Inspirational Quotes by Famous Women to Celebrate National Women's History Month

National Women's History Month recognizes the accomplishment of women in U.S. history - something that was completely ignored until 1970, according to NWHp.org. It started with the the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County (California) Commission initiating the "Women's History Week" in 1978 around International Women's Day celebrated on March 8. Today, the NWHP coordinates events and workshops throughout the country to honor women and their role in history. It's a perfect time to be inspired by some of the memorable motivating and inspirational quotes by famous women throughout history.

Inspirational Quotes by Women

"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead." ~ Louisa May Alcott, American novelist.

If you look at what you have in life,
You'll always have more.
If you look at what you don't have in life,
You'll never have enough. ~ Oprah Winfrey; American television host, actress, producer, and philanthropist

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."~ Maya Angelou; American autobiographer and poet

"Don't compromise yourself. You are all you've got." ~ Janis Joplin; American singer, songwriter and music arranger

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt; Former First Lady of the United States

"I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life."~ Maya Angelou

"The soul should always stand ajar. Ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.~ Emily Dickinson; American poet

"Never limit yourself because of others' limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination." ~ Mae Jemison, astronaut

"What is the meaning of life? That was all- a simple question; one that tended to close in on one with years, the great revelation had never come. The great revelation perhaps never did come. Instead, there were little daily miracles, illuminations, matches struck unexpectedly in the dark; here was one." - Virginia Woolf (To the Lighthouse)

"Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave." ~ Indira Gandhi; Forner Prime Minister of India

"You must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly alive in repose." ~ Indira Gandhi

"There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud
was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." ~ Anais Nin; French-Cuban author

The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward. ~ Amelia Earhart; American aviation pioneer

"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any." ~ Alice Walker; African American author and poet.

I'm not afraid of storms,
for I'm learning to sail my ship. ~ Louisa May Alcott

"If you want the rainbow, you've got to put up with the rain." - Dolly Parton; American singer

I think the key is for women not to set any limits. ~ Martina Navratilova; Tennis player

Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. ~ Harriet Beecher Stowe; American author

Even though you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes. In order to be free, we must learn how to let go. Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to entertain your old pain. The energy it takes to hang onto the past is holding you back from a new life. What is it you would let go of today?
-- Mary Manin Morrissey; American minister

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do." ~ Helen Keller; American author, political activist, and lecturer

I do not know the word 'quit.' Either I never did, or I have abolished it. Susan Butcher; American dog musher

Bicycling has done more to emancipate women than any one thing in the world. It gives her a feeling of self-reliance and independence the moment she takes her seat; and away she goes, the picture of untrammelled womanhood. ~ Susan B. Anthony; American civil rights leader