Wise, Brave Man, Tracks of History, Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Neither a wise nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.” ― Dwight D. Eisenhower

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/23920.Dwight_D_Eisenhower.

Empathy, Hope, 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.

Women, Depend upon the Protection, Susan B. Anthony

"Woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself." - Susan B. Anthony, speech in San Francisco, Jul. 1871

Found on Notable Quotes at http://www.notable-quotes.com/a/anthony_susan_b.html.

Joy and Pain, Friendship, Loved Unselfishly, Living, Zora Neale Hurston

“I have known the joy and pain of friendship. I have served and been served. I have made some good enemies for which I am not a bit sorry. I have loved unselfishly, and I have fondled hatred with the red-hot tongs of Hell. That's living.” ― Zora Neale Hurston

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/15151.Zora_Neale_Hurston.

Stop, Cease Your Work, Look Around, Leo Tolstoy

“In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.” ― Leo Tolstoy

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/128382.Leo_Tolstoy.

Conventional Doctrines, Neptune, Noam Chomsky, Propaganda and the Public Mind

“Either you repeat the same conventional doctrines that everybody else is saying,... [o]r else you say something which in fact is true, and it will sound like it's from Neptune.” ― Noam Chomsky, Propaganda and the Public Mind

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomsky.

Democracy, Racism, Feminist, Gloria Steinem

“There can be no true democracy with racism or without feminism.” - 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 25.

Lie, Travel, Truth, Mark Twain

“A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” ― Mark Twain

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1244.Mark_Twain.

Earnest, Willing, World's Estimation, Susan B. Anthony

“Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world's estimation.” - Susan B. Anthony, the formidable founding mother of 19th-century American feminism.

Found in Loose Cannons: Devastating Dish from the World's Wildest Women, complied by Autumn Stephens, page 66.

Being a Bitch, Hold On To, Stephen King

“Sometimes being a bitch is all a woman's got to hold on to.” ― Stephen King, Dolores Claiborne

Found on GoodReads. Read more here.

Freedom, Individual, Real Leadership, Dwight Eisenhower

"The freedom of the individual and his willingness to follow real leadership are at the core of America's strength." - Dwight Eisenhower, Address at Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont, 6/9/46

Found in Eisenhower library at https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/eisenhowers/quotes.

Sorrow's Kitchen, Pots, Wrapped in Rainbows, Zora Neal 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.

Love, Union, Rules, Bell Hooks, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review

“In real love, real union, or communion there are now rules.” - bell hooks, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Fall 1992

Found in Contemporary Quotations in Black, compiled and edited by Anita King, page 97.

Loving Strongly, Great Sorrow, Leo Tolstoy

“Only people who are capable of loving strongly can also suffer great sorrow, but this same necessity of loving serves to counteract their grief and heals them.” ― Leo Tolstoy

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/128382.Leo_Tolstoy.

Dependent Children, Welfare, Gloria Steinem

“If they have dependent children, many women are one man away from welfare.” - 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 36.

Does Not Read, Cannot Read, Mark Twain

“The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.” ― Mark Twain

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1244.Mark_Twain.

Obligation, Meaning to Life, Elie Wiesel

"Our obligation is to give meaning to life and in doing so to overcome the passive, indifferent life." - Elie Wiesel

Found at Brainy Quote. Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/eliewiesel386793.html.

Get Busy, Stephen King

“Get busy living or get busy dying.” ― Stephen King, Different Seasons

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

Enemy, Patriarchy, Toni Morrison

“The enemy is not men. The enemy is the concept of patriarchy, the concept of patriarchy as the way to run the world or do things.” – Toni Morrison

Found in the Summer 2025 issue of Ms. Magazine, page 6o.

Talk, Listen, Gloria Steinem

“Women have to learn how to talk as much as we listen. Men have to learn how to listen as much as they talk.” - 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 27.

System of Oppression, Institutionalized, Florynce Kennedy

"When a system of oppression has become institutionalized it is unnecessary for individuals to be oppressive." - Florynce Kennedy

Found on Brainyquote at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/florynce_kennedy_397337.

