Top 10 Girl-isms To Push You To Greatness
In general, women say a lot of amazing things, but because men are always talking over them, sometimes they’re hard to hear. Or the women that get quoted aren’t always the ones we want to hear (I’m looking at you, Kardashian Krew). In this case, though, we’ve weeded out the worst quotes about shoes and money and plastic surgery to collect ten of the best quotes from our favorite women in history as a guarantee that they get heard. There’s a selection ranging from French memoirists to our favorite first lady, and no doubt you’ll be inspired to become a neo-suffragette simply by reading what they have to say. And for more memorable quotes that will get you inspired, tune in to PUSH GIRLS on June 5th, where you’ll hear from four inspiring women who’ve faced a set of their own challenges. The notable and quotable always reign, if you know what we mean.
10. “I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman.” —Virginia Woolf
Ahh, that Virginia Woolf. Always know how to pull at our heartstrings, doesn’t she? A profound writer herself who is sometimes categorized as a prose poetess due to the beauty and stylizing of her imagery, she knew better than anyone how hard it is to be a female writer.
Tune into PUSH GIRLS Mondays at 10P, the all new series of women challenging the norm.
9. “The mind has no sex.” —George Sand
French novelist and memoirist George Sand was constantly under scrutiny for her male pseudonym and her choice to wear men’s clothing, but one thing is clear: she didn’t believe that there was such a thing as a gendered mind. Her defense of this idea continued throughout her literary career and in it she gained the fanaticism of people like Marcel Proust and frigging Balzac. So let’s go ahead and believe that quote of hers, why don’t we?
Tune into PUSH GIRLS Mondays at 10P, the all new series of women challenging the norm.
Author: Dayna Evans8. “Maybe we weren't at the Last Supper, but we're certainly going to be at the next one.” —Bella Abzug
Noted member of the US House of Representatives and, duh, women’s rights activist, Bella Abzug was quick with words and stating sharp, memorable sentiments. This is by no means her only witticism that has been canonized for future women to inscribe on the inside front flaps of their journals, but it’s certainly a good one. Preach it, Bella!
Tune into PUSH GIRLS Mondays at 10P, the all new series of women challenging the norm.
Author: Dayna Evans7. “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, how you can still come out of it.” —Maya Angelou
Inspiring poet and writer Maya Angelou has said more memorable things than many writers will ever say in several lifetimes (though I’m sure they’ll still try), and the best thing is that everything she says motivates us. You know those inspirational posters that are hanging in every soulless office around the country? If they would just throw a Maya Angelou quote like this one on there, we’d stop making fun of them so hard.
Tune into PUSH GIRLS Mondays at 10P, the all new series of women challenging the norm.
Author: Dayna Evans6. “Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
If you haven’t had a moment in your adolescence when someone said something to you that hurt your feelings after which point your caring mother quotes Eleanor Roosevelt to make you feel better, then you haven’t truly lived. This quote circulates every household (and is probably framed in Liz Lemon’s office next to a picture of a hamburger) any time someone is upset, and you know, it should be. It’s a darn good point and coming from one of the dopest ladies to have ever lived, it means that much more.
Tune into PUSH GIRLS Mondays at 10P, the all new series of women challenging the norm.
Author: Dayna Evans5. “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” —Marie Curie
Though she eventually died from radiation poisoning from years of being exposed to the stuff, she gave us decades of good years wherein she pioneered the science industry for women and said a lot of memorable things. And if her work is any example, she did nothing but understand. Though we kind of hope she had feared radiation a little more, you know, to, like, stay alive.
Tune into PUSH GIRLS Mondays at 10P, the all new series of women challenging the norm.
Author: Dayna Evans4. “Men are not the enemy, but the fellow victims. The real enemy is women's denigration of themselves.” —Betty Friedan
You know when you’re having a terrible day and all you can think about is how ugly, stupid, and fat you are? Yeah, this is basically what Betty Friedan, American feminist movement leader, has to say about that. Don’t do it, lady. You’re just bringing us all down. No, seriously.
Tune into PUSH GIRLS Mondays at 10P, the all new series of women challenging the norm.
Author: Dayna Evans3. “You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.” –Indira Gandhi
Though she shares no relation with our main man in peacekeeping, Mahatma, Indira Gandhi still had some great ideas on how to keep politics at an even keel. She was a powerful woman in charge of a great number of people and land, and when she laid down the law, she knew what was up. Violence will never solve the problems of the world, nor will stubbornness. Keeping an open mind, and incidentally an open hand, is the only way.
Tune into PUSH GIRLS Mondays at 10P, the all new series of women challenging the norm.
Author: Dayna Evans2. “Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” —Mother Teresa
When it comes to a woman like Mother Teresa, there’s only so much you can say about how amazing she is before it becomes incredibly redundant. Duh, she’s Mother Teresa. She’s the person you conjure up when you want to mock your friend for doing a good deed once in his life. She’s represents do-gooding in every soul-saving way possible. But when she says stuff like the quote above, you remember that her big thing was helping people on an individual level, and it makes you think that maybe, just maybe, you could do it, too.
Tune into PUSH GIRLS Mondays at 10P, the all new series of women challenging the norm.
Author: Dayna Evans1. “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.” —Anaïs Nin
There are a few writers of the 20th century whose quotations have been plastered all over the walls of universities for as long as they’ve been writing and it’s true, Anaïs Nin is one of them. But she deserves it. She’s always saying things that make infinite sense, such as this quote. If we are courageous and take risks, just like Nin did in her life and her writing, cavorting around with famous writers and traveling the world, we’ll have the opportunity to understand life in its most giving form. Good going, gal.
Tune into PUSH GIRLS Mondays at 10P, the all new series of women challenging the norm.
Author: Dayna Evans
