100 phrases of unique women who made history
Over many centuries women have been the great forgotten in history.
Of course, that does not mean that they did not contribute to the advancement of society or that they did not have a rich psychological life. Below you can see a selection of phrases by women in which you can intuit their concerns, motivations and reflections.
Phrases of influential and thoughtful women
These reflections and phrases by women are not listed in any specific order And, if you think there are other interesting quotes that could have been included, you can leave them in the comments section.
1. We cannot let the limited perceptions of others end up defining us (Virginia Satir)
This psychotherapist talks here about how we create self-image and selfconcept.
2. If you want to travel far, there is no better ship than a book (Emily Dickinson)
As a poet Emily Dickinson, it is normal for her to express this attachment to literature.
3. The best life is not the longest, but rather the one that is full of good deeds (Marie Curie)
A reflection of one of the most important scientists in history.
4. We are not born as a woman, but we become one (Simone de Beauvoir)
The philosopher Simone de Beauvoir focused the interest of her thought on the study of gender and feminism, and in this sentence one of her most important ideas is formulated: gender as something non-biological.
5. Those who do not move do not notice their chains (Rosa Luxemburg)
This Marxist theorist expressed in this way an apparent paradox: the existence of oppressed people who are not aware of it.
6. The dance is a poem of which each movement is a word (Mata Hari)
This well-known dancer talks about the properties of dance.
7. I paint myself because I am the one I know best (Frida Kahlo)
One of the best known phrases of this artist.
8. Understanding is a two-way street (Eleanor Roosevelt)
A very graphic way of conceptualizing understanding as a two-way link.
9. You cannot shake hands with those who remain with a closed fist (Indira Gandhi)
A reflection steeped in antiwarism.
10. It would be nice to be less curious about people and more about ideas (Marie Curie)
Another of Marie Curie's phrases; it can be interpreted as a reflection of her analytical mindset.
11. Happiness in marriage is a matter of sheer luck (Jane Austen)
Jane Austen was characterized by a sardonic and dispassionate way of seeing things, and here this characteristic can be sensed. This is one of the most remembered phrases of Pride and Prejudice.
12. Blindness separates us from the things around us, but deafness separates us from people (Helen Keller)
A reflection on the deprivation of sensory stimuli.
13. If we want to be cautious, we should not take a high confidence in oneself as if it were a guarantee of something (Elizabeth Loftus)
This renowned psychologist talks about one of the conclusions she drew from her research.
14. Living is like walking through a museum: that's when you start to understand what you've seen (Audrey Hepburn)
The phrases of influential women not only have to do with philosophers or scientists. In this, Audrey Hepburn, a blockbuster movie actress, offers this thoughtful suggestion.
15. The most revolutionary thing a person can do is to always say out loud what is really happening (Rosa Luxemburg)
Another of Rosa Luxemburg's quotes, this time about the right to express herself.
16. The body is made to be seen, not to be covered (Marilyn Monroe)
Marilyn Monroe embodied the liberation of certain sexual taboos in relation to women.
17. We do not see things as they really are, but rather we see them as we are (Anaïs Nin)
Projection is, for this writer, a constant in our way of perceiving reality.
18. If you can't give me poetry, can you give me poetic science? (Ada Lovelace)
Ada Lovelace's passion for science, poetry and mathematics is embodied here.
19. Beauty is how you feel inside, and it is reflected in your gaze (Sophia Loren)
A reflection on beauty, self-esteem and the public image that we give.
20. Dancing: the greatest intelligence in the freest body (Isadora Duncan)
Poetic definition of the hand of one of the most important dancers.
22. If someone betrays you once it is her fault, but if he betrays you twice, then the fault will be yours (Eleanor Roosevelt)
A phrase that is attached to a recommendation for caution.
23. Everyone wants to be appreciated, so if you appreciate someone, don't make that a secret (Mary Kay Ash)
Advice aimed at making others happy.
24. The greatest danger that the future holds is apathy (Jane Goodall)
The way of conceiving the times that come from this primatologist is collected here.
25. Security is basically a superstition (Helen Keller)
For this thinker, security is an illusion that allows us to live with a certain order but does not allow us to see beyond certain mental frames.
26. In the dark, the things around us seem no more real than dreams (Murasaki Shikibu)
A reflection of one of the most important Japanese writers in history.
27. Freedom is always freedom for those who think differently (Rosa Luxemburg)
A way of conceiving freedom by looking for it where its existence is put to the test.
28. Life would be so wonderful if we knew what to do with it... (Greta Garbo)
An existential reflection of Greta Garbo.
29. Interpretation is internal, but must be externalized (Sarah Bernhardt)
A phrase about the tasks of the actor and actress when giving up their bodies to allow characters to emerge.
