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I have gathered a list of quotes from powerful women throughout history.
They show the struggle of women, how far we have come and how much further we have to go.
We all can learn from the powerful messages written in these quotes.
Oprah Gail Winfrey
is an American media executive, actress, talk show host, television producer, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Maya Angelou
was an American poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist.
She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years.
Nora Ephron
Was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker.
She is best known for her romantic comedy films and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Writing: for Silkwood (1983), When Harry Met Sally… (1989), and Sleepless in Seattle (1993).
Eleanor Roosevelt
Was an American politician, diplomat, and activist who later served as a United Nations spokeswoman.
She served as the First Lady of the United States from March 4, 1933, to April 12, 1945.
Anne Frank
Was a German-born Dutch–Jewish diarist.
One of the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust, she gained fame posthumously with the publication of The Diary of a Young Girl (originally Het Achterhuis in Dutch; English: The Secret Annex), in which she documents her life in hiding from 1942 to 1944, during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II.
It is one of the world’s best-known books and has been the basis for several plays and films.
Amelia Earhart
Was an American aviation pioneer and author.
Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
She set many other records wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots.
Emmeline Pankhurst
was a British political activist and organizer of the British suffragette movement who helped women win the right to vote.
In 1999 Time named Pankhurst as one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century, stating “she shaped an idea of women for our time; she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back”.
She was widely criticized for her militant tactics, and historians disagree about their effectiveness, but her work is recognized as a crucial element in achieving women’s suffrage in the United Kingdom.[
Margaret Thatcher
Was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990.
She was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century and the first woman to hold that office.
Michelle Obama
She is an American lawyer, university administrator, and writer, who was the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She is married to the 44thpresident of the United States, Barack Obama, and was the first African-American first lady.
Audre Lorde
Was an American writer, feminist, womanist, librarian, and civil rights activist.
As a poet, she is best known for technical mastery and emotional expression, as well as her poems that express anger and outrage at civil and social injustices she observed throughout her life.
Her poems and prose largely deal with issues related to civil rights, feminism, lesbianism, and the exploration of black female identity.
Coco Chanel
Fashion designer Coco Chanel, born in 1883, in France, is famous for her timeless designs, trademark suits, and little black dresses.
Chanel was raised in an orphanage and taught to sew. She had a brief career as a singer before opening her first clothes shop in 1910.
Bette Davis
American actress Bette Davis was born on April 5, 1908, in Lowell, Massachusetts.
After a brief theater career, she became one of the biggest stars in the Hollywood studio system, appearing in nearly 100 films before her death in 1989.
Davis is still considered an icon for her performances in such films as All Above Eve and Dark Victory, as well as for her larger-than-life persona both on and off the silver screen.
Marie Curie
Marie Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person — man or woman — to win the award twice. With her husband Pierre Curie, Marie’s efforts led to the discovery of polonium and radium and, after Pierre’s death, the further development of X-rays. The famed scientist died in 1934 of aplastic anemia likely caused by exposure to radiation.
Susan B. Anthony
Was an American writer, lecturer, and abolitionist who was a leading figure in the women’s voting rights movement.
A social reformer and women’s rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women’s suffrage movement.
Born into a Quaker family committed to social equality, she collected anti-slavery petitions at the age of 17.
In 1856, she became the New York state agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society.
Beyoncé Knowles Carter
is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actress.
Achieved fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the R&B group Destiny’s Child and then launched a hugely successful solo career.
Malala Yousafzai
She is a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate.
She is known for human rights advocacy, especially the education of women and children in her native Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northwest Pakistan, where the local Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school.
Her advocacy has grown into an international movement, and according to former Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, she has become “the most prominent citizen” of the country.[
Margaret Atwood
is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, inventor, teacher, and environmental activist.
Since 1961, she has published 17 books of poetry, 16 novels, 10 books of non-fiction, eight collections of short fiction, eight children’s books, and one graphic novel, as well as a number of small press editions in poetry and fiction.
Sonia Sotomayor
is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
She was appointed by President Barack Obama in May 2009 and confirmed that August. She was the first Hispanic and Latina Justice
Virginia Woolf
was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and also a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device.
Harper Lee
was an American novelist widely known for To Kill a Mockingbird, published in 1960.
Immediately successful, it won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic of modern American literature.
Sylvia Plath
was an American poet, novelist, and short-story writer. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College at the University of Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a poet and writer.
Jane Austen
was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century.
Austen’s plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favorable social standing and economic security.
Maria Callas
She was one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century.
Many critics praised her bel canto technique, wide-ranging voice, and dramatic interpretations.
Her repertoire ranged from classical opera seria to the bel canto operas of Donizetti, Bellini and Rossini and, further, to the works of Verdi and Puccini; and, in her early career, to the music dramas of Wagner.
Her musical and dramatic talents led to her being hailed as La Divina.
