92 Women Empowerment Quotes from Legendary Women to Help You Reclaim Your Power

The conversation around women's empowerment has been brewing ever since we can remember. If there is one thing we could agree on, it's that, generally, women want to lead their lives unrestricted. According to Madonna, Maya Angelou, and much more, this is definitely possible.

Women are powerful creatures, brimming with intensity and ready to explode. Hand in hand, sisterhood — from friends, mothers, and actual sisters — tends to help bring that flame to light. But sometimes, women can't seem to access that part of themselves that they know they have, that drive to keep going, to love, and to look after themselves.

It is comforting that there are women we can look up to -- women who have gone through similar experiences before and have managed to find their way out.

More so, they have shared their secrets and journeys so every woman can learn from their wisdom. Here are some pieces of insight that have an untold weight to them. These are 79 quotes from legendary women to help you reclaim your power.

Cher’s quote: “Women are the real architects of society.” | Image: AmoDays

QUOTES ON WOMEN'S STRENGTH AND DETERMINATION

"Didn't they tell you that I was a savage? [Expletive] your white horse and a carriage." — Rihanna

“Buckle up, and know that it’s going to be a tremendous amount of work, but embrace it.” — Tory Burch

"Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong." — Ella Fitzgerald

"I am a woman and a warrior. If you think I can't be both, you've been lied to." — Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar

"A strong woman looks a challenge in the eye and gives it a wink." — Gina Carey

Nicki Minaj’s quote: "You're not gonna tell me who I am. I'm gonna tell you who I am." | Image: AmoDays

"In achieving your goals, you may run into roadblocks. Don't let that stop you; go around, over, or under. If you are committed to your goal, you will find a way." — Catherine Pulsifer

"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any." — Alice Walker

"No one is your friend who demands your silence or denies your right to grow." — Alice Walker

“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” — Nora Ephron

Carly Simon’s quote: “A really strong woman accepts the war she went through and is ennobled by her scars.” | Image: AmoDays

"You're not gonna tell me who I am. I'm gonna tell you who I am." — Nicki Minaj

“Without an open-minded mind, you can never be a great success.” — Martha Stewart

“Power’s not given to you. You have to take it.” — Beyoncé

“If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.” — Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

“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

Sara Blakely’s quote: “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.” | Image: AmoDays

“We have too many high-sounding words and too few actions that correspond with them.” — Abigail Adams

"A really strong woman accepts the war she went through and is ennobled by her scars." — Carly Simon

“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

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” — George Eliot

"Don't be intimidated by what you don't know. That can be your strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else." — Sara Blakely

Anaïs Nin’s quote: “Life shrinks or expands in proportion with one’s courage.” | Image: AmoDays

QUOTES ON COURAGE

"I am stronger than my fear." — Malala Yousafzai

"Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold." — Helen Keller

"Do you really want to look back on your life and see how wonderful it could have been had you not been afraid to live in?" — Caroline Myss

“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

“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

Helen Kellers’ quote: "Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold." | Image: Amodays

“I’d rather regret the risks that didn’t work out than the chances I didn’t take at all.” — Simone Biles

QUOTES TO SPARK YOUR INNER FLAME

“I encourage women to step up. Don’t wait for somebody to ask you.” — Reese Witherspoon

“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, and how you can still come out of it.” — Maya Angelou

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion with one's courage." — Anaïs Nin

"You've always had the power, my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself." — Glinda the Good Witch from "The Wizard of Oz"

Rosa Parks’ quote: "You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right." | Image: AmoDays

"Sometimes you have to be a [expletive] to get things done." — Madonna

“Champions keep playing until they get it right.” — Billie Jean King

"Life is tough, my darling, but so are you." — Stephanie Bennett Henry

"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

"You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it's right." — Rosa Parks

Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar’s quote: "I am a woman and a warrior. If you think I can't be both, you've been lied to." | Image: AmoDays

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

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

"Have some fire. Be unstoppable. Be a force of nature. Be better than anyone here. And don't give a damn what anyone thinks." — Shonda Rhimes

"As for my girls, I'll raise them to think they breathe fire." -— Jessica Kirkland

"I am a woman and a warrior. If you think I can't be both, you've been lied to." — Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadatr

Jessica Kirkland’s quote, "As for my girls, I'll raise them to think they breathe fire." | Image: Amodays

QUOTES ON THE IMPORTANCE OF SISTERHOOD

"They say nothing lasts forever; dreams change, trends come and go. But friendships never go out of style." — Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City (2008).

