Friday, December 31, 2021

Country, Deep Trouble, Serving Others, Question the Powers, Cornel West

“The country is in deep trouble. We've forgotten that a rich life consists fundamentally of serving others, trying to leave the world a little better than you found it. We need the courage to question the powers that be, the courage to be impatient with evil and patient with people, the courage to fight for social justice. In many instances we will be stepping out on nothing, and just hoping to land on something. But that's the struggle. To live is to wrestle with despair, yet never allow despair to have the last word.” ― Cornel West

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/6176.Cornel_West.

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Any Woman, Intellectual, Discrimination, Self-Doubt, Bell Hooks

“Any woman who wishes to be an intellectual, to write non-fiction, to deal with theory, faces a lot of discrimination coming her way and perhaps even self-doubt because there aren't that many who've gone before you. And I think that the most powerful tool we can have is to be clear about our intent. To know what it is we want to do rather than going into institutions thinking that the institution is going to frame for us.” - Bell Hooks

Found on Inspiring Quotes at https://www.inspiringquotes.us/author/1212-bell-hooks.

Thursday, December 23, 2021

Sunday, December 19, 2021

Leave Something Behind, Change Something, Ray Bradbury

“Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you're there.

"It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that's like you after you take your hands away. The difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching, he said. The lawn-cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime.” ― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Found on Goodreads. Click here to see this and other Ray Bradbury quotes.

Thursday, December 16, 2021

Books, Important, Miracle, World After World After World, Anne Lamott

“For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.” ― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Found on GoodReads at Anne Lamott's quote page.

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Sunday, December 12, 2021

Challenges of Change, Important, Our Own Future, Hillary Rodham Clinton

“The challenges of change are always hard. It is important that we begin to unpack those challenges that confront this nation and realize that we each have a role that requires us to change and become more responsible for shaping our own future.” - Hillary Rodham Clinton

Found in The Last Word: A Treasury of Women's Quotes, by Carolyn Warner, page 46.

Friday, December 10, 2021

Perfectionism, Voice of the Oppressor, Anne Lamott

“Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing it.” ― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Found on GoodReads at Anne Lamott's quote page.

Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Monday, November 29, 2021

Life, Lived, Support Yourself, Interesting, Katharine Hepburn

“Life is to be lived. If you have to support yourself, you had bloody well better find some way that is going to be interesting. And you don't do that by sitting around wondering about yourself.” - Katharine Hepburn

Found in The Quotable Woman, by Running Press, Editor, page 22.

Sunday, November 28, 2021

Writing, Making Money, Getting Famous, Enriching the Lives, Stephen King

“Writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it's about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It's about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy.” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Found in Goodreads at Stephen King quotes.

Friday, November 26, 2021

Woman, Child, Man, Raising, Gloria Steinem

“If a woman spends a year bearing and nursing a child, why isn't a man responsible for spending half the time plus another year raising a child? Logic is in the eye of the logician.” - Gloria Steinem

Found in The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off: Thoughts on Life, Love, and Rebellion, by Gloria Steinem, page 19.

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

No Matter the Fight, Ladylike, Mary "Mother" Jones

"No matter the fight, don't be ladylike! God almighty made women and the Rockefeller gang of thieves made the ladies." - Militant labor organizer Mary "Mother" Jones, one mean maternal unit to mess with.

(Found in Loose Cannons: Devastating Dish from the World's Wildest Women, compiled by Autumn Stephens.)

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Books, Perfect Entertainment, Stephen King

“Books are the perfect entertainment: no commercials, no batteries, hours of enjoyment for each dollar spent. What I wonder is why everybody doesn't carry a book around for those inevitable dead spots in life.” ― Stephen King

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/3389.Stephen_King.

