Motivational Quotes for Women

Many of the most admired entrepreneurs, executives and industry experts today are female. Ever more women becoming world-renowned thought leaders. As a result, they create and run successful business ventures in an ever-widening field of industries. You’ll find so many strong female business leaders and intellectuals around. And their messages of empowerment can inspire even more women to achieve their entrepreneurial dreams.

Motivational Quotes for Women

Here is a collection of inspirational quotes and apt advice from successful women to act as a source of motivation for female entrepreneurs everywhere.

Find Your Voice and Inner Strength Quotes

Getting started in the business world can be an intimidating process. But it all begins with finding your voice and developing your inner strength. A a result, you to take on all the obstacles that lay before you. It can take some time to figure out exactly what it is that truly fuels your passion, but once you know what you want, you must find the inner strength to pursue that dream to the end. Here are some motivational quotes for women who need a little encouragement:

Some Simple Words of Encouragement

Whatever it is that you think you want to do, and whatever it is that you think stands between you and that, stop making excuses. You can do anything. ~ Katia Beauchamp (co-founder of Birchbox)
The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud. ~ Coco Chanel (fashion designer)
Entrepreneurship is the last refuge of the troublemaking individual. ~ Natalie Clifford Barney (playwright and poet)
Making the decision to not follow a system, or someone else’s rules has allowed me to really dig into what my own strengths and gifts are without spending time feeling jaded or wasteful. ~ Ishita Gupta (founder of Fearless Magazine)

More Quotes from Great Women About Inner Strength

No matter what kind of challenges or difficulties or painful situations you go through in your life, we all have something deep within us that we can reach down and find the inner strength to get through them. ~ Alana Stewart (actress and model)
I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence, but it comes from within. It is there all the time. ~ Anna Freud (Austrian-British psychoanalyst)
Nothing can dim the light which shines from within. ~ Maya Angelou (poet, singer, memoirist and civil rights activist)
Go within every day and find the inner strength so that the world will not blow your candle out. ~ Katherine Dunham
You really have to look inside yourself and find your own inner strength, and say, ‘I’m proud of what I am and who I am.’ ~ Mariah Carey (singer and songwriter)

Motivational Quotes to Conquer Fear

Most people feel an element of fear when taking on a new task or trying to achieve something they haven’t done before. It’s a natural apprehension that has a variety of causes, but also a variety of solutions. Therefore it is crucial to anyone’s success that they don’t allow fear to obstruct their path to success. Here are some fear-conquering quotes from females who have indeed conquered fear itself:

When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid. ~ Audre Lorde (poet and feminist)
You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt (diplomat and activist)
Nobody talks about entrepreneurship as a survival, but that’s exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking. Running that first shop taught me business is not financial science; it’s about trading, buying and selling. ~ Anita Roddick (founder of The Body Shop)

Courage Sometimes Takes Different Forms

Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow’. ~ Mary Anne Radmacher (author)
Next time, ask: what’s the worst that will happen? Then push yourself a little further than you dare. Once you start to speak, people will yell at you. They will interrupt you, put you down and suggest it’s personal. And the world won’t end. And the speaking will get easier and easier. And you will find you have fallen in love with your own vision, which you may never have realized you had. And you will lose some friends and lovers, and realize you don’t miss them. And new ones will find you and cherish you. And at last you’ll know with surpassing certainty that only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth. And that is not speaking. ~ Audre Lorde (writer and activist)
Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain. ~ Vivian Greene (British writer)
A lot of people would say ‘sexy’ is about the body. But to me, ‘sexy’ is a woman with confidence. I admire women who have very little fear. ~ Allegra Versace (Italian heiress and socialite)

Don’t be Limited

I’ve learned that fear limits you and your vision. It serves as blinders to what may be just a few steps down the road for you. The journey is valuable, but believing in your talents, your abilities, and your self-worth can empower you to walk down an even brighter path. Transforming fear into freedom – how great is that? ~ Soledad O’Brien (broadcaster and executive producer)
Don’t let fear or insecurity stop you from trying new things. Believe in yourself. Do what you love. And most importantly, be kind to others, even if you don’t like them. ~ Stacy London (stylist and fashion consultant, author and magazine editor)
Some days, 24 hours is too much to stay put in, so I take the day hour by hour, moment by moment. I break the task, the challenge, the fear into small, bite-size pieces. I can handle a piece of fear, depression, anger, pain, sadness, loneliness, illness. I actually put my hands up to my face, one next to each eye, like blinders on a horse. ~ Regina Brett (author, inspirational speaker and newspaper columnist)

