Strong Female Characters Quotes

I don't even like the word 'indoors'. It doesn't make sense. According to you right now, by stepping through the doorway I'd be indoors. Yet I wouldn't actually be standing in the doorway. If it's supposed to refer to being inside a building, then they shouldn't have used the word 'door,' since last time I checked, doors don't make up every square inch of a building! And I'd assume that now, since I'm not indoors, you'd say I'm 'out of doors', right? But, shouldn't out of doors just be everywhere that's not directly under a door? You know what, from now on I insist that everyone refer to being in a building as being 'under-roof'. ~ Natalie Bina

Need someone to rescue?" She interrupted him again, spitting her words out with all the rage, contempt, and anger she had bottled up inside. "I'm not a damsel in distress, and you sir, are no knight in shining double breasted, JC Penny! ~ Dennis Sharpe

So, why do you write these strong female characters?
Because you're still asking me that question.
[Equality Now speech, May 15, 2006] ~ Joss Whedon

The love and support from the Witches of East End fans continues to blow us away and renews our faith that storytelling matters, strong female characters matter, and messages about faith and hope matter. I love this family. I love this story. And to be part of a show that has inspired and touched so many people's hearts is a true blessing. ~ Rachel Boston

One of the things that's important for anybody adapting source material that is primarily a male buddy picture is to find ways to latch on to strong female characters in the piece and bring them to the forefront and celebrate their point of view alongside the men; otherwise, it becomes a sausage party, and it's a singular point of view. ~ Bryan Fuller

There was something indomitable about Maria – like Britannia. He'd heard that she kept her head during a Chilean earthquake the year before when men of greater age and experience had panicked. Afterwards she was discovered calmly taking notes, recording the way the land hand risen, for publication, she said. ~ Sara Sheridan

Who knows? Maybe you both live happily ever after, or maybe three months from now you end the relationship because he doesn't squeeze the toothpaste from the bottom...nothing is guaranteed." - Olivia Harper, Secret Need ~ Satin Russell

I couldn't shake this feeling that I had uncovered more than something ordinary. ~ Nicole Gulla

I find that in the science fiction world, you have almost more women fans than male fans and I think it's because there's been such a shortage of strong female characters. ~ Katee Sackhoff

Normally, I would have kicked him in the nuts for touching me without my consent. ~ V.M. Marsh

If there is any indication of how an author and her books can affect change, look at the proof of her works on society. And ignore the critics and the trolls. -Strong by Kailin Gow on How Her Indie Success helped motivate and inspired others to become authors and how her books with strong women leads helped the film industry to portray more strong women leads ~ Kailin Gow

I tend to like strong female characters. It just interests me dramatically.
A strong male character isn't interesting because it has been done and it's so cliched. A weak male character is interesting: somebody else hasn't done it a hundred times. A strong female character is still interesting to me because it hasn't been done all that much, finding the balance of femininity and strength.
[From a 1986 Fangoria interview] ~ James Cameron

So, what you're saying is, just because a warrior is a woman doesn't mean they yhave to wear a chain mail bikini? Like, they could wear...real armor? ~ Jeremy Whitley

But sometimes a shattered view is the only way to see truth. ~ James D. Horton

So,' she said cautiously, 'is all this your way of telling me you're the villain?'
His chuckle was dark. 'I'm definitely not the hero.'
'I already knew that,' Tella said. 'It's my story, so clearly I'm the hero. ~ Stephanie Garber

Hadn't she once had a love for adventure? Hadn't she once wanted to be the hero of her own tale? ~ Natasha D. Lane

You are the Worst Kind of Animal. A Butcher by Day and a Pussy Cat by Night. ~ Monroe Ariel

I think women have such rich emotional lives that they are expressive about. I also think they're funny. I like watching strong female characters, and I like writing them. I don't know if it's conscious that I gravitate towards women, but it's certainly evolved that way. ~ Darren Star

Often, as a young actress, you find yourself being the only girl in a room full of men ... and one of the reasons why I like 'Grey's Anatomy' is because they have such strong female characters and the women really drive this show. ~ Rachael Taylor