Thursday, November 18, 2021

Honest Americans, We Elected Them, Lily Tomlin

“Ninety-eight percent of the adults in this country are decent, hard-working, honest Americans. It's the other two percent that get all the publicity. But then, we elected them.” - Lily Tomlin

Found in Women's Lip: Outrageous, Irreverent and Just Plain Hilarious Quotes, edited by Roz Warren, page 92.

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Real Courage, Man With a Gun, Know You're Licked Before You Begin, Begin Anyway, Atticus Finch, Harper Lee

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what." - (Atticus Finch) ― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Found on Goodreads, at https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3275794-to-kill-a-mockingbird.

Sunday, November 14, 2021

Change Their Party, Principles, Winston Churchill

“Some men change their party for the sake of their principles; others their principles for the sake of their party.” - Winston Churchill

Found in Great Quotes from Great Leaders, by Peggy Anderson, page 6.

Saturday, November 13, 2021

Because Women's Work, Never Done, Underpaid, Unpaid, Joyce Stevens

"Because women's work is never done and is underpaid or unpaid or boring or repetitious and we're the first to get fired and what we look like is more important than what we do and if we get raped it's our fault and if we get beaten we must have provoked it and if we raise our voices we're nagging bitches and if we enjoy sex we're nymphos and if we don't we're frigid and if we love women it's because we can't get a "real" man and if we ask our doctor too many questions we're neurotic and/or pushy and if we expect childcare we're selfish and if we stand up for our rights we're aggressive and "unfeminine" and if we don't we're typical weak females and if we want to get married we're out to trap a man and if we don't we're unnatural and because we still can't get an adequate safe contraceptive but men can walk on the moon and if we can't cope or don't want a pregnancy we're made to feel guilty about abortion and...for lots of other reasons we are part of the women's liberation movement." - Author unknown, quoted in The Torch, 14 September 1987

I first read these words on a poster at Brigit Books in St. Petersburg, Florida. Brigit Books has long since closed (darn!). But I was able to find out that Joyce Stevens wrote the above quote as a Union Song for Women's Liberation Broadsheet, International Woman's Day, 1975.

Numerous links had this listed as "Author unknown, quoted in The Torch." While I was able to find links to several magazines and newsletters listed as The Torch, none of them were ones that had listed this quote. However, we now know who wrote these words.

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Rat Race, Still a Rat, Lily Tomlin

“The trouble with being in the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.” - Lily Tomlin

Found in The Quotable Woman, by Running Press, Editor, page 27.

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Sorrow's Kitchen, Mountain Wrapped in Rainbows, Zora Neale Hurston

"I have been in Sorrow's kitchen and licked out all the pots. Then I have stood on the peaky mountain wrapped in rainbows, with a harp and sword in my hands." - Zora Neale Hurston

Found on Brainy Quote. Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/zora_neale_hurston_399481.

Monday, November 1, 2021

Duty of Our Generation, Solidarity, Elie Wiesel

"This is the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first century -- solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give a noble and humanizing meaning to a community in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others." - Elie Wiesel

This can be found at http://www.wisdomquotes.com/authors/elie-wiesel/.

Sunday, October 31, 2021

Monsters, Ghosts, Stephen King

“Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.” ― Stephen King

Found on GoodReads. Can be viewed here.

Friday, October 29, 2021

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Want to Write, Want to Create, Most Sublime Fool, Ray Bradbury

“If you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever turned out and sent rambling. You must write every single day of your life. You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads. I wish you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime. I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon you. May you live with hysteria, and out of it make fine stories — science fiction or otherwise. Which finally means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.” ― Ray Bradbury

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1630.Ray_Bradbury.

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

To Write, Inner Voice, Outer World, Believe That Our Thoughts, Gloria Steinem

“To write is to bring an inner voice into the outer world, to believe that our thoughts are worth entering the thinking of others, and to make real what has never existed in quite the same way before. What could be a better path to self-value that that?” - Gloria Steinem

Found in The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off: Thoughts on Life, Love, and Rebellion, by Gloria Steinem, page 20.