Language, Complain, Jane Wagner, Lily Tomlin

“I personally think we developed language because of our deep inner need to complain.” - Writer Jane Wagner, the wry collaborative mind behind some of Lily Tomlin's best lines.

Found in Wild Words from Wild Women: An Unbridled Collection of Candid Observations & Extremely Opinionated Bon Mots, Compiled by Autumn Stephens, page 15.

Tell the Truth, Remember, Mark Twain

“If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.” ― Mark Twain

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1244.Mark_Twain.

Perfection, Content, Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

“If you look for perfection, you'll never be content.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Found on Goodreads athttps://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/128382.Leo_Tolstoy.

Rainbow, Cloud, Maya Angelo

"Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud." - Maya Angelo

Found on Brainy Quote at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/mayaangelo578763.html.

Memory, Culture, Civiliaztion, Elie Wiesel

"Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future." - Elie Wiesel

Found at Brainy Quote. Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/eliewiesel451199.html.

Popular Culture, Helpless, Noam Chomsky

“All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume.” ― Noam Chomsky

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomsky.

Love, Sea, Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

“Love is like the sea. It's a moving thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from the shore it meets, and it's different with every shore.” ― Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/15151.Zora_Neale_Hurston.

Schooling, Education, Mark Twain

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” ― Mark Twain

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1244.Mark_Twain.

Failure, Impossible, Susan B. Anthony

“Failure is impossible.” - Susan B. Anthony, the formidable founding mother of 19th-century American feminism.

Found in Loose Cannons: Devastating Dish from the World's Wildest Women, complied by Autumn Stephens, page 66.

Happy Families, Unhappy Family, Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Found on Goodreads at,a href=https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/128382.Leo_Tolstoy>https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/128382.Leo_Tolstoy.

Plain Women, Beautiful Ones, Katharine Hepburn

“Plain women know more about men than beautiful ones do.” - Katharine Hepburn.”

Found in The Quotable Woman, by Running Press, Editor, page 102.

Supreme Quality, Leadership, Integrity, Dwight David Eisenhower

“The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.” ― Dwight David Eisenhower

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/23920.Dwight_D_Eisenhower.

Worse than Failing, What If, Gloria Steinem

“The only thing worse than failing is not having tried. You will walk around forever thinking, What if?” - 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 75.

Optimism, Better Future, Noam Chomsky

“Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so.” ― Noam Chomsky

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomsky.

Say Things, Color, Shapes, Words, Georgia O'Keeffe

“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way – things I had no words for.” - Georgia O'Keeffe

Found at Speaking of Art: Colorful Quotes by Famous Painters, edited by Bob Raczka, page 19.

Show it, Hide it, Zora Neal Hurston

"Those that don't got it, can't show it. Those that got it, can't hide it." - Zora Neale Hurston

Found at BrainyQuote. Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/zora_neale_hurston_384229.

Belittle, Ambitions, Become Great, Mark Twain

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” ― Mark Twain

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1244.Mark_Twain.

Wrong, Majority, Leo Tolstoy, A Confession

“Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it.” ― Leo Tolstoy, A Confession

Found on Goodreads at,a href=https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/128382.Leo_Tolstoy>https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/128382.Leo_Tolstoy.

Mother, Air-Traffic Controllers, Lisa Alther

“Any mother could perform the jobs of several air-traffic controllers with ease.” - Lisa Alther

Found in The Quotable Woman, by Running Press, Editor, page 69.

Prolonged Slavery, Woman, Susan B. Anthony, History of Woman Suffrage

"The prolonged slavery of woman is the darkest page in human history." - Susan B. Anthony, introduction, History of Woman Suffrage

Found on Notable Quotes at http://www.notable-quotes.com/a/anthony_susan_b.html.

Leadership, Taking Responsibility, Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well.” ― Dwight D. Eisenhower

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/23920.Dwight_D_Eisenhower.