In the end, I listen to my fear. It keeps me awake, resounding through the frantic beating in my breast. It is there in the dry terror in my throat, in the pricking of the rats' nervous feet in the darkness. Christian has not come home all the night long. I know, for I have lain in this darkness for hours now with my eyes stretched wide, yearning for my son's return. ~ Ned Hayes

Ah, but don't you see? It is when things are most quiet that you must be most alert. For you never know what lurks in the silence. ~ Natasha D. Lane

I think there is a wonderful trend of strong female characters on television right now. ~ Amanda Schull

But I want you to know," Cleo continued, "that there is hope. And that I am living proof of that hope. Because, even though I was forced into this marriage against my will, I have come to know Prince Magnus Lukas Damora very well these last months. And one thing I've learned is that Prince Magnus is nothing like his father. Prince Magnus is brave and compassionate, and he truly wants what's just and best for this kingdom. Kindness is what makes a good king who will put the needs and rights of his people before his own desires. ~ Morgan Rhodes

I certainly relate to Ygritte in the fact that she is so strong and also ruthless as well and I feel that especially within 'Game of Thrones,' I think that as a show, it is one of the frontrunners for showing dominant female characters and making sure that men answer to women rather than the other way around. ~ Rose Leslie

Pity, I knew, was just disrespect wrapped in kindness. I had to address it early, or it would grow unwieldy in time. ~ Veronica Roth

I can't seem to shake this perpetual awareness of being Molly. ~ Becky Albertalli

She resisted the urge to run, only prey ran [and] Niko had no intention on becoming prey ~ Kayti Nika Raet

I'm telling you that my happiness isn't up to you.", Loving Summer by Kailin Gow ~ Kailin Gow

You took nothing from me. ~ Tony Bedard

I'm out of the room in the next instant, like a man wanting breath, after suffocating through the horror of a burrito eating obese man's fart." - Emily Dolt ~ Nix Banner

He stood and stepped up behind her. Why not? It's the truth. I like spending time with you. You're strong, beautiful and brave. What more could a man ask for? ~ Colleen Coble

I may be in pain, but I am not weak. ~ Veronica Roth

I was thinking about what I wanted to write next, after my first novel, and had decided that I wanted to write a story with a lot of strong female characters in it. ~ Joan D. Vinge

It often horrified the English community that she spent her time with local farmers and horse traders, eccentrics and mystics, but she valued expertise over convention and had long believed if you were going to make discoveries in the world you must first quit your Englishness and open your eyes. ~ Sara Sheridan

So what if she wasn't a pushover? So what if she had some mettle and didn't wear her heart on her sleeve? She had done everything she had done for the best. For king and country. ~ Sara Sheridan

At the end of the day I have many answers for it. It has to do with my mom, who was an extraordinary woman, and a great feminist. It has to do with the people in my life. It has to do with a lot of different things, but
I don't know! Because I'm not just writing from the female characters for other people. I have a desire to see them in our culture
that was not met for most of my childhood. Except occasionally by James Cameron.
[From the 2011 San Diego Comic Con, in response to being asked why he writes strong female characters.] ~ Joss Whedon

I admired so many things about you. Almost everything. But I don't want to wind up like you. I don't want to starve to death, all alone on some island inside my own head. Hopeless. ~ Jenna Brooks

There's a reason I don't have a list of villains as long as Bruce's, Barry's, or even yours. When I deal with them, I deal with them. ~ Geoff Johns

I should know better than anyone
you can't tell who a person is just from his looks. ~ Cheryl Rainfield

She was tired of everyone deciding her life for her. She was ready to figure out who she really was--not what anyone else told her to be. ~ Marissa Meyer