Sunday, October 24, 2021

Something to Eat, A Little Love, Sermon on How to Behave, Billie Holiday

“You've got to have something to eat and a little love in your life before you can hold still for any damn body's sermon on how to behave.” - Billie Holiday

Found in The Quotable Woman, by Running Press, Editor, page 123.

Wednesday, October 20, 2021

Ordinary People Wake Up, Elites, Subjection, Courage, Cornel West

“When ordinary people wake up, elites begin to tremble in their boots. They can't get away with their abuse. They can't get away with subjection. They can't get away with subjugation. They can't get away with exploitation. They can't get away with domination. It takes courage for folk to stand up.” ― Cornel West, Hope on a Tightrope: Words and Wisdom

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/6176.Cornel_West.

Monday, October 11, 2021

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Forget What You Said, What You Did, Made Them Feel, Maya Angelou

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ― Maya Angelou

Found on Goodreads. Find more here.

Monday, October 4, 2021

Wheels of Justice, Wally Amos

“The wheels of justice grind slowly, and there's nothing you can do to hurry them.” Wally Amos, founder of Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookie Corp., and a new company, Uncle Noname, in Parade Magazine, May 22, 1994

Found in Contemporary Quotations in Black, compiled and edited by Anita King, page 5.

Friday, October 1, 2021

Mother, Noble Status, Unwed, Welfare, Florynce Kennedy

“Being a mother is a noble status, right? Right. So why does it change why you put 'unwed' or 'welfare' in front of it?” - Civil rights lawyer Florynce Kennedy, once lionized by the press as “Radicalism's Rudest Mouth” and as a “loud-mouthed middled-aged colored lady” by herself.

Found in Wild Words from Wild Women: An Unbridled Collection of Candid Observations & Extremely Opinionated Bon Mots, Compiled by Autumn Stephens, page 193.

Monday, September 27, 2021

Friday, September 24, 2021

Sunday, September 19, 2021

Two Reasons Why People Fail, Irresponsibility, Fear, Wally Amos

“There are two reasons why people fail. One is irresponsibility. The second is fear.” - Wally Amos, founder of Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookie Corp., and a new company, Uncle Noname, in Parade Magazine (May 22, 1994)

Found in Contemporary Quotations in Black, compiled and edited by Anita King, page 5.

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Monday, September 13, 2021

Afraid of Faililng, Fall Down, Getting Up, Marian Wright Edelman

“Don't be afraid of failing. It doesn't matter how many times you fall down. All that matters is how many times you keep getting up.” - Marian Wright Edelman, Commencement Address, Howard University, May 12, 1990

Found in Contemporary Quotations in Black, compiled and edited by Anita King, page 60.

Friday, September 10, 2021

Never Completely Escaped, Scars of My Childhood, Alvin Ailey

“I am a person who has never completely escaped from the scars of my childhood. Racism, which leaves a shadow on one's sense of accomplishment, can make one feel like a perpetual outsider.” - Alvin Ailey, Essence, November 1988

Found in Contemporary Quotations in Black, compiled and edited by Anita King, page 4.

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Win, Learn How to Lose, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

“You won't win until you learn how to lose. I don't like to do it, but I can stand it. Along with everything else, you have to acquire the ability to accept defeat. No one makes it without stumbling.” - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Special Report: Sports (August-October 1990)

Found in Contemporary Quotations in Black, compiled and edited by Anita King, page 3.

Sunday, September 5, 2021

Intolerant of Ignorance, Educated, Maya Angelou

"[My mother] said that I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors.” - Maya Angelou

Found in Treasury of Women's Quotations, by Carolyn Warner, page 3.

Saturday, September 4, 2021

Thursday, September 2, 2021

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Empathy, What Others are Going Through, Do Something About It, Cornel West

“Empathy is not simply a matter of trying to imagine what others are going through, but having the will to muster enough courage to do something about it. In a way, empathy is predicated upon hope.” ― Cornel West

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/6176.Cornel_West.