“More than ever, I am aware of the need to support and celebrate each other. I like to believe I am part of a global support group network of 3.4 billion. Imagine: if you can fall back on the 3.5 billion sisters, and the many good men who are with us, what could we possibly not achieve?” — Nicole Kidman

“Every woman’s success should be an inspiration to another. We’re strongest when we cheer each other on.” — Serena Williams

“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” — Audre Lorde

“Women that believe in each other can survive anything. Women who believe in each other create armies that will win kingdoms and wars.” — Nikita Gill

Nellie McClung’s quote: "Women are going to form a chain, a greater sisterhood than the world has ever known." | Image: AmoDays

"Women are going to form a chain, a greater sisterhood than the world has ever known." — Nelly McClung

QUOTES ON EMPOWERING WOMEN THROUGH EDUCATION

“As always, an educated woman was a dangerous woman.” ― Stacy Schiff

"They are afraid of educated women. They are afraid of the power of knowledge.” ― Malala Yousafzai

“An intelligent, energetic, educated woman cannot be kept in four walls - even satin-lined, diamond-studded walls - without discovering sooner or later that they are still a prison cell.” ― Pearl S. Buck

“Girls should never be afraid to be smart.” ― Emma Watson

Malala Yousafzai’s quote: "One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world.” | Image: AmoDays

"One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world." ― Malala Yousafzai

QUOTES ON CONFIDENCE AND SELF WORTH

“I say if I’m beautiful. I say if I’m strong. You will not determine my story—I will.” — Amy Schumer

“My coach said I run like a girl. And I said if he ran a little faster, he could too.” — Mia Hamm

"I believe it's time that women truly owned their superpowers and used their beauty and strength to change the world around them." — Janelle Monáe

"I have come to realize making yourself happy is most important. Never be ashamed of how you feel. You have the right to feel any emotion you want, and do what makes you happy. That’s my life motto." — Demi Lovato

Beyoncé’s quote “We need to reshape our own perception of how we view ourselves. We have to step up as women and take the lead.” | Image: AmoDays

"You are more powerful than you know; you are beautiful just as you are.” — Melissa Etheridge

"You can’t please everyone, and you can’t make everyone like you.” — Katie Couric

"We need to reshape our own perception of how we view ourselves. We have to step up as women and take the lead." — Beyoncé

“I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it's true I'm here, and I'm just as strange as you.” — Frida Kahlo

“I know I’m a queen, but I don’t need no crown.” — Lizzo

Tina Fey’s quote: "Do your thing and don't care if they don't like it." | Image: AmoDays

"Even if it makes others uncomfortable, I will love who I am.” — Janelle Monáe

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

"Do your thing and don't care if they don't like it." — Tina Fey

"You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself. — Ethel Barrymore

"If you can dance and be free and be embarrassed, you can rule the world." — Amy Poehler

Brene Brown’s quote: "Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love." | Image: AmoDays

"A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.” — Coco Chanel

“Once I learned to like me more than others did, then I didn't have to worry about being the funniest or the most popular or the prettiest. I was the best me and I only ever tried to be that." — Issa Rae

"The most alluring thing a woman can have is confidence.” — Beyoncé

"Talk to yourself like you would someone you love." — Brené Brown

“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” — Judy Garland

Aibileen Clark from “The Help’s (2011)” quote:“You is smart, you is kind, you is important." | Image: AmoDays

