Shakespeare penned in his play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, “Though she be but little, she is fierce.” And though “little” doesn’t really sum up any of the women you’ll find on this list–for they are both mighty in their will and in their presence of mind and spirit–echoes of the outdated notion that women are the “weaker gender” can still be heard throughout our modern-day society. But it isn’t so. And if proof is needed, we’ve gathered 29 quotations from history that show the true essence of what it means to be a strong woman.
#1: “I am deliberate and afraid of nothing.”
— Audre Lorde, poet and activist