30. I can't stop while there are lives to save (Edith Cavell)
Edith Cavell saved dozens of lives during World War I, and in this sentence he expresses his strong motivation to help others.
31. All that matters are those friends you call at 4 a.m. m. (Marlene Dietrich)
It may seem like a somewhat frivolous thought, but in reality it is a totally valid reflection on friendship.
33. Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all (Helen Keller)
An invitation to live life in a daring way.
34. Fury can not solve any problem (Grace Kelly)
About the futility of anger (something many evolutionary psychologists would argue with, though).
35. Society only takes care of one as long as it is profitable (Simone de Beauvoir)
A cold way of seeing certain bonds of mutual help that are created in society.
36. When we can't keep dreaming, we die (Emma Goldman)
The importance of the possibility of imagining a better future.
37. Life is the process of becoming (Anaïs Nin)
Life understood as something that develops over time.
38. Sex: in America, an obsession, in other parts of the world, a fact (Marlene Dietrich)
In this selection of women's phrases there is also room for humor. Why not?
39. Independence is happiness (Susan B. Anthony)
Practically a slogan of life for its brevity and simplicity.
40. Dance is the movement of the universe concentrated in a single person (Isadora Duncan)
Another of her reflections on the nature of dance.
41. The intellectual, the moral and the religious seem to be interrelated in a harmonious whole (Ada Lovelace)
Ada Lovelace's interests went far beyond mathematics, and also extended to the philosophical and social.
42. It is always the simple that generates the wonderful (Amelia Barr)
A way of thinking of the beautiful as something that germinates in minimalism.
43. There is nothing more beautiful than laughter (Frida Kahlo)
A small sample of vitalism on the part of this artist.
44. You cannot find peace by avoiding life (Virginia Woolf)
Life is a source of conflicts that we have to know how to deal with in the best possible way.
45. If you follow all the rules you miss all the fun (Katharine Hepburn)
Fun is something worth keeping an eye on when it comes to relating to the rules, according to this actress.
46. There are no distances when you have a reason (Jane Austen)
Distance is also a relative element beyond Einstein's theories.
47. Aging is not for the weak (Bette Davies)
The aging process can be seen as part of personal evolution.
48. It is our decisions that show who we really are, more than our abilities (J. K. Rowling)
One of the phrases of the most important author of juvenile literature so far in the 21st century.
49. My imagination makes me human and makes me ignorant; gives me a whole world, and makes me exile from it (Ursula K. Le Guin)
As a science fiction writer, Ursula K. Le Guin feels both close and far from the worlds she imagined.
50. The issues of politics are too serious to be left to the politicians (Hanna Arendt)
For this philosopher, politics goes is something that must be done in the street by ordinary people.
51. Love is the difficult discovery that there is something beyond oneself that is real (Iris Murdoch)
The emotional ties that are established in love also represent a momentous discovery that unites us with someone in a unique way.
52. A man's fantasy is a woman's best weapon (Sophia Loren)
A somewhat conflicting way of seeing the relationship between the sexes, but one that has been greatly exploited in the cinematographic world.
53. One never gets better, but different and older, and that is always a pleasure (Gertrude Stein)
Growing up can be simply changing, not progressing, without causing drama.
54. It is more difficult to kill a ghost than a reality (Virginia Woolf)
A poetic way of seeing the personal dramas we face.
55. People looked at me like I was a mirror (Marilyn Monroe)
One of the phrases of a woman who became famous in part because of her image and who, nevertheless, felt alienated.
56. There is no worse agony than taking with us a story that has not been told (Maya Angelou)
A phrase about the stories that deserve to be told.
57. A scientist believes in ideas, not people (Marie Curie)
Another phrase about Marie Curie's analytical mindset, focused on proving hypotheses empirically.
58. Children should be educated about how to think, not about what to think (Margaret Mead)
This anthropologist differentiates between education about formal thought and the content of this thought.
59. Fate is a word we use to look back at choices with dramatic consequences (J. K. Rowling)
The concept of destiny can be seen as something that only serves to see past dramas with better eyes.
60. I do not see the misery there is but the beauty that still remains (Anne Frank)
One of the Anne Frank phrases most remembered for its positivity.
61. If you only have a smile, give it to someone you love (Maya Angelou)
Another invitation to share expressions of appreciation and affection.
62. There is no charm that can be compared to the tenderness of the heart (Jane Austen)
Quote from one of the most important writers of the 18th century.
63. When one door of happiness closes, another opens (Hellen Keller)
This is a phrase widely used as a source of optimism and motivation.
64. Few of us are what we seem (Agatha Christie)
An affirmation whose value resides, in part, in being supported by one of the references of the crime novel.
65. One never sees what has been done, but sees what remains to be done (Marie Curie)
The idea that we always see the possibilities and potentialities of the situations we live in, and not so much what we have to experience.
