Quotes that inspire, make us smile, think or feel empowered is a great way to continue our celebration of National Women’s History Month. Here are quotes from some amazing women past and present and from all different walks of life.
Inspiring Quotes by Women Who Inspire was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
1. Ruby Dee
Ruby Dee: The kind of beauty I want most is the hard-to-get kind that comes from within – strength, courage, dignity.
2. Aaliyah
Aaliyah: Keep working hard and you can get anything that you want. If God gave you the talent, you should go for it. But don’t think it’s going to be easy. It’s hard! (Photo: AP)
3. Lena Horne
Lena Horne: It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it. (Photo: AP)
4. Kelly Rowland
Kelly Rowland: Never give up on your dream…because you never know what the Lord can bless you with. (Photo: AP)
5. Tina Turner
Tina Turner: Whatever is bringing you down, get rid of it. Because you’ll find that when you’re free . . . your true self comes out. (Photo: AP)
6. Sanaa Lathan
Sanaa Lathan: Being strong can be also feminine. I don’t think feminine equals being weak. Being strong is very sexy. (Photo: AP)
7. Gabrielle Union
Gabrielle Union: We all have to let go of the Prince Charming complex and realize he doesn’t necessarily exist in the package we assume he’ll come in. (Photo: AP)
8. Pearl Bailey
Pearl Bailey: A crown, if it hurts us, is not worth wearing. (Photo: BlackAmericaWeb)
9. Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg: When you are kind to someone in trouble, you hope they’ll remember and be kind to someone else and it’ll become like a wildfire. (Photo: AP)
10. Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker: The things we truly love stay with us always, locked in our hearts as long as life remains. (Photo: AP)
11. Halle Berry
Halle Berry: The times may have changed, but the people are still the same. We’re still looking for love, and that will always be our struggle as human beings. (Photo: AP)
12. Katherine Dunham
Katherine Dunham: I used to want the words ‘She tried’ on my tombstone. Now I want ‘She did it.’ (Photo: AP)
13. Tyra Banks
Tyra Banks: Take responsibility for yourself because no one’s going to take responsibility for you. I’m not a victim. I grow from this and I learn. (Photo: AP)
14. Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald: It isn’t where you come from; it’s where you’re going that counts. (Photo: AP)
15. Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey: Whatever someone did to you in the past has no power over the present. Only you give it power. (Photo: AP)
16. Viola Davis
Viola Davis: Sometimes you see how humanity can rise above any kind of cultural ills and hate that a person’s capacity to love and communicate and forgive can be bigger than anything else. (Photo: AP)
17. Iyanla Vanzant
Iyanla Vanzant: It’s time for you to move, realizing that the thing you are seeking is also seeking you. (Photo: AP)
18. Alice Walker
Alice Walker: The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. (Photo: AP)
19. Patti LaBelle
Patti LaBelle: All I can tell you really, is if you get to the point where someone is telling you that you are not great or not good enough, just follow your heart and don’t let anybody crush your dream. (Photo: AP)
20. Nikki Giovanni
Nikki Giovanni: Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to the error that counts. (Photo: AP)
21. Phylicia Rashad
Phylicia Rashad: There’s always something to suggest that you’ll never be who you wanted to be. Your choice is to take it or keep on moving. (Photo: AP)
22. Ella Baker
Civil rights & human rights leader Ella Baker: Give light and people will find the way. (Photo: Tumblr)
23. Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. (Photo: AP)