Thursday, August 26, 2021

Relationships, Commitment, Loyalty, Love, Patience, Persistence, Cornel West

“We have to recognise that there cannot be relationships unless there is commitment, unless there is loyalty, unless there is love, patience, persistence.” - Cornel West, Breaking Bread: Insurgent Black Intellectual Life, by bell hooks

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/6176.Cornel_West.

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Books, Perfect Entertainment, Stephen King

“Books are the perfect entertainment: no commercials, no batteries, hours of enjoyment for each dollar spent. What I wonder is why everybody doesn't carry a book around for those inevitable dead spots in life.” ― Stephen King

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/3389.Stephen_King.

Saturday, August 21, 2021

Leave Something Behind, Ray Bradbury

“Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you're there.

"It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that's like you after you take your hands away. The difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching, he said. The lawn-cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime.” ― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Found on Goodreads. Click here to see this and other Ray Bradbury quotes.

Friday, August 13, 2021

Remember the Ladies, Generous and Favorable, Tyrants, Rebellion, Abigail Adams

“Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by an Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.” - Abigail Adams, wife of the second president of the United States of America.

Found in Wild Words from Wild Women: An Unbridled Collection of Candid Observations & Extremely Opinionated Bon Mots, Compiled by Autumn Stephens, page 47.

Thursday, August 12, 2021

Test of Our Progress, Abundance, Little, Franklin D. Roosevelt

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Found on . Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/franklin_d_roosevelt_163168.

Thursday, August 5, 2021

Saturday, July 31, 2021

Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

In-Person Requirements, Mifepristone, Pandemic, Empathy for Women, Sonia Sotomayor

“Maintaining the FDA's in-person requirements for mifepristone during the pandemic not only treats abortion exceptionally, it imposes an unnecessary, irrational and unjustifiable undue burden on women seeking to exercise their right to choose. One can only hope that the Government will reconsider and exhibit great care and empathy for women.” - Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissenting to the majority's ruling that the Food and Drug Administration may prevent women from receiving abortion pills by mail.

Found in Ms. Magazine, Spring 2021 issue, page 6.

Sunday, July 25, 2021

Friday, July 23, 2021

Women, Vote, Own Self Interest, Michelle Williams

“Women...when it is time to vote, please do so in your own self interest. It's what men have been doing for years, which is why the world looks so much like them. But don't forget that we are the largest voting body in this county. Let's make it look more like us.” - Actor Michelle Williams, accepting a Golden Globe for her starring role in Fosse/Verdon with an impassioned speech in support of abortion rights

Found in Ms. Magazine, Winter 2020, page 6.

Thursday, July 22, 2021

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Monday, July 19, 2021

Equal Rights Amendment, Justice Antonin Scalia, Constitution, Nancy Pelosi

“There are some who say the Equal Rights Amendment is not needed. To them, I quote the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who said, 'Certainly the Constitution does not requiter discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It does not.'” - Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), speaking on the House floor in support of a joint resolution to remove the timeline on ERA ratification.

Found in Ms. Magazine, Ms. Magazine, Spring 2021 issue, page 6.

Sunday, July 18, 2021

Writing, Communication, Rebecca West

"Writing has nothing to do with communication between person and person, only with communication between different parts of a person's mind." - Rebecca West

Found on Brainy Quote. Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/rebecca_west_162289.

Saturday, July 17, 2021

Perfectionism, Voice of the Oppressor, First Draft, Anne Lamott

“Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing it.” ― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Found on GoodReads at Anne Lamott's quote page.

Thursday, July 15, 2021

Democracy, Diverse Nation, Atticus Finch, Barack Obama

"...If our democracy is to work the way it should in this increasingly diverse nation, then each one of us need to try to heed the advice of a great character in American fiction, Atticus Finch, who said 'You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.'

