Oprah Winfrey, Ida B. Wells, Sandra Cisneros… All these strong and inspiring Chicago women have left their mark on the collective memory. On March 8, International Women’s Day, discover some of the most inspiring women’s quotes from legendary Chicago feminists and women from Illinois.
The most inspiring women quotes from Chicago and Illinois women:
1. “Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to greatness.”–Oprah Winfrey
2. “My feminism is humanism, with the weakest being those who I represent, and that includes many beings and life forms, including some men.” –Sandra Cisneros
3. “Things that make us alike are finer and stronger than the things that make us different.” –Jane Addams
4. “I don’t believe in doing things just to do them.” –Jennifer Hudson
5. There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.” –Michelle Obama
6. “The only way for a woman, as for a man, to find herself, to know herself as a person, is by creative work of her own. There is no other way.” “Men are not the enemy, but the fellow victims. The real enemy is women’s denigration of themselves.” –Betty Freidan
7. “Nothing’s more charming than someone who doesn’t take herself too seriously.” –Melissa McCarthy
8. “Butterflies are like women — we may look pretty and delicate, but baby, we can fly through a hurricane.” —Betty White
9. “Good ideas come from everywhere. It’s more important to recognize a good idea than to author it.” –Jeanne Gang
10. “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” –Ida B. Wells
11. “It’s better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret.” –Jackie Joyner-Kersee
12. “We are each other’s magnitude and bond.” –Gwendolyn Brooks
13. “Women have no bigger place than the place that makes family life right and normal. Some of us are not in those places. So we do other things that help family life. And perhaps we ‘mother’ some children even though we may be the judge of a court.” —Mary Bartelme
14. “Art is communication…’I wish my art to speak not only for my people—but for all humanity.” —Margaret Taylor-Burroughs
15. “I don’t want to have to be beautiful all the time. I want to be able to look cruddy in my weekend sweats, with a pimple on my face and pimple cream on top of the pimple. The expectation to always be beautiful bothers me.” —Cindy Crawford
16. “I portray female characters, so I have the opportunity to change the way people look at them. Even if I wasn’t consciously doing that, it would happen anyway just because of how I present as a woman or as a person. I present in a way that’s not stereotypical, even if I’m playing a stereotypical role.” –Frances McDormand
17. “Just remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears.”–Gillian Anderson
18. “ If you feel good about who you are inside, it will radiate.” –Patti Smith