<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/11/opinions/international-day-of-the-girl-michelle-obama/index.html" target="_blank">Michelle Obama</a>: "The future of our world is only as bright as the future of our girls."
Michelle Obama: "The future of our world is only as bright as the future of our girls."
Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/13/politics/nancy-pelosi-badass-women-washington/index.html" target="_blank">Nancy Pelosi</a>: "You know why I do it? I do it because I want women to see that you do not get pushed around. You don't run away from the fight."
Nancy Pelosi: "You know why I do it? I do it because I want women to see that you do not get pushed around. You don't run away from the fight."
Alex Wong/Getty Images
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2015/03/24/opinions/melinda-gates-no-ceilings/index.html" target="_blank">Melinda Gates</a>: "Use your voice and you can affect change."<br />
Melinda Gates: "Use your voice and you can affect change."
John Lamparski/Getty Images
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/23/politics/justice-sandra-day-oconnor-dementia-alzheimers/index.html" target="_blank">Sandra Day O'Connor</a>: "I hope that I have inspired young people about civic engagement and helped pave the pathway for women who may have faced obstacles pursuing their careers."
Sandra Day O'Connor: "I hope that I have inspired young people about civic engagement and helped pave the pathway for women who may have faced obstacles pursuing their careers."
Harry Cabluck/AP
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2015/02/18/business/gallery/toni-morrison-wisdom/index.html" target="_blank">Toni Morrison</a>: "My world did not shrink because I was a black female writer. It just got bigger."
Toni Morrison: "My world did not shrink because I was a black female writer. It just got bigger."
Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/05/entertainment/emma-watson-vanity-fair-photo-controversy/index.html" target="_blank">Emma Watson</a>: "Feminism is about giving women choice. Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women with. It's about freedom. It's about liberation. It's about equality. It's not -- I really don't know what my t**s have to do with it."
Emma Watson: "Feminism is about giving women choice. Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women with. It's about freedom. It's about liberation. It's about equality. It's not -- I really don't know what my t**s have to do with it."
Presley Ann/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2014/10/23/world/europe/the-timeless-wit-roosevelt/index.html" target="_blank">Eleanor Roosevelt</a>: "Women are like tea bags. We don't know our strength until we are in hot water."
Eleanor Roosevelt: "Women are like tea bags. We don't know our strength until we are in hot water."
Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/living/2014/02/06/pmt-intv-mock-i-was-born-a-baby.cnn" target="_blank">Janet Mock</a>: "As soon as I had enough agency in my life to grow up, I became who I am."
Janet Mock: "As soon as I had enough agency in my life to grow up, I became who I am."
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/21/politics/ruth-bader-ginsburg-sundance-film-festival/index.html" target="_blank">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</a>: "Let's see where it goes. So far it's been great. ... When I see women appearing everyplace in numbers, I'm less worried than I might have been 20 years ago."
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: "Let's see where it goes. So far it's been great. ... When I see women appearing everyplace in numbers, I'm less worried than I might have been 20 years ago."
Rebecca Gibian/AP
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/05/opinions/priyanka-chopra-complex-feminist-rafia-zakaria/index.html" target="_blank">Priyanka Chopra</a>: "Feminism is just saying give me opportunities without judging me for the decisions that I make, the same freedom that men have enjoyed for so many centuries."
Priyanka Chopra: "Feminism is just saying give me opportunities without judging me for the decisions that I make, the same freedom that men have enjoyed for so many centuries."
Rich Fury/Getty Images
<a href="https://money.cnn.com/2017/05/05/smallbusiness/sara-blakely-spanx/index.html" target="_blank">Sara Blakely</a>: "I ensured my own success. I was never going to allow my success to be in the hands of anybody else along the way. It meant I had to work like you cannot believe, but that's what I found it took."
Sara Blakely: "I ensured my own success. I was never going to allow my success to be in the hands of anybody else along the way. It meant I had to work like you cannot believe, but that's what I found it took."
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/07/opinions/womens-voices-on-hillary-clinton-clinching-nomination-roundup/index.html" target="_blank">Barbra Streisand</a>: "Isn't it interesting how a barrier seems insurmountable -- until it comes down?"
Barbra Streisand: "Isn't it interesting how a barrier seems insurmountable -- until it comes down?"
Richard Shotwell/Invision/Richard Shotwell
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/10/entertainment/celebs-no-makeup/index.html" target="_blank">Alicia Keys</a>: "Cause I don't want to cover up anymore. Not my face, not my mind, not my soul, not my thoughts, not my dreams, not my struggles, not my emotional growth. Nothing."
Alicia Keys: "Cause I don't want to cover up anymore. Not my face, not my mind, not my soul, not my thoughts, not my dreams, not my struggles, not my emotional growth. Nothing."
Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty Images
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2014/10/10/world/malala-yousufzai/index.html" target="_blank">Malala Yousafzai</a>: "I have the right of education. I have the right to play. I have the right to sing. I have the right to talk. I have the right to go to market. I have the right to speak up."<br />"If I didn't do it, who would?"<br />
Malala Yousafzai: "I have the right of education. I have the right to play. I have the right to sing. I have the right to talk. I have the right to go to market. I have the right to speak up."
"If I didn't do it, who would?"
Charles Krupa/AP
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/25/success/serena-williams-ad-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">Serena Williams</a>: "I've been accused of being attacking, intimidating, disrespectful, all these things — and at one point I said, 'I'm not being those things so I'm not going to change.'"
Serena Williams: "I've been accused of being attacking, intimidating, disrespectful, all these things — and at one point I said, 'I'm not being those things so I'm not going to change.'"
Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/style/article/aaron-philip-dazed-beauty/index.html" target="_blank">Aaron Philip</a>: "The fashion industry has only known one type of body, and one type of marketable figure for so long, (but) now we're entering this time, and this climate, where all types of bodies want to be pushed forward and celebrated -- not only celebrated, but be seen as desirable and marketable."
Aaron Philip: "The fashion industry has only known one type of body, and one type of marketable figure for so long, (but) now we're entering this time, and this climate, where all types of bodies want to be pushed forward and celebrated -- not only celebrated, but be seen as desirable and marketable."
Bryan Whitley