The start of fall can mean many things– cozy sweaters, apple picking, and hot apple cider, but it can also mean midterm “season” and gloomy weather. The studying can seem like it will be never end and the rain just will not go away. So, if you need a pick-me-up or even just a study break, pour yourself a glass of apple cider (or hot chocolate) and absorb the wisdom of these six brilliant ladies! Maybe these quotes will motivate you to push through that research paper or they will make you feel better about the state of the world—it’s nice knowing that we have these women and their brilliance on our side.
- Jane Goodall
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“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
Whether you are switching out a metal straw for a plastic one or holding the door for someone, your actions matter. You cannot change the world in a day, but the small steps do add up. I think if you are kind and you pay attention to how your actions affect the world around you, then you are going to have a major impact on the world.
- Frida Kahlo
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“Take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are magic.”
Love should be an adventure. Choose the person who makes you feel special and never settle.
- Sophia Bush (as Brooke Davis in One Tree Hill)
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“When you stop fighting, you stop living…So, find your fight, and fight like hell, ’til your battle is won.”
Maybe your fight is animal welfare or sustainability, or maybe your battle will be with yourself. If you help one person in your life and that person is yourself, that is okay. You cannot pour from an empty cup. You have to work on yourself first before you fight another battle.
- Alice Walker
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“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”
Young people are taught that their voices do not matter because they do not have enough experience. But, the reality is that young people do have power and are using it as a force for change. Look at March for Our Lives or the climate strike, young people are the driving force and are done being seen and not heard.
- Rebecca Solnit
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“To hope is to gamble. It’s to bet on your futures, on your desires, on the possibility that an open heart and uncertainty is better than gloom and safety. To hope is dangerous, and yet it is the opposite of fear, for to live is to risk.”
We are a cynical generation, we keep our hopes low for fear of rejection and disappointment. But, I also think we know what is possible and we strive for greatness. We want to live and we want to be happy, but we forget that hope is powerful and it can help us reach that future that we crave.
- Glennon Doyle
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“We will not fight other women for one of the limited seats at the table. We will march side by side and demand a bigger table.”
Women cannot be pitted against each other anymore, the stakes are too high for us not to work together. Feminism only works when it is intersectional. We only move forward when everyone is given a seat at the table.
While those quotes all discuss different topics of hope, love, empowerment, and activism, I hope you learned something or at least enjoyed reading these wise women’s words!
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