A strong woman just needs to be loved strongly ~ Leju Thomas

Approaching the trail, he broke through the thicket a short distance ahead of the Empath. Causing the Empaths horse to startle as the surprised rider jerked on the reins. Cap was equally surprised to find a young girl before him instead of an older, experienced male Empath. Cap brought his horse to a quick halt. The young girl pulled a small knife from her boot and cautioned him. "I don't know where you came from, but I'm not easy prey." Her voice shook slightly with fear as she raised the knife.
Not sure how to proceed, they stared silently at each other. Cap had always believed that Empaths didn't carry weapons. This pretty, chestnut haired girl couldn't be more than 18 years old. Her long straight tresses covered the spot on her jacket where the Empathic Emblem was usually worn, causing Cap to doubt she was the one he sought. Not wanting to frighten her any more than he already had, Cap tried to explain. "I'm Commander Caplin Taylor. I'm looking for an Empath that is headed for the Western Hunting Lodge."
"My name is Kendra; I am the Empath you seek." She answered cautiously, still holding the blade. A noise from the brush drew her attention as a small rodent pounced out, trying to evade an unseen predator. Cap was just close enough to lurch forward and snatch the dirk from her hand. Her head jerked back in alarm.
"Bosen May has been mauled by a Sraeb, his shoulder is a mass of pulp." Cap spoke quickly not wanting to hesitate any longer.
That was all Ke ~ Alaina Stanford

Perfect! You guys are the same age. I bet you have a lot in common."
Classic adult logic. Reid and I are vaguely the same age, so of course we're basically soul mates. It's like horoscopes. Somehow I'm supposed to believe that I'm similar in some meaningful way to every single person born on my birthday. Or every single Sagittarius. I mean, I barely have anything in common with Cassie, and we were born six minutes apart. ~ Becky Albertalli

Raised eyebrows , Is she a billet ?
The smile, a natural born sniper?
The lips, a CPR the mystic needs
Aura, like the moon during the day
Nous, like an exclamation mark with a purpose
Not an ordinary mortal she is
but an incantatory healing power ~ Kshanasurya

A dark shadow rose from the depth of the watercourse. Forced to crawl out of the oceans rolling waves, it struggled against the pull of the undertow. Rising, it moved further up the white sandy beach away from the cold water. The creature collapsed onto the cool sand as the crescent moon above shone on his sleek gray skin revealing two immense leather-like wings protruding from his back. Exhaustion clouded his mind.
The darkness of night was soothing, refreshing. Somehow he knew it would bring him strength and sustenance. The creature watched as a great rolling storm cloud sunk into the salty water before him and he tried to remember why he had come. ~ Alaina Stanford

But if you want to know who the scariest person in the group is, look for the one who's been fighting zombies without smearing her eyeliner. ~ Mira Grant

I couldn't comprehend what we were about to face, but I knew it was my birthright to fight for it. ~ Nicole Gulla

I'm going to go after what I want.", Summer Jones in Loving Summer by Kailin Gow ~ Kailin Gow

I like strong female characters. I try to write them as role models for young girls. ~ L.J.Smith

I don't want to be anyone's arm candy or trophy," Simone said. "Women can be more than that. ~ Kailin Gow

I want to do a little bit of everything. I want to play a good, strong female character. ~ Shannon Elizabeth

I shook my head back and forth as though I was a human etch-a-sketch, erasing the memory. ~ Nicole Gulla

You'd be wise to learn, child, that this is no fairy tale. ~ Natasha D. Lane

I'd been so tired of 'strong female characters' for so long by then. I was so tired of the way female strength was made to look cold and humorless; the way it was characterized as deviant and 'unnatural' and always lonely and exceptional. I was tired of the grim undertone of tragedy that lurked under its surface. 'Strong female characters' were never funny, and they never had any fun, either. More often than not, they were celibate, friendless, and clinically depressed. Their monomaniacal devotion to crime fighting made them lean, cranky, and impatient. Naturally, they had axes to grind: they were avenging brides, poker-faced assassins, gloomy ninjas with commitment issues. Who were these characters? What were they trying to tell us? Why didn't they ever say goodbye before hanging up the phone? And why were they always being reborn or remade as killing machines after losing everything they held dear?

...I don't want to see another symbolic woman start all over again. I want to see the symbolic world change to acknowledge her existence. I don't want to see a young girl get a makeover or go shopping with her boyfriend's credit card. I want to watch her blow up the Death Star - metaphorically, of course. ~ Carina Chocano

Jack sprung to his feet out of reach. "I'd prefer to finish this intact. "

"My apologies," Cabal said, grinning viciously. "l keep forgetting, you're only human." His smile softened to full amusement as Jack raised his sword in challenge.


"Human or not," Jack said as he slowly approached him. "I carry the advantage of unworldly knowledge. "

" Is that what you're doing?" Cabal laughed; "Something unworldly?"

