1. Nancy Reagan, Former First Lady of the United States of America

"A woman is like a tea bag: you cannot tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water."

This is one of my favorite quotes to empower and inspire women... and it's so true for many of us!

2. Janis Joplin, American Singer & Songwriter

"Don't compromise yourself. You are all you've got."

3. Angelina Jolie, American Actress

"Figure out who you are separate from your family, and the man or woman you're in a relationship with. Find who you are in this world and what you need to feel good alone. I think that's the most important thing in life. Find a sense of self because with that, you can do anything else."

4. Sarah Ban Breathnach, Author of Simple Abundance

"Our deepest wishes are whispers of our authentic selves. We must learn to respect them. We must learn to listen."

5. Judy Garland, American Actress and Singer

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."

6. Mother Teresa, Founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity

"We are all pencils in the hand of God writing love letters to the world."

7. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Historian of Early America and the History of Women

"Well-behaved women rarely make history."

8. Suzanne Brogger, Danish Novelist and Essayist

"If a woman can only succeed by emulating men, I think it is a great loss and not a success. The aim is not only for a woman to succeed, but to keep her womanhood and let her womanhood influence society."

9. Timothy Leary, American Psychologist and Writer

"Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition."

10. Mohandas K. Gandhi, Prominent Political and Ideological Leader of India

"Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacity."

11. Audre Lorde, Caribbean-American Writer, Poet, and Activist

"When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak."

This is one of the most poignant quotes to empower and inspire women that I've read.

12. Anais Nin, French-Cuban Author

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."

13. Ruth Gordon, American Actress and Writer

"Courage is like a muscle. We strengthen it with use."

14. Clementine Paddleford, American Food Writer

"Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone should be."

15. Lena Horne, American Singer, Actress, Dancer, and Civil Rights Activist

"It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it."

16. Alice Walker, American Author, Poet, and Activist

"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any."

17. Roseanne Barr, American Actress, Comedian, Writer

"The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it."

18. Cher, American Singer and Actress

"Women have to harness their power-- it's absolutely true. It's just learning not to take the first no. And if you can't go straight ahead, you go around the corner."

19. Charlotte Lunsford Berry, Philanthropist

"We won't always know whose lives we touched and made better for our having cared, because actions can sometimes have unforeseen ramifications. What's important is that you do care and you act."

20. Joyce Meyer, Charismatic Christian Author and Speaker

"Positive minds produce positive lives. Negative minds produce negative lives. Positive thoughts are always full of faith and hope. Negative thoughts are always full of fear and doubt."

21. Martha Washington, Wife of George Washington

Ever notice that First Ladies come up with some of the best quotes to empower and inspire women?

"I've learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances."

22. Agnes Repplier, American Essayist

"It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere."

23. Anne Frank, Author and One of the Most Renowned Jewish Victims of the Holocaust

"We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same."

24. Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Retired American Athlete

"Age is no barrier. It's a limitation you put on your mind."

25. Mary Manin Morrissey, New Thought Minister

"Don't wait for something big to occur. Start where you are, with what you have, and that will always lead you into something greater."

26. Liz Carpenter, Writer and Feminist

"Instead of looking at life as a narrowing funnel, we can see it ever widening to choose the things we want to do, to take the wisdom we've learned and create something."

27. Erica Jong, American Author and Teacher

"Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow that talent to the.... place where it leads."

28. Liz Smith, American Gossip Columnist

"Begin somewhere; you cannot build a reputation on what you intend to do."

29. Anita Roddick, Founder of the Body Shop

"If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito."

30. Sonia Choquette, Author, Storyteller, Vibrational Healer

"Your own words are the bricks and mortar of the dreams you want to realize. Your words are the greatest power you have. The words you choose and their use establish the life you experience."

31. Diana Ross, American Singer and Actress

I love quotes to empower and inspire women that come from women who really have gone after their dreams.

"You can't just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream; you've got to get out there and make it happen for yourself."

32. Helen Keller, American Author and Political Activist

"I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do."

33. Tammy Cravit, Writer

"Worrying is all about the illusion of control. When you worry, you are expending energy, and it feels like you are doing something... When you stop worrying, you free up energy that can be used more productively."

34. Margaret Young, American Singer

"Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then, do what you need to do, in order to have what you want."

35. Ella Fitzgerald, American Jazz and Song Vocalist

"Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong."

36. Indira Gandhi, Indian Politician

"My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition."

37. Marian Wright Edelman, American Children’s Rights Activist

"Never work just for money or for power. They won't save your soul or help you sleep at night."

38. Mia Hamm, Retired American Soccer Player

"So celebrate what you've accomplished, but raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed."

39. Margaret Thatcher, Former Conservative Prime Minister of the UK

"If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing."

40. Barbara De Angelis, American Relationship and Personal Growth Adviser

"Women need real moments of solitude and self-reflection to balance out how much of ourselves we give away."

41. Oprah Winfrey, American Media Proprietor, Talk Show Host, Philanthropist

It's no surprise that Oprah has one of the quotes to empower and inspire women:

"If you neglect to recharge a battery, it dies. And if you run full-speed ahead without stopping for water, you lose momentum to finish the race."

42. Wynonna Judd, American Country Music Singer

"I learned again that the mind-body-spirit connection has to be in balance."

43. Bette Midler, American Singer, Actress, and Comedian

"I always try to balance the light with the heavy: a few tears of human spirit in with the sequins and the fringes."

44. Jennifer Aniston, American Actress

"The greater your capacity to love, the greater is your capacity to feel the pain."

45. Lily Tomlin, American Actress

"For fast-acting relief, try slowing down."

46. Michelle Obama, First African-American First Lady of the United States of America

"Women in particular need to keep an eye on their physical and mental health, because if we're scurrying to and from appointments and errands, we don't have a lot of time to take care of ourselves. We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own 'to-do' list."

47. Samuel Johnson, English Author

"Nature has given women so much power that the law has very wisely given them little."

48. Ogden Nash, American Poet

"I have an idea that the phrase 'weaker sex' was coined by some woman to disarm some man she was preparing to overwhelm."

49. Diane Mariechild, Author of Mother Wit and Inner Dance

"A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform."

50. Anna Quindlen, American Author

"The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself."

Not only is this one of my favorite quotes to empower and inspire women, but it's also one of the reasons I like Anna's writing so much.

By sharing these quotes to empower and inspire women, I hope to encourage you and women all over the world to embrace the strength and power that lies inside of each and every one of us. Let us all take heed from the experiences of all the empowered and inspired women who came before us, as well as from the wisdom of the men who believe in us. Whenever you're feeling down, remember at least one of these quotes to empower and inspire women, and recall how strong you are. And if you know a woman who can use these quotes, then by all means, share them with her. Do you have any quotes to empower and inspire women to share?