Fawn Germer

“What separates an ordinary woman from an extraordinary woman? The belief that she is ordinary.” 

—Jody Williams, 1997 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for the movement against land mines

“You can do some crazy things when you believe. Every human being on this earth has a purpose. Everyone has something they can give. The need is there and you rise to the need.” 

—Sheila Coates, founder of Black Women United for Action

“Nothing comes to you if you just sit there and wait. You have to look for things yourself. Some of the things you try won’t work. All you say then is, ‘Oh, that one didn’t work. I’ll try something else.’ I have two mantras. First, ‘If you aren’t doing something, you’re doing nothing.’ Second, ‘Don’t let security be your dangerous anchor.’” 

—Jill Gould, who went to college and then medical school as a mother of five and became one of the nation’s first women forensic pathologists. 

 
“I have engendered a lot of reaction. Some of it is, frankly, who I am, and I brought it on myself. But some of it came from the expectations people have about women, what women are supposed to look like, do, say, act, et cetera. What I’ve tried to do—under some pretty challenging circumstances—is just to be able to go to bed every night feeling like I did the best I could do at being me.” 
—Sen. Hillary Clinton

“I was really lucky to have a really bad first boss. Keep a notebook. Remember how it feels. There is nothing better than a bad boss to teach you to be a good boss.” 
—Geraldine Laybourne, Founder and former CEO of Oxygen Network  

“Leaders desperately need followers. So when I talk to women, I tell them not all of them are going to choose this route, not all of them are going to want to be leaders. And there is a great deal to be said for the workhorses willing to fulfill the role of a follower, and thank God for them. But there is something in our makeup, those of us who are questioners.” 
—The late, legendary Texas Gov. Ann Richards 

“When you get done being jealous at the end of the day, what does that give you? It doesn’t give you their looks or their talent. Instead of saying, ‘Why them, not me?’ say, ‘Why them? Let me go to work on me.’ Don’t attack them.” 

—Activist Faye Wattleton, who heads the Center for Gender Equality

 “We can influence other people by what we say and what our attitudes are. Even in the most boring job, you can make a difference with your fellow workers, just with your attitude. Every individual matters, has a role to play and makes a difference. We have this huge collective power—if only we’d use it. But, we have this great ‘me-ism.’ You know, ‘I’m one person. I live in an expanding world of people. What can I do to make any difference?’ It’s apathy. What we do makes a difference for the future.” 
—Anthropologist and primatologist Jane Goodall

“I still have goals. I want to be a good reporter. You know, you are only as good as your last story.” 

—Helen Thomas, dean of the White House press corps, who has covered the White House since the days of FDR.

“I have nothing to gain or lose. Fire me from my job, put me down, do what you want to me. It’s not going to change anything, because if you do or do not like me, fine. I don’t frankly care.”  
—Erin Brockovich 

“I think having to live with low self-esteem makes you stronger. Your arsenal of weaponry has to be a little more elaborate.” 
—Academy Award winner Frances McDormand

“Have you ever heard it said that a man has an ‘edge’? I can’t tell you how many times, during planning or human resource kinds of work, they’d talk about a woman’s style and say she has an ‘edge’ on her. Compared to whom? I would look around the room and see a guy who was a total jerk, yet she has an ‘edge’? Compared to him, she’s a pussycat. But, it didn’t fit in that range of what they consider acceptable for women.”  

—Caroline Turner, former senior vice president, general counsel of Coors Brewing Company  

“I had a real fixation with mirrors from the time I was about sixteen. I remember being in a nightclub with a guy I had a crush on and there were mirrors all over the place. He said, ‘Do you mind looking at me when I talk?’ I was so scared that the next time I looked, I’d be ugly. I lacked a sense of identity… When you leave therapy, you don’t leave the demons behind. You simply learn how to control them.” 

—Rita Moreno, winner of the Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony awards 

“One day, I wondered what I would think if I was somebody at one of my shows watching me perform. I started to realize that, if I wasn’t me, I would like me. That is such a wonderful thing to realize. That is true power.” 