Involved in Art, Good, Lucky, Katharine Hepburn

“I think most of the people involved in any art always secretly wonder whether they are really there because they're good – or because they're lucky.” - Katharine Hepburn

Found in The Last Word: A Treasury of Women's Quotes, by Carolyn Warner, page 5.

Broom of Anger, Beast of Fear, Zora Neale Hurston

"Grab the broom of anger and drive off the beast of fear." - Zora Neale Hurston

From BrainyQuote. Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/zora_neale_hurston_158891.

Civil Rights, Women's Rights, Equality, Justice Sonia Stotmayor

“When the civil rights and women’s rights movements sought equality in public life, some public establishments refused. Some even claimed, based on sincere religious beliefs, constitutional rights to discriminate. The brave Justices who once sat on this Court decisively rejected those claims.” - Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissenting to the Supreme Court’s decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, which held that business owners have the right under the First Amendment to refuse service to LGVTQ+ people

Found in Ms. Magazine, Fall 2023, page 6.

Despair, Overwhelmed, Fight, Kamala Harris

“We must not despair. We must not be overwhelmed or throw up our hands. It is time to roll up our sleeves and fight for who we are.” - Sen.-Elect Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), now former V.P.

From Ms. Magazine special election issue, Fall, 2016 page 11.

Note: V.P. Kamal Harris was the Senator-Elect when the above quote was published in Ms. Magazine.

World Right for Love, Tillie Olsen, Silences

“It has never yet been a world right for love, for those we love, for ourselves, for flowered human life.” ― Tillie Olsen, Silences

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/89863.Tillie_Olsen.

Associate, Learn, Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Always try to associate yourself with and learn as much as you can from those who know more than you do, who do better than you, who see more clearly than you.” ― Dwight D. Eisenhower, At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/23920.Dwight_D_Eisenhower.

Changing the World, Changing Himself, Leo Tolstoy

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” - Leo Tolstoy

Found on Goodreads at,a href=https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/128382.Leo_Tolstoy>https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/128382.Leo_Tolstoy.

People with Power, Violence, Noam Chomsky

“See, people with power understand exactly one thing: violence.” ― Noam Chomsky

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2476.Noam_Chomsky.

Life is to be Lived, 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.

Life, Too Short, Charlotte Bronte

“Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrong.” - Charlotte Bronte

Found in Treasury of Women's Quotations, by Carolyn Warner, page 37.

People, Comfortable, St. Paul, Minn., City Council President Mitra Jalali

“Let’s just say, a whole lot of people who are comfortable with majority male, majority white institutions for nearly 170 years of city history are suddenly sharply concerned about representation. My thoughts and prayers are with them in this challenging time.” - St. Paul, Minn., City Council President Mitra Jalali, speaking at an event celebrating the inauguration of the new, all-women City Council (all seven members are younger than 40; six are women of color).

Found in Ms. Magazine, Spring 2024, page 6.

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.

Path of Least Resistance, Troublesome Work, John Dewey

“The path of least resistance and least trouble is a mental rut already made. It requires troublesome work to undertake the alteration of old beliefs.” ― John Dewey

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/42738.John_Dewey.

I love Myself When I am Laughing, Mean and Impressive, Zora Neale Hurston

“I love myself when I am laughing. . . and then again when I am looking mean and impressive.” ― Zora Neale Hurston, I Love Myself When I Am Laughing... And Then Again: A Zora Neale Hurston Reader

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/15151.Zora_Neale_Hurston.

Avoid the Impulse, Live Only for Today, Dwight D. Eisenhower

“As we peer into society's future, we -- you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.” ― Dwight D. Eisenhower

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/23920.Dwight_D_Eisenhower.

Right or Left, Right or Wrong, Moral Moment, Sen. Cory Booker

“This is not right or left. It is right or wrong. This is not a partisan moment. It is a moral moment. Where do you stand?” - Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), in a record-breaking speech on the Senate floor; for 25 hours and 4 minutes he spoke almost nonstop about the threats to democracy, immigrants, the social safety net, healthcare, the economy and more.

Found in the Summer 2025 issue of Ms. Magazine, page 6.