"For blacks and other minority groups, that means tying our own very real struggles for justice to the challenges that a lot of people in this country face. Not only the refugee or the immigrant or the rural poor or the transgender American, but also the middle-aged white guy who from the outside may seem like he’s got all the advantages, but has seen his world upended by economic, and cultural, and technological change.

"We have to pay attention and listen.

"For white Americans, it means acknowledging that the effects of slavery and Jim Crow didn’t suddenly vanish in the ’60s; that when minority groups voice discontent, they’re not just engaging in reverse racism or practicing political correctness; when they wage peaceful protest, they’re not demanding special treatment, but the equal treatment that our founders promised.

"For native-born Americans, it means reminding ourselves that the stereotypes about immigrants today were said, almost word for word, about the Irish, and Italians, and Poles, who it was said were going to destroy the fundamental character of America. And as it turned out, America wasn’t weakened by the presence of these newcomers; these newcomers embraced this nation’s creed, and this nation was strengthened.

"So regardless of the station we occupy; we all have to try harder; we all have to start with the premise that each of our fellow citizens loves this country just as much as we do; that they value hard work and family just like we do; that their children are just as curious and hopeful and worthy of love as our own." - President Barack Obama, January 10, 2017, part of farewell speech

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Too Angry, Keep Your Mouth Shut, Your Story, Michelle Obama

“Don't ever, ever let anyone tell you that you're too angry, or that you 'should keep your mouth shut.' There will always be those who want to keep you silent, to have you be seen but not heard, or maybe they don't even want to see you at all. But those people don't know your story, and if you listen to them, then nothing will ever change.” - Former First Lady Michelle Obama, speaking to the graduating class of 2020.

Found in Ms. Magazine, Fall 2020 issue, page 6.

Saturday, July 10, 2021

What Feminism Is, Feminist, Doormat, Rebecca West

"I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat." - Rebecca West

Found on Brainy Quote. Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/rebecca_west_105140.

Thursday, July 8, 2021

Hold Each Other Accountable, Racism and Discrimination, Progress of Our Ancestors, Dayonna Carson

“We need to hold each other accountable for standing up against racism and discrimination of any kind. We must not let the progress of our ancestors have been in vain.” - High school senior Dayonna Carson during her valedictorian speech at Central High School in Chattanooga, Tenn.; the school's administrators turned off her mic as she finished her speech with “No justice, no peace”

Found in Ms. Magazine, Fall 2020 issue, page 6.

Sunday, July 4, 2021

World, Dangerous Place, Albert Einstein

"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." - Albert Einstein.

Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alberteins143096.html

Saturday, July 3, 2021

Monsters, Ghosts, Stephen King

“Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.” ― Stephen King

Found on GoodReads. Can be viewed here.

Thursday, July 1, 2021

Thursday, June 24, 2021

In Truth, Shape the Future, Gloria Steinen

“In truth, we don't know which of our acts in the present will shape the future. But we have to behave as if everything we do matters. Because it might.” - Gloria Steinem, My Life on the Road

Found in Ms. Magazine, Fall 2020, page 2.

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

When I Was Younger, Aging, Memory, Whether it Happened, Mark Twain

“When I was younger I could remember anything, whether it happened or not; but my faculties are decaying, now, and soon I shall be so I cannot remember any but the latter. It is sad to go to pieces like this, but we all have to do it.” - Mark Twain

Can be found at Goodreads or by clicking here.

Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Ruthless, Joe McCarthy, Put You on Hold, Marlo Thomas

“A man has to be Joe McCarthy to be called ruthless. All a woman has to do is put you on hold.” - Marlo Thomas

Found in The Quotable Woman, by Running Press (editor), page 108.

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Women Are Foolish, Match the Men, George Eliot

“I'm not denyin' the women are foolish: God Almighty made 'em to match the men.” - George Eliot

Found in The Quotable Woman, by Running Press, Editor, page 110.

