Throughout the history of mankind, there have been a lot of successful and powerful women who have shared powerful words and strength that inspired us. From poets to genius, they have been continuously empowering us generation after generation. That’s why, we’ve gathered 210 Inspirational Quotes from Female Leaders and Icons. Let’s get into it.
Leadership and Courage
“Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge.” — Simon Sinek
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” — Nelson Mandela
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” — Walt Disney
“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.” — William Faulkner
“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” — Ayn Rand
“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” — Stephen R. Covey
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston Churchill
“If your dreams don’t scare you, they are too small.” — Richard Branson
“Do one thing every day that scares you.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
“Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world.” — Roy T. Bennett
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” — Abraham Lincoln
“Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.” — Brené Brown
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” — John C. Maxwell
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” — Booker T. Washington
“Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.” — Steve Jobs
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” — C.S. Lewis
“What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” — Robert Schuller
Ambition and Professional Drive
Breaking Barriers
“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” — Estée Lauder
“There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.” — Michelle Obama
“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” — Maya Angelou
“I always did something I was a little not ready to do. That’s how you grow.” — Marissa Mayer
“I had to learn to take up space, to not apologize.” — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
“Don’t be the girl who fell. Be the girl who got back up.” — Jenette Stanley
“I want every girl to know that her voice can change the world.” — Malala Yousafzai
“Power’s not given to you. You have to take it.” — Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
“Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to greatness.” — Oprah Winfrey
“I didn’t get there by wishing for it or hoping for it, but by working for it.” — Estée Lauder
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.” — Maya Angelou
“You are the only person on earth who can use your ability.” — Zig Ziglar
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” — Steve Jobs
“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.” — Coco Chanel
“There is no elevator to success — you have to take the stairs.” — Unknown
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston Churchill
“Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood.” — Marie Curie
“You don’t have to be perfect to be amazing.” — Unknown
“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” — Amelia Earhart
Embracing Who You Are
“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
“Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself.” — Coco Chanel
“I’ve finally stopped running away from myself. Who else is there better to be?” — Goldie Hawn
“I’m not bossy. I’m the boss.” — Beyoncé
“You are more powerful than you know; you are beautiful just as you are.” — Melissa Etheridge
“I am my own muse.” — Frida Kahlo
“You don’t have to play masculine to be a strong woman.” — Mary Elizabeth Winstead
“You are your best thing.” — Toni Morrison
“There is nothing stronger than a broken woman who has rebuilt herself.” — Hannah Gadsby
“Your silence will not protect you.” — Audre Lorde
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” — Oscar Wilde
“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” — Mother Teresa
“The most beautiful thing you can wear is confidence.” — Blake Lively
“Embrace the glorious mess that you are.” — Elizabeth Gilbert
“You are allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously.” — Sophia Bush
“Don’t wait for others to tell you your worth.” — Unknown
“It’s not about being perfect, it’s about effort.” — Jillian Michaels
“You are enough just as you are.” — Meghan Markle
“The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.” — Steve Jobs
“When you start seeing your worth, you’ll find it harder to stay around people who don’t.” — Unknown
“I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become.” — Carl Jung
“You don’t have to be fearless, just don’t let fear stop you.” — Unknown
Changing the World
“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” — Shirley Chisholm
“I tell my story not because it is unique, but because it is not.” — Malala Yousafzai
“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against.” — Angela Davis
“Each time a woman stands up for herself… she stands up for all women.” — Maya Angelou
“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” — Audre Lorde
“Justice is what love looks like in public.” — Cornel West
“We need women at all levels, including the top, to change the dynamic.” — Sheryl Sandberg
“When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.” — Malala Yousafzai
“Freedom is not something that one people can bestow on another as a gift. They claim it as their own and none can keep it from them.” — Gloria Steinem
“The future depends entirely on what each of us does every day.” — Gloria Steinem
“Do one thing every day that scares you.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
“The best way to predict your future is to create it.” — Abraham Lincoln
“One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.” — Malala Yousafzai
“When we empower women, we empower the world.” — Unknown
“The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.” — Ferdinand Foch
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” — Mahatma Gandhi
“Every time you make a choice, you change the future.” — Deepak Chopra
“Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
Inspiring Creativity
“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.” — Coco Chanel
“Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.” — Bertolt Brecht
“Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change.” — Brené Brown
“I paint flowers so they will not die.” — Frida Kahlo
“Creativity takes courage.” — Henri Matisse
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” — Maya Angelou
“It’s not your job to be everything to everyone.” — Brené Brown
“Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.” — Pablo Picasso
“I am not afraid… I was born to do this.” — Joan of Arc
“An artist should never be a prisoner of herself, of style, or reputation.” — Louise Bourgeois
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” — Maya Angelou
“Every artist was first an amateur.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The chief function of the body is to carry the brain around.” — Thomas A. Edison
“I never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking.” — Albert Einstein
“If you want to fly, you have to give up the things that weigh you down.” — Toni Morrison
“Everything you can imagine is real.” — Pablo Picasso
“To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.” — Joseph Chilton Pearce
“Don’t wait for inspiration. It comes while you’re working.” — Henri Matisse
“A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” — Virginia Woolf
“The act of dying is one of the acts of life.” — Marcus Aurelius
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” — Mahatma Gandhi
Grace, Wisdom, and Strength
“I don’t go by the rule book. I lead from the heart, not the head.” — Princess Diana
“A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it’s in hot water.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
“I’d like to be remembered as someone who tried to use her voice for good.” — Queen Latifah
“You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.” — Indira Gandhi
“We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason.” — Margaret Chase Smith