"I have a vast library of knowledge inside my head from my homeland."

"What knowledge could your world offer that would be useful here?"

"How about a toilet?" Jack winked at Nicole.

"Perhaps you should build one and leave us all in awe." Cabal declared.

"People could call them 'Jacks' for short." Nicole added to the conversation. ~ Alaina Stanford

My mama says people saying no is just like using the back door to get into the house. You can still get in, just a different way. ~ Natasha D. Lane

I pride myself on making my own decisions, sir," she said. "I do not welcome gentlemen making them for me. ~ Sara Sheridan

Good idea. I'll do it. ~ Mary Connealy

I think it's important that we have strong, female characters in movies now, which can really leave an impression on people - especially young people - and that they're not 'sexy' or 'cool.' ~ Saoirse Ronan

I think like Joss Whedon [Stephen Moffat] often mistakes 'empowered' for 'strong in exactly the way I personally want to sleep with ~ Joseph Fink

I am both the singular and the plural. I am what was, what is, and what will be. I am everything that is and isn't. ~ Natasha D. Lane

I never really knew that I would be a lifer of strong female characters, but that seems to be the drops I'm being given, and I'm very happy for them. Hopefully, 'Divergent' will be the next thing. ~ Evan Daugherty

It was a great joy for me to develop a strong female character in the spirit of an Icelandic woman. Icelandic women tend to be very strong and very independent, and I think that came in very handy. ~ Anita Briem

I kept my eyes closed until I felt my resolve to be who I wanted to be come back. I couldn't stay this desperate. It wouldn't look good to people watching from the outside. ~ Natalie Bina

Ava Elizabeth Baker you make yourself a survivor, not a victim. Become an exception and not a rule. ~ Nicole Gulla

Hush. Yellow is a happy color, and I'm trying to feel happy again. ~ V.M. Marsh

I'm a mad scientist. We don't need lip gloss. We have jumper cables. ~ Mira Grant

When giving up is not an option, you survive at any cost. ~ Liliana Shelbrook

I find it's bizarre that science fiction is the one branch of television to push the idea of strong female characters. And I only call it bizarre because strong women aren't fiction. ~ Steven Moffat

What makes a strong female character is a character who has weaknesses, who has flaws, who is maybe not immediately likable, but eventually relatable. ~ Tavi Gevinson

Here's what I would never, ever admit out loud: a part of me always thought it was some kind of secret compliment when someone got called a slut. It meant you were having sex. Which meant people wanted to have sex with you. Being a slut just meant you were normal. But I think maybe I'm wrong about that. ~ Becky Albertalli

I've done some soul searching… Looked deep within myself, ya know? I've reached the conclusion that 'Fuck You!' is my spirit animal, and some mother fuckers are going to pay. You can help me or you can walk… but I'm in this. I'm in 'til the end," Wednesday said. ~ Dennis Sharpe

Honestly, I have yet to encounter a really bad working experience. Sets are really my favorite places to be because of the many varied and interesting people you get to meet, interact and collaborate with. And I have always developed strong bonds with female costars. No cattiness yet! ~ Larisa Oleynik

I remembered from movies and TV that a human being striking a window could cause it to shatter, but the glass was too strong or I was too weak. My body didn't do much anymore when I put it to things. I didn't even make much noise pounding my fist against the glass: the ones that turned to look dismissed me almost before they had swiveled their heads. I might have been a painting of a hysterical female, paused in motion and screaming decoratively. But my throat was going raw, and my hands hurt dully. ~ Alexandra Kleeman

Wait a minute,' I countered. 'Didn't you just tell me about all the strong women role models in your family, about how you were loud and have a big personality and didn't take shit?'
'I know,' she said. 'I think I didn't realize...' She paused, trying to reconcile the contradiction. 'I guess no one ever told me that the strong female image also applies to sex. ~ Peggy Orenstein

I'm proud of my carefree behaviour [...] I am boisterous, when I choose to be, and simply because I don't behave like a wan and fainting female who has not a thought in her head except try to attract an eligible suitor [...] I shall not conform to how you or anyone else tells me I should behave. I am answerable only to God. ~ Melanie Dickerson