“Stay strong. Stand up. Have a voice.” — Shawn Johnson

"You must love and care for yourself because that's when the best comes out.” — Tina Turner

“I am woman phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, that’s me.” — Maya Angelou

"You is smart, you is kind, you is important." — Aibileen Clark, "The Help"

QUOTES ON LOVING YOUR BODY AND FEELING BEAUTIFUL

“I hope that my presence on your screen and my face in magazines may lead you young girls on a beautiful journey, that you will feel validation of your external beauty, but also get to the deeper business of being beautiful inside." — Lupita Nyong’o

Erin McKean’s quote: “You don’t have to be pretty. You don’t owe prettiness to anyone. Not to your boyfriend/spouse/partner, not to your co-workers, especially not to random men on the street. You don’t owe it to your mother, you don’t owe it to your children, you don’t owe it to civilization in general. Prettiness is not a rent you pay for occupying a space marked ‘female.'” | Image: AmoDays

"People often say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder." — Salma Hayek

“The most beautiful thing you can wear is confidence.” — Blake Lively

"I need to see my own beauty and to continue to be reminded that I am enough, that I am worthy of love without effort, that I am beautiful, that the texture of my hair and that the shape of my curves, the size of my lips, the color of my skin, and the feelings that I have are all worthy and okay." — Tracee Ellis Ross

"You don't have to be pretty. You don't owe prettiness to anyone. Not your boyfriend/spouse/partner, not to your co-workers, especially not to random men on the street. You don't owe it to your mother, you don't owe it to your children, you don't owe it to civilization in general. Prettiness is not a rent you pay for occupying a space marked as 'female'" — Erin McKean'

Halsey’s quote: "So many people are concerned with being the perfect 'something.' Whether it's the perfect singer, the perfect sexy girl, or the perfect feminist. I don't want to be the perfect anything." | Image: AmoDays

"Age is of no importance unless you're a cheese." — Billie Burke

“I’m a woman, of course, I still have curves on me, and that’s ok. I had a baby and I’ve worked hard. And I don’t think women should have to feel that kind of pressure. I’ve done it really healthfully, and I took my time.” — Lily Aldridge

"You can't eat beauty, it doesn't sustain you. What is fundamentally beautiful is compassion, for yourself and those around you. That kind of beauty enflames the heart and enchants the soul." — Lupita Nyong'o

"Even though some of you are pretty thin, you all have fat hearts, and that’s what matters." — Fat Amy, "Pitch Perfect" (2012).

Billie Burke‘s quote: “Age is of no importance unless you’re a cheese.” | Image: AmoDays

"I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls.” — Audrey Hepburn

“Females are the most beautiful, gorgeous creatures in the whole world. And I think that we are gorgeous no matter what size we are.” — Alicia Keys

"So many people are concerned with being the perfect 'something.' Whether it's the perfect singer, the perfect sexy girl, or the perfect feminist. I don't want to be perfect anything." — Halsey

QUOTES FROM WOMEN WHO DON’T PLAY BY THE RULES

"You can waste your lives drawing lines, or you can live your life crossing them." — Shonda Rhimes

Catwoman from “Catwoman’s” (2004) quote “Freedom is power. To live a life untamed and unafraid is the gift that I've been given." | Image: AmoDays

"If you have yet to be called an incorrigible, defiant woman, don't worry, there is still time." — Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés

“Well-behaved women seldom make history.” — Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun. — Katharine Hepburn

"Women are the real architects of society." — Cher

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s quote: “Well-behaved women seldom make history.” | Image: Amodays

Any one of us can begin to follow in these powerful women's footsteps and eventually carve out our own path. This empowering journey can start when we finally realize how much power we already have, especially when we reach out our hands to our fellow sisters.

With all that being said, here's a bonus quote from "Queen Bey" herself, Beyonce Knowles, that will hopefully leave us all with fires in our bellies -- We simply need to answer one question: "Who run the world?"

If you enjoyed these quotes, then you'll certainly appreciate this compilation of family-focused quotes to create stronger bonds.