Feeling insecure? Feeling roughed up and beat down?

Maybe you, like me, need some inspiration today?

These 20 quotes from 20 “badass” women in pop culture and history embody the independent spirit, intellectual prowess, and supreme enlightenment (for real). Their powerful words pump us up and set us ablaze.

The time has come to reclaim ourselves—our position and worth inside this dirty world. It won’t happen if we sit around complaining or crying victim. We’ve got this one life, gals! There’s no time like the present moment to sort out our sh*t and live the badass life we were born to live. 

Read ’em and sing, ladies. We got this.

On succeeding in our career:

“If you’re frustrated because you’re not getting what you want, stop for a second: have you actually flat-out asked for it? If you haven’t, stop complaining. You can’t expect the world to read your mind. You have to put it out there, and sometimes putting it out there is as simple as just saying, ‘Hey, can I have that?'” ~ Sophia Amoruso, Businesswoman

On breaking down doors:

“They cannot stand that a refugee, a black woman, an immigrant, a Muslim, shows up in Congress thinking she’s equal to them. But I say to them, ‘How else did you expect me to show up?'” ~ Ilhan Omar, Politician

“The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.” ~ Mary Oliver, Poet

On fighting the oppression of women:

“I raise up my voice—not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.” ~ Malala Yousafzai, Activist

“I am not free while any woman is un-free, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” ~ Audre Lorde, Poet

On being difficult:

“I’m tough, ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay.” ~ Madonna, Entertainer

On finding our own voice:

“I am a woman with thoughts and questions and sh*t to say. I say if I’m beautiful. I say if I’m strong. You will not determine my story—I will.” ~ Amy Schumer, Comedian

“Find out who you are, and do it on purpose.” ~ Dolly Parton, Singer/Songwriter

On policy change:

“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court Justice 

On progress:

“I am one of those who think like Nobel, that humanity will draw more good than evil from new discoveries.” ~ Marie Curie, Scientist

“The greatest danger to our future is apathy.” ~ Jane Goodall, Anthropologist

On changing roles and stereotypes:

“Words have power. TV has power. My pen has power.” ~ Shonda Rhimes, Writer/Producer

On doing what we want:

“For I conclude that the enemy is not lipstick, but guilt itself; we deserve lipstick, if we want it, and free speech; we deserve to be sexual and serious—or whatever we please. We are entitled to wear cowboy boots to our own revolution.” ~ Naomi Wolf, Journalist

“You can’t move mountains by whispering at them.” ~ Pink, Singer

On motherhood:

“Someday, when my children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a mother, I’ll tell them: I loved you enough to bug you about where you were going, with whom and what time you would get home. … I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover your friend was a creep. I loved you enough to make you return a Milky Way with a bite out of it to a drugstore and confess, ‘I stole this.’ … But most of all I loved you enough to say no when you hated me for it. That was the hardest part of all.” ~ Erma Bombeck, Writer

On empathy:

“I know it might sound weird, but empathy is one of the greatest creators of energy. It’s counterintuitive because it’s selfless.” ~ Angela Ahrendts, Businesswoman

On Feminism:

“The strongest reason for giving woman all the opportunities for higher education, for the full development of her faculties, her forces of mind and body… is the solitude and personal responsibility of her own individual life.” ~ Elizabeth Cady Stanton

“Independence is a heady draught, and if you drink it in your youth, it can have the same effect on the brain as young wine does. It does not matter that its taste is not always appealing. It is addictive and with each drink you want more.” ~ Maya Angelou, Memoirist, Activist

On Self-esteem:

“Every woman that finally figured out her worth, has picked up her suitcases of pride and boarded a flight to freedom, which landed in the valley of change.” ~ Shannon L. Alder, Author

On Intellectualism:

“The only interesting answers are those which destroy the questions.” ~ Susan Sontag, Essayist

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Ten empowering songs to sing at the top of your lungs:

Q.U.E.E.N. by Janelle Monae & Erykah Badu Q.U.E.E.N.

Ain’t Your Mama, Jennifer Lopez Ain’t Your Mama

Juice, Lizzo Juice

She Wolf, Shakira She Wolf

Bossy, Kelis Bossy

Cherry Bomb, The Runaways Cherry Bomb

Girl on Fire, Alicia Keys Girl on Fire

The Pill, Loretta Lynn The Pill

Woman, Kesha Woman

I Am Not a Woman, I’m a God, Halsey I Am Not a Woman, I’m a God

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