14 inspirational quotes from pioneering women

By Mary Scharffenberger and Anna Lemberger

March is Women’s History Month! Throughout history, women activists have been a source of inspiration and have made it possible for others to succeed in the work they do. We’ve collected together 14 quotes from pioneering women. May their words resonate through time and continue to inspire.

1. Kishida Toshiko

Japan, 1863-1901

Kishida Toshiko was a writer, activist, and one of the first women in Japan to speak publicly about women’s rights. She began lecturing when she was just 20 years old! She was well known for her speech “Daughters Confined in Boxes” that criticised a family system that confined women at home.

2. Carrie Chapman Catt

United States, 1859-1947

As president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, Carrie Chapman Catt helped revitalise the suffrage movement and ratify the 19th Amendment in 1919, which guarantees all women the right to vote. Not really that long ago, ladies!

3. Mother Teresa

Republic of Macedonia, 1910-1997

Maybe one of the most famous women on this list, Mother Teresa established the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation, in 1950. These sisters ran hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis at a time when such people were treated as outcasts by most of society.

4. Rosa Parks

United States, 1913-2005

Rosa Parks is known as the “first lady of civil rights.” Her arrest for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger led to the game-changing Montgomery Bus Boycotts, an important moment for the U.S. civil rights movement.

5. Eunice Shriver

United States, 1921-2009

Shriver founded the Special Olympics in 1968 in honour of her sister, Rosemary, who had an intellectual disability. She firmly believed that if people with intellectual disabilities were given the same opportunities as everyone else, they could achieve far more than anyone thought possible.

6. Arundhati Roy

India, 1930 –

This Booker prize-winning author and political activist wrote The God of Small Things, which was eventually translated into 40 languages. But instead of writing more novels, Roy has committed to shining a spotlight on the dark side of her homeland, India, and focusing on its millions of poor, dispossessed and abused citizens, as well as environmental issues.

7. Shami Chakrabarti

United Kingdom, 1969 – 

As Director of Liberty, a UK advocacy group which campaigns to protect civil liberties and promote human rights, Chakrabarti is recognised as a tireless defender of freedom and equality. Liberty create change by challenging inequities through the courts, helping to set a legal precedent. On 27 July 2012, she was one of eight Olympic Flag carriers at the London 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, and is frequently cited as one of the most influential women in Britain.

8. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Liberia, 1938-

Known as Africa’s “Iron Lady”, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was the first female head of state on the continent of Africa. She has been working tirelessly ever since to strengthen the institutions of national security and good governance in her home country of Liberia.

9. Juliana Rotich

Kenya

Juliana Rotich is a technology entrepreneur and the co-founder of Ushahidi. Ushahidi was originally designed as a crowdsourced map to track violence after the troubled Kenyan elections in 2007-8. It was later made available as open-source software, and is now used to help distribute aid following natural disasters, among other things. This thought leader has been a champion for spreading internet connectivity in the developing world.

10. Aung San Suu Kyi

Burma, 1945-

Aung San Suu Kyi began speaking out in favour of the protests and rallies against the dictator U Ne Win and his policies, focusing her speeches on democracy and human rights. In retaliation U Ne Win’s military junta put Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest with no communication with the outside world for almost 15 years. That certainly didn’t silence her.

11. Leymah Gbowee

Liberia, 1972-

In collaboration with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee helped bring a period of peace to Liberia through her leadership of a women’s peace movement. Her efforts enabled a free election in 2005 that gave the presidency to Sirleaf.

12. Rebecca Lolosoli

Kenya

Rebecca Lolosoli helped establish the Umoja Women’s Village in Kenya after she was beaten for speaking up for victims of rape. She continues to fight for women and their right to make decisions, own land and businesses.

13. Chrissie Wellington

United Kingdom, 1977-

Wellington is a record-holding triathlete. Retired now, she’s working to advance women in cycling by calling for a women’s Tour de France. She is also passionate about development and spent time in the conflict-affected west of Nepal working on water and sanitation.

14. Malala Yousafzai

Pakistan, 1997-

A strong advocate for girls’ right to education, Malala was shot in the head by Taliban in 2012 after refusing to give up on her campaign. She survived and came back strong, starting the Malala Fund to help girls around the world reach their true potential.

You don’t have to be a president or cultural icon for your voice to matter. If you’re based in the US, join the ONE Girls and Women movement and help make the world a better place for girls and women everywhere.