The member diversity in the Women’s National Book Association (WNBA) makes our goal of connecting, educating, advocating, and leading possible. As Bookwomen, we believe Books Have Power.
To kick off Women’s History Month, we off you 5 quotes by women writers. We hope these words—these women—will inspire you.
Anna Quindlen
NPR
“After all those years as a woman hearing ‘not thin enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, not this enough, not that enough,’ almost overnight I woke up one morning and thought, ‘I’m enough.’”
Dorothy L. Sayers
Are Women Human? Astute and Witty Essays on the Role of Women in Society
“A man once asked me . . . how I managed in my books to write such natural conversation between men when they were by themselves. Was I, by any chance, a member of a large, mixed family with a lot of male friends? I replied that, on the contrary, I was an only child and had practically never seen or spoken to any men of my own age till I was about twenty-five. ‘Well,’ said the man, ‘I shouldn’t have expected a woman (meaning me) to have been able to make it so convincing.’ I replied that I had coped with this difficult problem by making my men talk, as far as possible, like ordinary human beings. This aspect of the matter seemed to surprise the other speaker; he said no more but took it away to chew it over. One of these days it may quite likely occur to him that women, as well as men, when left to themselves, talk very much like human beings also.”
Roxane Gay
Bad Feminist
“When you can’t find someone to follow, you have to find a way to lead by example.”
Judy Blume
“Tales of a Mother/Confessor”
“My only advice is to stay aware, listen carefully, and yell for help if you need it.”
Beverly Jenkins
The Edge of Midnight
“Because we can’t tell others about our accomplishments if we don’t know them ourselves.”
This month, take the time to celebrate the women in your life and to remember the women who came before us.
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