Values, Spend, Gloria Steinem

“You can tell what your values are by looking at how you spend your extra money.” - 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 72.

Words, Silence, Martin Luther King, Jr.

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

From http://www.inc.com/marla-tabaka/31-martin-luther-king-jr-quotes-to-inspire-greatness-in-you.html.

More Children, Car Windows, Erma Bombeck

“Never have more children than you have car windows.” - Erma Bombeck

Found in Women's Lip: Outrageous, Irreverent and Just Plain Hilarious Quotes, edited by Roz Warren, page 87.

Racism, Violence, Gloria Steinem

"The same way that racism is a white person's problem, violence against women is a men's problem." - Gloria Steinem

Found on Brainy Quote. Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/gloriastei690680.html.

Self-Educated Kind of Guy, Read, David Bowie

“I'm a real self-educated kind of guy. I read voraciously. Every book I ever bought, I have. I can't throw it away. It's physically impossible to leave my hand! Some of them are in warehouses. I've got a library that I keep the ones I really really like. I look around my library some nights and I do these terrible things to myself--I count up the books and think, how long I might have to live and think, 'F@#%k, I can't read two-thirds of these books.' It overwhelms me with sadness." - David Bowie, quoted in the Daily Beast in a 2002 interview with Bob Guccione, Jr.”

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/10360.David_Bowie.

Discriminated Against, Angry, Zora Neale Hurston

"Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It's beyond me." - Zora Neale Hurston

Found on Brainy Quote. Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/zora_neale_hurston_132700.

One Believes Things, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

“One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/3487.Aldous_Huxley.

Whole Damn World, Scared, John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men

“Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.” ― John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/585.John_Steinbeck.

Something to Say, Having to say Something, John Dewey

“There's all the difference in the world between having something to say, and having to say something.” ― John Dewey

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/42738.John_Dewey.

Who's Who, What's That, Phyllis Diller

“I never made Who's Who but I'm featured in What's That.” - Phyllis Diller

Found in Women's Lip: Outrageous, Irreverent and Just Plain Hilarious Quotes, edited by Roz Warren, page 9.

Battle, Plans, Planning, Dwight D. Eisenhower

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”― Dwight D. Eisenhower

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/23920.Dwight_D_Eisenhower.

Tomorrow, David Bowie

“Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming.” ― David Bowie

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/10360.David_Bowie.

Integrity, Lie, Solzhenitsyn

“You can resolve to live your life with integrity. Let your credo be this: Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph. But not through me.” ― Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/19771050.Aleksandr_Solzhenitsyn.

On Recond Now, Films, Witnesses, Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened.” ― Dwight D. Eisenhower

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/23920.Dwight_D_Eisenhower.

Research, Curiosity, Zora Neale Hurston

"Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose." - Zora Neale Hurston

From BrainyQuote. Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/zora_neale_hurston_132635.

One Story, John Steinbeck, East of Eden

“We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the neverending contest in ourselves of good and evil. And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue, is immortal. Vice has always a new fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is.” ― John Steinbeck, East of Eden

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/585.John_Steinbeck.

Birth, Sex, Genius, Charlotte Bronte

“Neither birth nor sex forms a limit to genius.” - Charlotte Bronte

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

Fool Some of the People, Maya Angelou

“I found out that you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool yourself.” - Maya Angelou, in Conversations with Maya Angelou, 1989.

Found in Contemporary Quotations in Black, compiled and edited by Anita King, page 10.

In Truth, Shape the Future, Gloria Steinem

“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.

Because Women's Work, Never Done, Underpaid, Unpaid, Women's Liberation Movement, Brigit Books, 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.

Blame, Fault, Katharine Hepburn

“...We are taught you must blame your father, your sisters, your brothers, the school, the teachers – you can blame anyone, but never blame yourself. It's never your fault. But it's ALWAYS your fault, because if you wanted to change, you're the one who has got to change. It's as simple as that, isn't it?” - Katharine Hepburn

Found in The Quotable Woman, by Running Press, Editor, page 26.