Monday, June 14, 2021

Thursday, June 10, 2021

Ordinary People Wake Up, Elites Begin to Tremble, Abuse, Subjection, Subjugation, Exploitation, Cornel West

“When ordinary people wake up, elites begin to tremble in their boots. They can't get away with their abuse. They can't get away with subjection. They can't get away with subjugation. They can't get away with exploitation. They can't get away with domination. It takes courage for folk to stand up.” ― Cornel West, Hope on a Tightrope: Words and Wisdom

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/6176.Cornel_West.

Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Important, Women, Official Power, Oppression, Dolores Huerta

“We know how important it is for women to take official power. The oppression of women takes so many forms, and the only way to overcome is by taking power.” - Activist Dolores Huerta, accepting the Young Elected Officials Network's inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award.

Found in Ms. Magazine, page 6, Spring 2019

Sunday, June 6, 2021

Live For, Make Life Less Difficult, George Eliot

“What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?” - George Eliot

Found in The Quotable Woman, by Running Press, Editor, page 41.

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Marched Many Thousands of Miles, We Can Do This, Si Se Puede, Dolores Hureta

"We've already marched many thousands of miles in our struggle for human rights and social justice, and tomorrow we march again. We must do this. We can do this. Si se puede!" - Dolores Huerta, Co-Founder, United Farm Workers, in the Special Elections 2016 issue of Ms. Magazine.

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

No Such Thing, Burning Desire, Do the Impossible, Jan Ashford

“There is no such thing as can't, only won't. If you're qualified, all it takes is a burning desire to accomplish, to make a change. Go forward, go backward. Whatever it takes! But you can't blame other people or society in general. It all comes from your mind. When we do the impossible we realize we are special people.” - Jan Ashford

Found in The Last Word: A Treasury of Women's Quotes, by Carolyn Warner, page 11.

Thursday, May 27, 2021

Because Women's Work, Never Done, Underpaid or Unpaid, Boring, Repetitious, Joyce Stevens, Brigit Books

"Because women's work is never done and is underpaid or unpaid or boring or repetitious and we're the first to get fired and what we look like is more important than what we do and if we get raped it's our fault and if we get beaten we must have provoked it and if we raise our voices we're nagging bitches and if we enjoy sex we're nymphos and if we don't we're frigid and if we love women it's because we can't get a "real" man and if we ask our doctor too many questions we're neurotic and/or pushy and if we expect childcare we're selfish and if we stand up for our rights we're aggressive and "unfeminine" and if we don't we're typical weak females and if we want to get married we're out to trap a man and if we don't we're unnatural and because we still can't get an adequate safe contraceptive but men can walk on the moon and if we can't cope or don't want a pregnancy we're made to feel guilty about abortion and...for lots of other reasons we are part of the women's liberation movement." - Author unknown, quoted in The Torch, 14 September 1987

I first read these words on a poster at Brigit Books in St. Petersburg, Florida. Brigit Books has long since closed (darn!). But I was able to find out that Joyce Stevens wrote the above quote as a Union Song for Women's Liberation Broadsheet, International Woman's Day, 1975.

Numerous links had this listed as "Author unknown, quoted in The Torch." While I was able to find links to several magazines and newsletters listed as The Torch, none of them were ones that had listed this quote. However, we now know who wrote these words.

Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Pause to Wonder, Good as Dead, Albert Einstein

“He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.” - Albert Einstein

Found in Great Quotes from Great Leaders, by Peggy Anderson, page 89.

Monday, May 24, 2021

Thursday, May 20, 2021

Fundamental, Government, Gloria Steinem

"There is nothing more fundamental than the idea that the government does not have a right to decide when and whether we have children." - Gloria Steinem

Found on Brainy Quote. Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/gloria_steinem_690699.

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Nation of Sheep, Defend Freedom, Edward R. Murrow

"A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves." - Edward R. Murrow

"We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home." - Edward R. Murrow

Both of these can be found at Goodreads, specifically at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/178884.Edward_R_Murrow.