Work Smarter Motivational Quotes

There is also a wealth of good advice out there from business women and female intellectuals with regards to how to achieve success. One of the oft repeated pieces of advice involves working smarter instead of harder, although a combination of both would seem the ideal solution. Here are a few motivational quotes for women about working smarter:

How to Work Smarter in Your Business

So often people are working hard at the wrong thing. Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard. ~ Caterina Fake (co-founder of Flickr)
There is no royal flower-strewn path to success. And if there is, I have not found it, for if I have accomplished anything in life it is because I have been willing to work hard. ~ Madam C.J. Walker (USA’s first female millionaire entrepreneur)
You’re not in competition with other women. You’re in competition with everyone. ~ Tina Fey (writer and comedian)
Nothing will work unless you do. ~ Maya Angelou (poet, singer and activist)
People don’t take opportunities because the timing is bad, the financial side unsecure. Too many people are overanalyzing. Sometimes you just have to go for it. ~ Michelle Zatlyn (co-founder of CloudFlare)

It Starts with Basic Intelligence

We should all feel confident in our intelligence. By the way, intelligence to me isn’t just being book-smart or having a college degree; it’s trusting your gut instincts, being intuitive, thinking outside the box, and sometimes just realizing that things need to change and being smart enough to change it. ~ Tabatha Coffey (Australian hairstylist, salon owner and TV personality)
I might not be very smart, but I surround myself with smart people. ~ Barbara Mandrell (country music singer and actress)
I think art cannot be planned. The audience is too smart to get the dishonesty or ‘too much planning’ thing. I am not a legend, but I want to be one. I want to be known as an achiever. There is so much more that I can do. ~ Priyanka Chopra (Indian actress, singer and film producer)

It’s Neat to be Nerdy

Computer science is not just for smart ‘nerds’ in hoodies coding in basements. Coding is extremely creative and is an integral part of almost every industry. ~ Reshma Saujani (lawyer, politician and founder of tech organization Girls Who Code)
I think people are sexy when they have a sense of humor, when they are smart, when they have some sense of style, when they are kind, when they express their own opinions, when they are creative, when they have character. ~ Suzanne Vega (singer, songwriter and record producer)

Dare to Be Different Quotes for Women

Some of the best advice from successful female entrepreneurs is to dare to be different. It can help you stand out from the crowd and might just lead to that brilliant idea that nobody else has thought of yet. Of course, it takes courage and imagination to be truly unique, but once you discover what it is about you that makes you special, you can use to achieve great success. Here are some great quotes to inspire each individual to be proud of who they are and to make the very best of themselves:

Expect the unexpected. And whenever possible, be the unexpected. ~ Lynda Barry (cartoonist and author)
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. ~ Sara Blakely (founder of Spanx)
In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different. ~ Coco Chanel (founder of Chanel)
Whatever you do, be different; that was the advice my mother gave me, and I can’t think of better advice for an entrepreneur. If you’re different, you will stand out. ~ Anita Roddick (businesswoman and activist)
What makes you different or weird, that’s your strength. ~ Meryl Streep (actress)

Crazy Is Cool

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. ~ Steve Jobs (co-founder of Apple)
Be different, stand out, and work your butt off. ~ Reba McEntire (country singer, songwriter, actress and record producer)
It’s not like I try to be different, but every single person is unique, and every single person has special things to offer, and it’s about embracing it and not being afraid of the fact that maybe you’re different or quirky, but it’s okay to be different, and it can be a wonderful thing. ~ Lindsey Stirling (violinist, singer and songwriter)
Since I don’t look like every other girl, it takes a while to be okay with that. To be different. But different is good. ~ Serena Williams (tennis player)
I’ve always known that I wanted to be different. I wanted to stand out, so my gear is very elaborate, very blingy, very loud, because I want people to notice me, want to look like me. The Boss necklace, the ring. I want everything big. ~ Sasha ‘Legit Boss’ Banks (professional wrestler)

