“Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can anyone deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me.” – Zora Neale Hurston

“Don’t wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get you’ve got to make yourself.” – Alice Walker

“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” – Lena Horne

“We are all gifted. That is our inheritance.” – Ethel Waters

“When I dare to be powerful – to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” – Audre Lorde

“A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.” -Eleanor Roosevelt 

“Everything that happens to you is a reflection of what you believe about yourself. We cannot outperform our level of self-esteem. We cannot draw to ourselves more than we think we are worth.” –Iyanla Vanzant

“Don’t settle for average. Bring your best to the moment. Then, whether it fails or succeeds, at least you know you gave all you had. We need to live the best that’s in us.” -Angela Bassett  

“Step out of the history that is holding you back. Step into the new story you are willing to create.” -Oprah Winfrey

In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.” -Coco Chanel

“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it.” -Brene Brown

“I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself.” -Arianna Huffington

Knowing what must be done does away with fear.” -Rosa Parks

“I didn’t get there by wishing for it or hoping for it, but by working for it.” -Estee’ Lauder

“If I stop to kick every barking dog I am not going to get where I’m going.” -Jackie Joyner-Kersee

You can waste your lives drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them.” -Shonda Rhimes

“Grace is not the absence of the struggle; it is the presence of protection.” -Sarah Jakes

“Until we forgive ourselves, we will always see ourselves through the shattered pieces of the dreams we can no longer have. Nothing can be seen clearly through broken pieces: no future, no hope, no faith, no love is capable of being seen properly until we admit that we are driving on a flat tire. We have to stop believing that just because we are damaged we are irreparably broken.” -Sarah Jakes

“It takes courage…to endure the sharp pains of self-discovery rather than choose to take the dull pain of unconsciousness that would last the rest of our lives.” -Marianne Williamson

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” -Maya Angelou

“I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” -Maya Angelou