Dolly Parton
is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, actress, author, businesswoman, and humanitarian, known primarily for her work in country music.
Queen Victoria
was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death.
On 1 May 1876, she adopted the additional title of Empress of India. Known as the Victorian era, her reign of 63 years and seven months was longer than that of any of her predecessors.
It was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire.
Simone de Beauvoir
was a French writer, intellectual, existentialist philosopher, political activist, feminist and social theorist.
Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, she had a significant influence on both feminist existentialism and feminist theory.
Martha Gellhorn
was an American novelist, travel writer, and journalist who is considered one of the great war correspondents of the 20th century.
She reported on virtually every major world conflict that took place during her 60-year career.
Elizabeth Warren
is an American politician and former academic serving as the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts since 2013.
She was formerly a law school professor specializing in bankruptcy law.
Audrey Hepburn
was a British actress and humanitarian.
Recognized as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend in Golden Age Hollywood and was inducted into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame.
Meryl Streep
is an American actress. Often described as the “best actress of her generation”, Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accents. Nominated for a record 21 Academy Awards, she has won three.
Among other accolades, she has received 31 Golden Globe nominations, winning eight
Gloria Steinem
is an American feminist, journalist, and social-political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader and a spokeswoman for the American feminist movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Steinem was a columnist for New York magazine and a co-founder of Ms. magazine.
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Diane Von Furstenberg
is a Belgian fashion designer best known for her wrap dress. Having launched her eponymous label in 1970, Diane von Furstenberg cemented her status with her iconic wrap dress in 1974.
Rosa Parks
was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has called her “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement
Emma Watson
is an English actress, model, and activist. Born in Paris and brought up in Oxfordshire, Watson attended the Dragon School and trained as an actress at the Oxford branch of Stagecoach Theatre Arts.
As a child artist, she rose to prominence after landing her first professional acting role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series, having acted only in school plays previously.
Jane Goodall
formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall is an English primatologist and anthropologist.
Considered to be the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her over 55-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees since she first went to Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania in 1960
Lucille Ball
was an American actress, comedian, model, entertainment studio executive, and producer.
She was the star of the self-produced sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Here’s Lucy, and Life with Lucy, as well as comedy television specials aired under the title The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.
Hillary Clinton
Is an American politician, diplomat, lawyer, writer, and public speaker. She was First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001, a United States senator from New York from 2001 to 2009, and the 67th United States secretary of state from 2009 until 2013.
Clinton became the first woman to be nominated for president of the United States by a major political party when she won the Democratic Party nomination in 2016.
Judy Garland
was an American actress, singer, dancer, and vaudevillian.
During a career that spanned 45 years, she attained international stardom as an actress in both musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist, and on the concert stage.
Respected for her versatility, she received a Juvenile Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Special Tony Award.
Garland was the first woman to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for her live recording Judy at Carnegie Hall (1961).
Princess Diana
was a member of the British royal family.
She was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, and the mother of Prince William and Prince Harry.
Diana’s activism and glamour made her an international icon and earned her an enduring popularity as well as an unprecedented public scrutiny, exacerbated by her tumultuous private life.
Billie Jean King
is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player.
King won 39 Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women’s doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles.
She won the singles title at the inaugural WTA Tour Championships. She often represented the United States in the Federation Cup and the Wightman Cup.
She was a member of the victorious United States team in seven Federation Cups and nine Wightman Cups.
For three years, she was the United States’ captain in the Federation Cup.
Sophie Scholl
was a German student and anti-Nazi political activist, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany.
She was convicted of high treason after having been found distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich (LMU) with her brother, Hans. As a result, she was executed by guillotine.
Since the 1970s, Scholl has been extensively commemorated for her anti-Nazi resistance work.
Anaïs Nin
was a French-Cuban American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica.
Born to Cuban parents in France, Nin was the daughter of composer Joaquín Nin and Rosa Culmell, a classically trained singer.
Nin spent her early years in Spain and Cuba, about sixteen years in Paris (1924–1940), and the remaining half of her life in the United States, where she became an established author.
Maria Montessori
was an Italian physician and educator best known for the philosophy of education that bears her name, and her writing on scientific pedagogy.
At an early age, Montessori broke gender barriers and expectations when she enrolled in classes at an all-boys technical school, with hopes of becoming an engineer.
She soon had a change of heart and began medical school at the Sapienza University of Rome, where she graduated – with honors – in 1896. Her educational method is still in use today in many public and private schools throughout the world.
J. K. Rowling
is a British author, film producer, television producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist.
She is best known for writing the Harry Potter fantasy series, which has won multiple awards and sold more than 500 million copies, becoming the best-selling book series in history.
The books are the basis of a popular film series, over which Rowling had overall approval on the scripts and was a producer on the final films.
She also writes crime fiction under the name Robert Galbraith.
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