There’s no doubt that the representation of women in literature is changing, and we owe most of that to female writers who have created female characters that us readers can use as role models. From Jane Austen to J.K. Rowling, these female authors know just what it’s like to be a woman in a man’s world, and they won’t let the female struggle go unnoticed in books. Here are eleven powerful quotes by female writers to repeat to yourself throughout the day whenever you need a reminder of just what it means to be a woman.

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1. “I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.”

– Jane Austen, Persuasion

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2. “I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have a voice because they were so terrified, because we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves. We’ve been taught that silence would save us, but it won’t.”

– Audre Lorde

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3. “Just like any woman… we weave our stories out of our bodies. Some of us through our children, or our art; some do it just by living. It’s all the same.”

– Francesca Lia Block, Necklace of Kisses

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4. “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

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5. “We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already. we have the power to imagine better.”

– J.K. Rowling

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6. “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”

– Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

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7. “Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.”

– Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

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8. “No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.”

– Virginia Woolf, A Room Of One’s Own

image via los angeles times – quote via quote fancy

9. “Does ‘feminist’ mean a large unpleasant person who’ll shout at you or someone who believes women are human beings? To me, it’s the latter, so i sign up.”

– Margaret Atwood

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10. “Every girl, no matter where she lives, deserves the opportunity to develop the promise inside of her.”

– Michelle Obama

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11. “Extremists have shown what frightens them most: a girl with a book.”

– Malala Yousafzai

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