Women’s History Month is all about celebrating the accomplishments of women throughout history and the achievements they’re making today to pave the way for those to come.
Many of these women have done work to inspire and help lead others to success as well. So we’ve put together a list of quotes from these leaders to bring to the next generation.
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“I had very little idea of what I was supposed to be doing, so I set out to learn. What I essentially did was to put one foot in front of the other, shut my eyes, and step off the edge.”—Katharine Graham, American newspaper publisher that led The Washington Post from 1963 to 1991
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” —Eleanor Roosevelt, former first lady and diplomat, politician and activist, also served as United Nations spokeswoman
“We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.” — Malala Yousafzai, the world’s youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Pakistani activist for female education
“Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing. Sometimes they have more imagination than men. —Katherine Johnson, one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist, whose mathematical calculations were crucial to the success of the first and many U.S. crewed spaceflights
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” — Alice Walker, African-American writer and activist, first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction with The Color Purple
“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” —Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice
“Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” —Oprah Winfrey, talk show host, actress, author and philanthropist
“I don’t go by the rule book. I lead from the heart, not the head.” — Princess Diana, humanitarian and member of the British royal family
“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” —Rosa Parks, civil rights activist best known for her role in the Montgomery bus boycott
“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” — Judy Garland, actress and singer
“My mother did not raise me to ask for permission to lead.” — Ayanna Pressley, U.S. Congresswoman and the first woman of color elected to the Boston City Council
“At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.” — Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter known for her portrait work
“For most of history, ‘Anonymous’ was a woman.” —Virginia Woolf, English modernist writer