Empowering Quotes for Women

The empowerment of women in these more enlightened times has been long overdue. Sometimes it might feel like we still have along way to go. It takes time to achieve true equality. But the struggle will never let up while there is so much inspiration to draw from. Many great people have spoken eloquently, and sometimes not so eloquently, about the importance of personal empowerment for women, so here are some excellent quotes on that subject:

Everyone has inside of her a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be, how much you can love, what you can accomplish, and what your potential is. ~ Anne Frank
And one day she discovered that she was fierce and strong, and full of fire and that not even she could hold herself back because her passion burned brighter than her fears. ~ Mark Antony (Roman politician)
I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a b*tch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass. ~ Maya Angelou (poet and civil rights activist)

Stay True to Yourself

Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got. There is no yesterday, no tomorrow, it’s all the same day. ~ Janis Joplin (singer and songwriter)
We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced. ~ Malala Yousafzai (Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate)
The best protection any woman can have is courage. ~ Elizabeth Cady Stanton (suffragist, social activist, abolitionist and leading figure of the early women’s rights movement)
The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. ~ Alice Walker (novelist, poet and social activist)
One of the most courageous things you can do is identify yourself, know who you are, what you believe in and where you want to go. ~ Sheila Murray Bethel (entrepreneur and best selling business author)

Success Quotes for Women

Success means different things to many different women. But it ultimately involves achieving our heart’s desire. For example, it could involve starting a successful business. Or it could mean completing a passionate art project. As a result, we can all take some inspiration from the words of women. Especially those who have excelled in their own fields of industry and artistic expression. Here are some quotes about success to inspire you to achieve your own …

Success as a woman has changed me. That’s what I feel is the first thing. When I feel like a successful woman as a rounded human being, then it feeds my work in a broader way so it becomes more interesting. ~ Jacqueline Bisset (English actress)
I never dreamed about success. I worked for it. ~ Estée Lauder (businesswoman)
Buckle up, and know that it’s going to be a tremendous amount of work, but embrace it. ~ Tory Burch (fashion designer, businesswoman and philanthropist)
Define success on your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you’re proud to live. ~ Anne Sweeney (co-chairperson of Disney Media Networks)

Embrace Your Mistakes as Well as Your Successes

We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes – understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success. ~ Arianna Huffington (author, syndicated columnist and businesswoman)
If you are successful, it is because somewhere, sometime, someone gave you a life or an idea that started you in the right direction. Remember also that you are indebted to life until you help some less fortunate person, just as you were helped. ~ Melinda Gates (philanthropist and a former general manager at Microsoft)
I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I believe in miracles. ~ Audrey Hepburn (actress)
Define success in your own terms. Achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you’re proud to live. ~ Anne Sweeney, (co-chairperson of Disney Media Networks)
Successful women are not liked. I think the biggest danger for women in science is colleagues who are not as good as you are. ~ Christiane Nusslein-Volhard (German developmental biologist and 1995 Nobel Prize-winner)
I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took an excuse. ~ Florence Nightingale (social reformer, statistician and founder of modern nursing)

More Inspirational Quotes for Women

Here are 10 more quotes to inspire women to believe in themselves …

Once you figure out what respect tastes like, it tastes better than attention. ~ Pink (singer and songwriter)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt (politician)
I do not wish [women] to have power over men, but over themselves. ~ Mary Wollstonecraft (English writer, philosopher, and advocate of women’s rights)
I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning to sail my ship. ~ Louisa May Alcott (novelist, short story writer and poet)
Don’t let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity. It’s your place in the world; it’s your life. ~ Dr. Mae Jemison (engineer, physician and former NASA astronaut)
Power is not given to you. You have to take it. ~ Beyoncé Knowles (singer)
A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment. ~ Jane Austen (author)
I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will. ~ Charlotte Brontë (English novelist and poet)
Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim. ~ Nora Ephron (journalist, writer and filmmaker)
When a woman becomes her own best friend life is easier. ~ Diane Von Furstenberg (Belgian fashion designer and former princess)

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This article, “Motivational Quotes for Women” was first published on Small Business Trends