirty, charming at forty, and irresistible for the rest of your life. 

Coco Chanel

Women must learn to play the game as men do. 

Eleanor Roosevelt

Justice is about making sure that being polite is not the same thing as being quiet. In fact, often times, the most righteous thing you can do is shake the table. 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Be messy and complicated and afraid and show up anyways. 

Glennon Doyle Melton

Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe you must become its soul. 

Coretta Scott King

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

Define success on your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you’re proud to live.  

Anne Sweeney

Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.

Wilma Rudolph

No one else is going to build the life you want for you. No one else will even be able to completely understand it. The most amazing souls will show up to cheer you along the way, but this is your game. Make a pact to be in it with yourself for the long haul, as your own supportive friend at every step along the way. 

Tara Mohr

I feel now that the time is come when even a woman or a child who can speak a word for freedom and humanity is bound to speak. 

Harriet Beecher Stowe

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

Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere.

Mae West

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 way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain! 

Dolly Parton

Quotes from strong women and independent women

We know, admire and dream to be like them someday.

Back in the days, when women were treated horribly, a few brave ones stood up for their rights and dared to shape a whole different society that we now live in. To honor them and to help you become a phenomenal woman, we’ve handpicked a great list of strong women quotes. Along with some kids inspirational quotes and strong woman quotes, you should have all you need to push the next generation beyond former limitations, and achieve new heights. 

Enjoy!

I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I believe in miracles.  

Audrey Hepburn

Strong women don’t play the victim. Don’t make themselves look pitiful and don’t point fingers. They stand and they deal.

Mandy Hale

Doubt is a killer. You just have to know who you are and what you stand for. 

Jennifer Lopez

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

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. 

Anais Nin

I like to play a strong woman, but a strong woman can also be very fragile and vulnerable at the same time.

Carice Van Houten

A really strong woman accepts the war she went through and is ennobled by her scars

Carly Simon

She raised me to not think of men and women as different. She raised me without gender. It’s kind of the reason she named me Billie. It’s not about being a strong woman – it’s about being a strong person.

Billie Lourd

What makes you different or weird, that’s your strength. 

Meryl Streep

I look up to a strong woman; maybe that’s why i fell for gaga. She works incredibly hard and is very strong and inspirational like mom, with a great work ethic. 

Taylor Kinney

I’m tough, ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a b***h, okay.  

Madonna

I think it’s important to be that strong woman and to follow your passions regardless of what your situation is. 

Ayesha Curry

I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning to sail my ship. 

Louisa May Alcott

Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got. There is no yesterday, no tomorrow, it’s all the same day. 

Janis Joplin

Lonely is when you’re being abused and, sadly, no-one believes you because you’re a ‘strong’ woman. 

Mitta Xinindlu

I like to think that I represent myself as a strong woman, so to work with other strong women I find very inspiring. 

Annabelle Wallis

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.  

Eleanor Roosevelt

Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.  

Nora Ephron

I am done looking for love where it doesn’t exist. I am done coughing up dust in attempts to drink from dry wells. 

Maggie Young

One of the most courageous things you can do is identify yourself, know who you are, what you believe in and where you want to go. 

Sheila Murray Bethel

The best protection any woman can have … is courage.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through. 

Rosalynn Carter

Because you are a strong, smart girl and I don't want you to lose any bit of yourself, ever. No man is worth that. 

Amanda Prowse

A strong woman is a woman determined to do something others are determined not be done.

Marge Piercy

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

The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it. 

Roseanne Barr

She wears strength and darkness equally well, the girl has always been half goddess half hell.

Nikita Gill

Be a girl with a mind, a woman with attitude, and a lady with class. 

Unknown

The woman who does not require validation from anyone is the most feared individual on the planet.

Mohadesa Najumi