Of course at the F.E.M. Organization site we must provide some of both famous and non-famous quotes to enlighten and enhance the feminist mind! Here we have quotes from great feminists and even some of our members. Some are whimsical and humorous while others are more profound and have a deeper meaning. Either way, we hope you enjoy reading them!

"The woman is not needed to do man's work. She is not needed to think man's thoughts... Her mission is not to enhance the masculine spirit, but to express the feminine; hers is not to preserve a man-made world, but to create a human world by the infusion of the feminine element into all of its activities."

Margaret Sanger, from "Woman and the New Race

"True emancipation begins neither at the polls nor in courts. It begins in woman's soul."

Emma Goldman, from "The Tragedy of Women's Emancipation"

"The woman is greater than the wife and mother, and in consenting to take upon herself these relationships she should never sacrifice one iota of her individuality."

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

"Religion, science, art, economics, have all needed the feminine flavor; and literature, the expression of what is permanent and best in all of these, may be gauged by any time to measure the strength of the feminine ingredient."

Anna Julia Cooper

"I don't know why it should surprise people women are so tough. What I do is probably not as tough as [being] a single mother, raising two kids and paying rent or a mortgage."

Libby Riddles (sled-dog race winner)

"Social science affirms that a woman's place in society marks the level of civilization."

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

"We women suffragists have a great mission - the greatest mission the world has ever known. It is to free half the human race, and thrugh that reason to save the rest."

Emmeline Pankhurst (1857-1928)

"I think we have a long way to go in women's rights, in changing and enforcing laws, and in protecting women. I won't think women are successful politically until at least half of all the elected offices are held by women; until half the legal profession is populated by women lawyers; until half of every occupation is populated by women - women at all levels, not just at the bottom level; until women are assuming their fair share of responsibility at home but not more. We have a long way to go."

Gloria Allred

"When will women begin to have the first glimmer that above all other loyalties is the loyalty to truth, i.e., to yourself, that husband, children, friends, and country are as nothing to that?"

Alice James

"What makes a successful businesswoman? Is it talent? Well, perhaps, although I've known many enormously successful people who were not gifted in any outstanding way, not blessed with particular talent. Is it, then, intelligence?... What, then, is the mystical ingredient? It's persistence. It's that certain little spirit that compels you to stick it out when you're at your most tired. It's that quality that forces you to persevere, find that route around the stone wall. It's the immovable stubbornness that will not allow you to cave in when everyone says give up."

Estee Lauder, from "Estee: A Success Story"