Monday, May 10, 2021

Sunday, May 9, 2021

Friday, May 7, 2021

Measure of Society, Treat Their Weakest, Jimmy Carter

"The measure of a society is found in how they treat their weakest and most helpless citizens." - Jimmy Carter

Found on A-Z Quotes at http://www.azquotes.com/quote/557101.

This can also be applied to children currently being separated from their immigrant parents.

Saturday, May 1, 2021

Friday, April 30, 2021

Want to Write, Most Sublime Fool, Write Every Single Day, Ray Bradbury

“If you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever turned out and sent rambling. You must write every single day of your life. You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads. I wish you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime. I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon you. May you live with hysteria, and out of it make fine stories — science fiction or otherwise. Which finally means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.” ― Ray Bradbury

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1630.Ray_Bradbury.

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Hundreds of People of African Ancestry, Trail of Tears, Cherokee, Wilma Mankiller

“It should be remembered that hundreds of people of African ancestry also walked the Trail of Tears with the Cherokee during the forced removal of 1838-1839. Although we know about the terrible human suffering of our native people and the members of other tribes during the removal, we rarely hear of those black people who also suffered.” - Wilma Mankiller

Found on Inspiring Quotes at https://www.inspiringquotes.us/author/7249-wilma-mankiller.

Monday, April 26, 2021

Strong Men, Role Models, Powerful, Michelle Obama

“Because let's be very clear, strong men, men who are truly role models, don't need to put down women to make themselves feel powerful.” - First lady Michelle Obama, campaigning for Clinton in October after the release of Donald Trump's Access Hollywood video.

From Ms Magazine: Winter 2016, page 6.

Friday, April 23, 2021

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Fightin' For Freedom and Justice, Have Fun Doin' It, Molly Ivins

“So keep fightin' for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't you forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce.” - Molly Ivins

Found in Quotes for Nasty Women: Empowering Wisdom from Women Who Break the Rules, by Linda Picone, page 34.

Friday, April 16, 2021

One Thing, People Were Afraid, Caricature, Michelle Obama

"The one thing they knew people were afraid of was the strength of a black woman. So they turned that into a caricature." - former First Lady Michelle Obama at the Essence Festival in New Orleans in Juyl, reflecting on the attacks she faced when her husband was in office.

From Ms. Magazine, Fall 2019 issue, page 6.

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Rat Race, Still a Rat, Lily Tomlin

“The trouble with being in the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.” - Lily Tomlin

Found in The Quotable Woman, by Running Press, Editor, page 27.

Sunday, April 11, 2021

Saturday, April 10, 2021

Friday, April 9, 2021

Lessons, Stay True to Yourself, Michelle Obama

“One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals. And so when I hear about negative and false attacks, I really don't invest any energy in them, because I know who I am.” - Michelle Obama

Found in Quotes for Nasty Women: Empowering Wisdom from Women Who Break the Rules, by Linda Picone, pages 22 – 23.

Monday, April 5, 2021

Sorrow's Kitchen, Mountain Wrapped in Rainbows, Zora Neale Hurston

"I have been in Sorrow's kitchen and licked out all the pots. Then I have stood on the peaky mountain wrapped in rainbows, with a harp and sword in my hands." - Zora Neale Hurston

Found on Brainy Quote. Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/zora_neale_hurston_399481.

Friday, April 2, 2021

Angry, Keep Your Mouth Shut, Nothing Will Ever Change, Michelle Obama

"Don't ever, ever let anyone tell you that you're too angry, or that you 'should keep your mourth shut.' There will always be those who want to keep you silent, to have you be seen but not heard, or maybe they don't even want to see you at all. But those people don't know your story, and if you listen to them, then nothing will ever change." - Former First Lady Michelle Obama, speaking to the graduating class of 2020

Found in Ms. Magazine, Fall 2020, page 6.