—Comedian Margaret Cho

 “Someone once told me, ‘You are such a hard worker. I answered, ‘The truth is, I’m really lazy. Thank God I am brilliant.’” 
—Former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell

“One of the problems so many women have is, we care what people think about us. That other people talk about us. I have had so many bad things said about me, so many innuendoes. It really used to break my heart. Then I got a little tougher and a little tougher and a little tougher. Not that I don’t care anymore. I care, but I don’t let it stop me. Women have yet to learn how to get tough on the inside, how to have a harder shell. That is why it is so important to believe in what you are doing. If you really, truly believe in what you are doing, that gives you a lot of power.” 

—Linda Chavez-Thompson, executive vice president of the AFL-CIO

“There are so many ways in which we are so critical of ourselves. Women will be brought into the emergency room having been in an accident or shot or whatever, and they’ll say, ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t have time to shave my legs this morning.’ We are so quick to criticize ourselves. We all have those tapes in our heads, critical tapes, and we are the first to know what our faults are. We’re always going to have those tapes. The key is to offset them. Make other voices louder.” 

—Sarah Weddington, the attorney who won the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court

“It’s a real challenge to be yourself. Obviously, that doesn’t mean you can be rude or discourteous and get away with ill behavior, but at the end of the day, you have to be satisfied about who you are. Nobody else can live your life. That’s what I try to tell myself.” 

—Sen. Hillary Clinton

“We always think we did something wrong. It’s our fault, it’s our fault, it’s all our fault. You have to step outside of yourself, see the world through other people’s eyes and see some decisions are made that have absolutely nothing to do with whether you are great at what you do or are failing at what you do.” 

—Laura Ingraham, national radio host and author 

“Just relax. You may think somebody is in there thinking about you every minute of every day, but it ain’t happening.” 

—Kathleen Carroll, executive editor of the Associated Press

“Do you want to be the mainstream? I never strived to be average or normal. The mainstream just follows. How can you strive to be there? I was never afraid of leading or speaking out or doing things my way—the way I believed they should be done. At the end of the day, you have to like yourself. You have to like what you see in the mirror. Are you living your life for everyone else, or for yourself?” 

—Tennis legend Martina Navratilova 

“Never sell your soul because nobody can pay you back. Ever. Being your whole self, your true self is as much a part of success as anything else. I am who I am. I have my own style and it has freed me to bring my whole person to work. Not only does it make it a lot more fun, but it has helped make me successful. I sometimes hear people say they are a different person at home than they are at work. I feel bad for them. The workplace isn’t getting who they are. And both the workplace and the person are missing something.  If you can’t be yourself at work, find a different workplace. If you feel you are constrained or are selling your soul or leaving a part of yourself behind, then you aren’t performing to your potential and should go somewhere else.”  

—Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard

“When you find yourself in a bad situation, do something. Do the right thing. Tell the truth. If you make a mistake, own up to it. When you find yourself in these situations, try to think back to your moral compass and determine what is the right thing to do. There are some gray areas and real ethical dilemmas. But, as hard as it may be, take that first step, then follow through. A lot of people take the path of least resistance. Don’t go along with the crowd. Do the right thing.” 

—Coleen Rowley, the FBI whistle-blower who testified to Congress about how the government mishandled intelligence and might have prevented 9/11

“People are afraid of the unknown. You fear an enemy mostly because of what you don’t know. You are afraid of what they might do, not what they are doing. I fear ignorance…  Many people resist risk and are only comfortable with the security of knowing, when they go to sleep at night, what the next day is going to be like. That’s comforting. It’s secure. And, living like that is a choice they are free to make. I recognize the importance most people place on having structure in their lives. Not having structure can be disconcerting. They should not try to do what I do if structure brings them peace and comfort. Risk is a choice. It is the only way to test your potential.” 
—Oceanographer Sylvia Earle, “Her Deepness”