They are inspiring not only to one generation, but to many more to come. They are the ones who make it to the history books. Don’t believe me? Read these quotes by women who believed in themselves and challenged the status quo.

1. “It actually doesn’t take much to be considered a difficult woman. That’s why there are so many of us.” – Jane Goodall

2. “If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.” – Katharine Hepburn

3. “The woman who can create her own job is the one who will win fame and fortune.” – Amelia Earheart

4. “I am the type of woman that if I want the moon, I get it down myself.” – Frida Kahlo

5. “I have often been asked whether I am a woman or an athlete. The question is absurd. Men are not asked that. I am an athlete. I am a woman.” – Billie Jean King

6. “The reason women are critiqued for being too loud or too meek, too big or too small, too smart to be attractive or too attractive to be smart, is to belittle women out of standing up publicly. The goal is to ‘critique’ into submission & applies to anyone challenging power.” – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

7. “Women get the attention when we get into the men’s arena, and that’s sad.” – Billie Jean King

8. “I’m 46 years old, I’ve had to hear a lot of times, ‘Well, it’s better than it used to be for women. And, you know, I don’t think that’s my goal, to have it not get worse.” – Katie Porter

9. “I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.” – Maya Angelou

10. “When anyone tells me I can’t do anything … I’m just not listening anymore.” – Florence Griffith Joyner

11. “Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half their inferior. Luckily, this is not difficult.” – Charlotte Whitton

12. “A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult.” – Melinda Gates

13. “Oh how I regret not having worn a bikini for the entire year I was 26. If anyone young is reading this, go right this minute, put on a bikini, and don’t take it off until you are 34.” – Nora Ephron

14. “I am not as cooperative as you might want a woman to be.” – Carrie Fisher

15. “A part of being a feminist is giving other women the freedom to make choices you might necessarily not make yourself.” – Lena Dunham

16. “Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. Nothing could vanquish me.” – Cheryl Strayed

17. “Girls should never be afraid to be smart.” – Emma Watson

18. “Don’t try to squeeze into a glass slipper. Instead, shatter the glass ceiling.” – Priyanka Chopra

19. “I want to be a good leader, not a good lady leader. I don’t want to be known simply as the woman who gave birth.” – Jacinda Ardern

I do not mean to say don’t be well-behaved, but don’t do that at the expense of your self-worth because that’s how ‘difficult’ women are. Themselves.