A curated register of quotes from under-represented voices.

“ One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman. ”

— Simone de Beauvoir, 1949

“ The man or the woman in whom resides greater virtue is the higher; neither the loftiness nor the lowliness of a person lies in the body according to the sex, but in the perfection of conduct and virtues. ”

— Christine de Pizan, 1405

“ If Aristotle had cooked, he would have written much more. ”

— Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, 1691

“ I never want to shy away from acknowledging who I am, being authentic as much as I can be. It's an important thing to be able to say, 'Yes, I'm out. I'm not ashamed of any part of who I am.' ”

— Sharice Davids, 2018

“ The secret of our success is that we never, ever give up. ”

— Wilma Mankiller

“ I'm trying to take the stigma off the word ambitious, so we encourage more little girls to be ambitious, because I do think that's how society will change. ”

— Reese Witherspoon

“ Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to the error that counts. ”

— Nikki Giovanni

“ You can't be what you can't see. ”

— Marian Wright Edelman

“ You may be the first, but make sure you're not the last. ”

— Kamala Harris, 2020

“ If I was being 'sold' as a commodity of equal value to my male counterpart and worked as hard as him, I couldn't reconcile why I wasn't being remunerated equally. ”

— Cate Blanchett

“ I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there, I was promoted to the washtub. From there, I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there, I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations. ”

— Madam C.J. Walker

“ Life-transforming ideas have always come to me through books. ”

— bell hooks, 1994

“ My question is, why are people so quick to assume that locking away an increasingly large proportion of the U.S. population would help those who live in the free world feel safer and more secure? ”

— Angela Davis, 2003

“ In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground. A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other. That time is now. ”

— Wangari Maathai, 2004

“ The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them. ”

— Ida B. Wells

“ This whole thing is a talent issue. Women is a talent issue. It's not a gender issue. ”

— Indra Nooyi

“ When you've lived true fear for so long, you have nothing to be afraid of. ”

— Leymah Gbowee, 2011

“ I always wanted to not just be a tennis player. ”

— Coco Gauff

“ For the longest time I was trying to be white and fit in, that's also fine at some points in your life, I had to do that to survive in certain spaces. ”

— Rina Sawayama, 2020

“ Feminism by definition is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. ”

— Emma Watson, 2014

“ I became an artist, and thank god I did, because we are the only profession that celebrates what it means to live a life. ”

— Viola Davis, 2017