International Women's Day Quotes 2016: Inspirational Sayings From Strong Female Leaders, Activists, Artists

Women and girls around the globe are coming together Tuesday to celebrate International Women’s Day, a time to reflect on the struggles women face and commemorate the accomplishments they have made. Its theme this year is #PledgeForParity, and the official International Women’s Day website is calling on everyone, men and women, to take the pledge to help achieve gender parity in areas such as the economy, education, health and politics. To mark the day, here are 35 inspirational quotations of women leaders, artists and activists, as well as of a token man.

1. “I have not lived as a woman. I have lived as a man. I’ve just done what I damn well wanted to, and I’ve made enough money to support myself, and ain’t afraid of being alone.” — Katharine Hepburn

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

3. “A woman is like a tea bag — you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

4. “I want to say to you who think women cannot succeed, we have brought the government of England to this position, that it has to face this alternative: either women are to be killed or women are to have the vote.” — Emmeline Pankhurst

5. “I am a woman with thoughts and questions and shit to say. I say if I’m beautiful. I say if I’m strong. You will not determine my story — I will.” — Amy Schumer

6. “To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights, it’s our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America.” — Patricia Arquette

7. “No woman gets an orgasm from shining the kitchen floor.” — Betty Friedan

8. “They said, ‘You are a savage and dangerous woman.’ I am speaking the truth. And the truth is savage and dangerous.” — Nawal el Saadawi

9. “It is a vulgar error that love, a love, to woman is her whole existence; she is born for Truth and Love in their universal energy.” — Margaret Fuller

10. “All societies on the verge of death are masculine. A society can survive with only one man; no society will survive a shortage of women.” — Germaine Greer

11. “I am from Britain and think it is right that as a woman I am paid the same as my male counterparts. I think it is right that I should be able to make decisions about my own body. I think it is right that women be involved on my behalf in the policies and decision-making of my country. I think it is right that socially I am afforded the same respect as men.” — Emma Watson

12. “A cultural fixation on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty but an obsession about female obedience.” — Naomi Wolf

13. “I myself have never able to find out precisely what a feminist is. I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat.” — Rebecca West

14. “In societies where men are truly confident of their own worth, women are not merely tolerated but valued.” — Aung San Suu Kyi

15. “I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand.” — Susan B. Anthony

16. “Honor your daughters. They are honorable.” — Malala Yousafzai

17. “No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother.” — Margaret Sanger

18. “I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession, which I entered before my husband was in public life.” — Hillary Clinton

19. “A woman’s guess is much more accurate than a man’s certainty.” — Rudyard Kipling

20. “When a man gives his opinion, he’s a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she’s a bitch.” — Bette Davis

21. “You know what? Bitches get stuff done.” — Tina Fey

22. “Every man I meet wants to protect me. I can’t figure out what from.” — Mae West

23. “A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.” — Gloria Steinem

24. “Girls can wear jeans and cut their hair short, wear shirts and boots ’cause it’s OK to be a boy. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading ’cause you think being a girl is degrading.” — Madonna

25. “Women don’t realize how powerful they are.” — Judith Light

26. “As a woman I have no country. As a woman my country is the whole world.” — Virginia Woolf

27. “Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got.” — Janis Joplin

28. “I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.” — Jane Austen

29. “A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult." — Melinda Gates

30. “The history of all times, and of today especially, teaches that ... women will be forgotten if they forget to think about themselves.” — Louise Otto

31. “Women have always been the strong ones of the world. The men are always seeking from women a little pillow to put their heads down on. They are always longing for the mother who held them as infants.” — Coco Chanel

32. “I am my own woman.” — Eva (Evita) Perón

33. “Make sure you have your own life before becoming someone’s wife.” — Beyoncé Knowles

34. “If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.” — Margaret Thatcher

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