66. Of the past we do not have to remember more than the pleasant (Jane Austen)
Memory and its nooks and crannies.
67. Where there is no struggle there is no strength (Oprah Winfrey)
The effort of dealing with difficulties can be uplifting.
68. When there are large sums of money at stake, it is best not to trust anyone (Agatha Christie)
Selfishness it takes on weight when the possibilities of concentrating many goods increase, according to this idea.
69. The worst enemy of women is the pulpit (Susan B. Anthony)
One of the most groundbreaking phrases of this American suffragette.
70. The first idea that a child must learn is the difference between good and evil (Maria Montessori)
An idea very applicable to teaching in schools, but also to the lateness of parents.
71. We must tell our young women that their voices are important (Malala)
This Pakistani-born activist fights for new generations of women to be aware of their legitimacy to act and make decisions like men.
72. The eyes of the rest, our prisons; his thoughts, our cages (Virginia Woolf)
Social pressure can strongly condition our lives.
73. Virtue can only flourish among equals (Mary Wollstonecraft)
The best facets of the human being are only visible when there is no domination of one over the other.
74. We do not have a society if we destroy the environment (Margaret Mead)
We do not live isolated from the rest of the planet, this is an extension of our existence.
75. What makes us human is the ability to ask questions (Jane Goodall)
Curiosity directs our intellect.
76. Each person should live her life as a model for others (Rosa Parks)
This benchmark in the fight for equality defends the idea of inspiring others by doing good.
77. Adventure has value in itself (Amelia Earhart)
Amelia Earhart was the first woman to cross the Atlantic as an aviator. In this phrase he captures his adventurous spirit.
78. The purest proof of discipline is its absence (Clara Barton)
A reflection on the temptation not to do the right thing when no one is looking.
79. The only thing that's better than singing is singing more (Ella Fitzgerald)
80. Love only dies when growth stops (Pearl S. Buck)
The end of that emotional bond comes when we no longer have motivations or references.
81. A ship in a harbor is safe, but that's not what a ship is built for (Grace Hopper)
This pioneer of programming languages talks about the need to get out of the comfort zone.
82. For a long time, society has placed obstacles before women who wanted to enter science (Sally Ride)
This astronaut was the first American woman to explore outer space.
83. When men kill, our job as women is to fight for the preservation of life (Clara Zetkin)
War has been an exclusively male phenomenon for much of history,
84. Organized work is a necessary component of democracy (Dolores Huerta)
This activist for workers' rights talks about the need to establish policies that generate real equality, not just theoretical.
85. Finding joy in your work is like discovering the fountain of youth (Pearl S. Buck)
Getting involved in challenging work is like being a child again with a new toy.
86. If I can't dance, your revolution doesn't interest me (Emma Goldman)
A great phrase that revolutionaries have used to denote that social change must occur from joviality and respect for women.
87. The prolonged slavery of women is the blackest page in the history of mankind (Elizabeth Cady Stanton)
A reflection on the dark past of many women.
88. Feminism is a courageous protest by an entire sex against the positive diminution of her personality (Clara Campoamor)
On the fight for real equality.
89. Love has been the opium of women, as religion has been that of the masses. While we loved, men ruled (Kate Millet)
On the idea of romantic love, and why it is so pernicious.
90. The level of civilization that various human societies have reached is in proportion to the independence enjoyed by women (Flora Tristán)
Two variables that necessarily correlate.
91. Strong men do not need to humiliate women to feel powerful (Michelle Obama)
A phrase about the power dynamics between genders.
92. Even though I'm not yours, I can never be someone else's (Mary Shelley)
A reflection on love and freedom.
93. The more a person grows, the more he forgives (Catalina la Grande)
This Russian empress thus described psychological maturation.
94. We realize the importance of our voices only when we are quiet (Malala)
A reflection on freedom of expression.
95. I don't care if a person is rich or poor: once she is my friend, she is always my friend (Charlotte of Prussia)
A statement of intent about friendship.
96. Who starts working in politics knows that money is not the priority (Angela Merkel)
The German Chancellor talks about the sacrifices of her labor camp.
97. No girl would go to the altar if she had enough information (Queen Victoria)
A critique of what for many centuries marriage has been for women.
98. Never make decisions based on fear; make decisions based on hope and possibility (Michelle Obama)
A tip on how to act in pressure situations.
99. The hour of the woman who thinks, judges, rejects or accepts has come, and the hour of the woman has died that she attends, bound and powerless, to the capricious political elaboration of the destinies of her country (Eva Perón)
A phrase that indicates the change of times.
100. Science and daily life should not be separated (Rosalin Franklin)
Another of the most important scientists in history talks about the importance of research.