Quotes about women

„Circus, n. A place where horses, ponies and elephants are permitted to see men, women and children acting the fool.“

—  Ambrose Bierce, book The Devil's Dictionary

The Devil's Dictionary (1911)

„Women like not only to conquer, but to be conquered.“

—  William Makepeace Thackeray, book The Virginians

Source: The Virginians (1857-1859), Ch. 4.

„… the greatest tyrants over women are women.“

—  William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair

Source: Vanity Fair

„This growing tendency of women to overshadow the masculine is a sign of a deteriorating civilization.“

—  Nikola Tesla Serbian American inventor 1856 - 1943

„I am a feminist. I reject wholeheartedly the way we are taught to perceive women. The beauty of women, how a woman should act or behave. Women are strong and fragile. Women are beautiful and ugly. We are soft-spoken and loud, all at once. There is something mind-controlling about the way we're taught to view women. My work, both visually and musically, is a rejection of all those things. And most importantly a quest.“

—  Lady Gaga American singer, songwriter, and actress 1986

SHOWstudio Interview. In Camera with Lady Gaga 30 May 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmcxdZQCnT4&feature=PlayList&p=6DB0E6483F09B62E&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1.

„All the women I know feel a little like outlaws.“

—  Marilyn French Novelist, critic 1929 - 2009

„No. We don't really do that. We feel that objectifies women and that's not really what we're about.“

—  Harry Styles English singer, songwriter, and actor 1994

When asked by a radio DJ if One Direction calls "dibs" on girls (26 June 2012) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV85tICyfEA&t=546

„At this very moment enormous numbers of intelligent men and women of goodwill are trying to build a better world. But problems are born faster than they can be solved.“

—  B.F. Skinner, Walden Two

Source: Walden Two

„This generation has lost the true meaning of romance. There are so many songs that disrespect women. You can’t treat the woman you love as a piece of meat. You should treat your love like a princess. Give her love songs, something with real meaning. Maybe I’m old fashioned but to respect the woman you love should be a priority.“

—  Tom Hiddleston English actor, producer and musical performer 1981

„Women are the most charitable creatures, and the most troublesome. He who shuns women passes up the trouble, but also the benefits. He who puts up with them gains the benefits, but also the trouble. As the saying goes, there's no honey without bees.“

—  Niccolo Machiavelli Italian politician, Writer and Author 1469 - 1527

Le più caritative persone che sieno sono le donne, e le più fastidiose. Chi le scaccia, fugge e fastidii e l'utile; chi le intrattiene, ha l'utile ed e fastidii insieme. Ed è 'l vero che non è el mele sanza le mosche.
Act III, scene iv
The Mandrake (1524)

„It is the people who speak to me, the men and women who once lived and loved and dreamed and grieved, just as we do.“

—  George Raymond Richard Martin American writer, screenwriter and television producer 1948

infinity plus interview (2001)
Context: Historical processes have never much interested me, but history is full of stories, full of triumph and tragedy and battles won and lost. It is the people who speak to me, the men and women who once lived and loved and dreamed and grieved, just as we do. Though some may have had crowns on their heads or blood on their hands, in the end they were not so different from you and me, and therein lies their fascination. I suppose I am still a believer in the now unfashionable "heroic" school, which says that history is shaped by individual men and women and the choices that they make, by deeds glorious and terrible.

„Humankind is made up of two sexes, women and men. Is it possible for humankind to grow by the improvement of only one part while the other part is ignored?“

—  Мустафа Кемаль Ататюрк Turkish army officer, revolutionary, and the first President of Turkey 1881 - 1938

As quoted in "Atatürk" in Images of a Divided World (29 October 2006) http://jmilton6000.wordpress.com/2006/10/29/ataturk/
Variant translation: Humankind consists of two sexes, woman and man. Is it possible that a mass is improved by the improvement of only one part and the other ignored? Is it possible that if half of a mass is tied to earth with chains and the other half can soar into skies?
Context: Humankind is made up of two sexes, women and men. Is it possible for humankind to grow by the improvement of only one part while the other part is ignored? Is it possible that if half of a mass is tied to earth with chains that the other half can soar into skies?

„If you go to the protests now, you will see something you never saw before: hundreds of women. They shout and sing, they even sleep there in tents. This is not just a political revolution, it's a social revolution“

—  Tawakkol Karman Yemeni journalist, politician, human rights activist, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient 1979

2010s

„My beliefs were that men and women alike have to be in this struggle together, and we cannot safeguard our country just with one wing. … Now our women are the leaders, not only political leaders, but also leaders that lead in every single front, and they are part of the main leaders of the revolution. And therefore, you can see that the rulers are afraid from women.“

—  Tawakkol Karman Yemeni journalist, politician, human rights activist, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient 1979

2010s, Democracy Now! interview (2011)

„I hope the fathers and mothers of little girls will look at them and say "yes women can".“

—  Dilma Rousseff 36th President of Brazil 1947

„No longer shall I paint interiors with men reading and women knitting. I will paint living people who breathe and feel and suffer and love.“

—  Edvard Munch Norwegian painter and printmaker 1863 - 1944

Quote from Munch's text (1889) 'Impressions from a ballroom, New Year's Eve in St. Cloud' - also known as 'The St. Cloud Manifesto'
1880 - 1895

„Just as women's bodies are softer than men's, so their understanding is sharper.“

—  Christine de Pizan Italian French late medieval author 1365 - 1430

„The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing - and then marry him.“

—  Cher American singer and actress 1946

„The truth is, I often like women. I like their unconventionality. I like their completeness. I like their anonymity.“

—  Virginia Woolf English writer 1882 - 1941