“It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
“I am my ancestors’ wildest dreams.” — Kimberlé Crenshaw
“When you learn, teach. When you get, give.” — Maya Angelou
“Service is the rent we pay for living. It is the very purpose of life.” — Shirley Chisholm
“There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” — Madeleine Albright
“You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines… You make progress by implementing ideas.” — Shirley Chisholm
“The best way out is always through.” — Robert Frost
“I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become.” — Carl Jung
“The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who’s going to stop me.” — Ayn Rand
“I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.” — Malala Yousafzai
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.” — Maya Angelou
“Knowing what must be done does away with fear.” — Rosa Parks
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” — Alice Walker
“There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.” — Michelle Obama
“Courage is like a muscle. We strengthen it by use.” — Ruth Gordo
Pocket-Sized Power
“I am enough.” — Brené Brown
“Yes, you can.” — Michelle Obama
“Own your story.” — Oprah Winfrey
“Be fearless.” — Serena Williams
“Stay curious.” — Marie Curie
“Live loud.” — Lady Gaga
“Dream big.” — Dolly Parton
“Trust yourself.” — Diane von Fürstenberg
“Keep showing up.” — Elizabeth Warren
“Take the leap.” — Ava DuVernay
“You are stronger than you think.” — Unknown
“Your only limit is your mind.” — Unknown
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” — Peter Drucker
“Don’t just exist, live.” — Unknown
“Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.” — Arianna Huffington
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
“You don’t have to be perfect to be amazing.” — Unknown
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston Churchill
“You are the author of your own story.” — Unknown
“Great things never come from comfort zones.” — Unknown
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” — Theodore Roosevelt
“Don’t wait for the perfect moment. Take the moment and make it perfect.” — Unknown
Unstoppable Drive
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.” — Albert Schweitzer
“The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who’s going to stop me.” — Ayn Rand
“You are your only limit.” — Unknown
“Don’t wait for opportunity, create it.” — Unknown
“You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it.” — Unknown
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.” — Steve Jobs
“The best revenge is massive success.” — Frank Sinatra
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” — Henry David Thoreau
“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” — Estée Lauder
“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” — John D. Rockefeller
“The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.” — Colin R. Davis
“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” — Albert Einstein
“Nothing will work unless you do.” — Maya Angelou
“Do something today that your future self will thank you for.” — Unknown
“Success doesn’t just find you. You have to go out and get it.” — Unknown
“Do what you can with all you have, wherever you are.” — Theodore Roosevelt
“Success is not in what you have, but who you are.” — Bo Bennett
“Opportunities don’t happen, you create them.” — Chris Grosser
“If you want to achieve greatness stop asking for permission.” — Unknown
“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” — Vidal Sassoon
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” — Theodore Roosevelt
“The difference between who you are and who you want to be is what you do.” — Unknown
Fearless Leadership
“Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge.” — Simon Sinek
“The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” — Ralph Nader
“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” — John C. Maxwell
“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” — Warren Bennis
“Don’t wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” — Mother Teresa
“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” — Ronald Reagan
“Leadership is not a position or a title, it is action and example.” — Cory Booker
“It’s not the position that makes the leader; it’s the leader that makes the position.” — John C. Maxwell
“A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others.” — Douglas MacArthur
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” — Abraham Lincoln
“Great leaders don’t tell you what to do. They show you how it’s done.” — Unknown
“A good leader leads the people from above them. A great leader leads the people from within them.” — M.D. Arnold
“Leadership is not about being the best. It’s about making everyone else better.” — Unknown
“Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.” — Tom Peters
“The leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” — John C. Maxwell
“Don’t be a boss, be a leader.” — Unknown
“Success in leadership requires a growth mindset.” — Unknown
“Leadership is the ability to guide others without force into a direction or decision that leaves them still feeling empowered and fulfilled.” — Unknown
Unbreakable Strength
“Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.” — Unknown
“Out of difficulties grow miracles.” — Jean de La Bruyère
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory.” — Les Brown
“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” — Margaret Thatcher
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” — Nelson Mandela
“Courage is grace under pressure.” — Ernest Hemingway
“The strength of a woman is not measured by the impact that all her hardships in life have had on her, but by the extent of her refusal to allow those hardships to dictate her and who she becomes.” — C. JoyBell C.
“Tough times never last, but tough people do.” — Robert H. Schuller
“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” — A.A. Milne
“She stood in the storm, and when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails.” — Elizabeth Edwards
“A strong woman looks a challenge in the eye and gives it a wink.” — Gina Carey
“Don’t wait for the storm to pass, learn to dance in the rain.” — Unknown
“The pain you feel today will be the strength you feel tomorrow.” — Unknown
“I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become.” — Carl Jung
“You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice.” — Bob Marley
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” — Confucius
Mixed-Up Quotes!
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” — Unknown
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
“When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in.” — Haruki Murakami
“You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it.” — Unknown
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” — Nelson Mandela
“A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom.” — Bob Dylan
“Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you.” — Walt Whitman
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” — Steve Jobs
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” — Peter Drucker
“Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally, it comes from what you do consistently.” — Marie Forleo
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” — Theodore Roosevelt
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” — John C. Maxwell
“Leadership is not about being in charge, it’s about taking care of those in your charge.” — Simon Sinek
“Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.” — John Maxwell
“Leadership is the art of getting someone to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
“A true artist is not one who is inspired, but one who inspires others.” — Salvador Dalí
Wrapping It Up
That’s the wrap-up of our collection of 210 Inspirational Quotes from Female Leaders and Icons. I hope these words from women who have built their businesses, healing from heartbreak, or changing the world inspired you to reach your full potential.
So save this post, share it with a friend, and come back anytime you need to hear it straight from some of the boldest voices in history:
You’ve got this.