I couldn't tell anyone how I felt because I knew they wouldn't understand. Oh, poor little Christina, falling for the bad man who treats her like dirt because she didn't know any better. And isn't it a pity that they don't still teach sex-ed in schools? Or, oh, Christina, that filthy slut, if she puts out for a man like that, I imagine she puts out for anyone. You stay away from her. It wasn't like that at all. Maybe it would have been easier if it was, just like ticking a box. Are you the Madonna, or the whore? The victim, or the vixen? The Sabine, or the skank?
But nothing in life is ever that simple. ~ Nenia Campbell

He walked right to her, his long strides eating the space between them and sucking the oxygen in front of her ~ Cristin Harber

I tend to lean toward strong female stories. I want to make things that don't already exist out there. ~ Natalie Portman

Whatever you are physically," he said, "male or female, strong or weak, ill or healthy - all those things matter less than what your heart contains. If you have the soul of a warrior, you are a warrior. Whatever the color, the shape, the design of the shade that conceals it, the flame inside the lamp remains the same. You are that flame." He ~ Cassandra Clare

Oddly, I think if you look at comic books, you look at the shelves in the store, it's predominantly male characters, historically. But if you look outside the window it's 52-percent female, and something odd is going on there. So I do think it's your responsibility as a writer, really, to create stuff that little girls can get into too. I want my daughters to have role models that are female. ~ Mark Millar

As a female there aren't too many characters that are very empowering, and there's something very empowering about Lara Croft. She kicks butt and she does it in style. She's confident and she's educated. ~ Camilla Luddington

Perhaps if by chance I was seen arranging the shop window in my underpants, some lady in need of strong literary emotions would be drawn in and inspired to part with a bit of hard cash. According to expert opinion, the future of literature depends on women and as God is my witness the female is yet to be born who can resist the allure of this stupendous physique. ~ Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Perhaps, all writers walk such a line. In general - as we all do in our dreams - I believe I put something of myself into all the characters in my novels, male as well as female. ~ Rose Tremain

You do not seem aware, for all of your knowledge of the great world I do not frequent, of the usual response which the productions of the Female Pen--let alone as in our case, the *hypothetick* productions--are greeted with. The best we may hope is--oh, it is excellently done--*for a woman.* And then there are Subjects we may not treat--things we may not know...We are not mere candleholders to virtuous thoughts--mere chalices of Purity--we think and feel, aye and *read*--which seems not to shock *you* in us, in me, though I have concealed from many the extent of my--vicarious--knowledge of human vagaries. Now--if there is a reason for my persistence in this correspondence--it is this very unawareness in you--real or assumed--of what a woman must be supposed to be capable of. This is to me--like a strong Bush, well-rooted is to the grasp of one falling down a precipice--here I hold--here I am stayed-- ~ A.S. Byatt

It's like my characters, all my men are Dad and me in a mess; all my female characters are smart and hopeful, like Mom just trying to make the best of things. ~ Bret Easton Ellis

I think that we're in a really amazing time, where there are really a lot of really fantastic female actresses and comedians. I imagine there's just a lot of opportunity for women to have powerful roles. Or it's just that there's more women writing TV. Women tend to maybe write strong women. ~ Whitney Cummings

I don't think male characters are as one-dimensional as female characters. ~ Geena Davis

Finally, I'd say to anyone who wants to tell these tales, don't be afraid to be superstitious. If you have a lucky pen, use it. If you speak with more force and wit when wearing one red sock and one blue one, dress like that. When I'm at work I'm highly superstitious. My own superstition has to do with the voice in which the story comes out. I believe that every story is attended by its own sprite, whose voice we embody when we tell the tale, and that we tell it more successfully if we approach the sprite with a certain degree of respect and courtesy. These sprites are both old and young, male and female, sentimental and cynical, sceptical and credulous, and so on, and what's more, they're completely amoral: like the air-spirits who helped Strong Hans escape from the cave, the story-sprites are willing to serve whoever has the ring, whoever is telling the tale. To the accusation that this is nonsense, that all you need to tell a story is a human imagination, I reply, 'Of course, and this is the way my imagination works. ~ Philip Pullman

I've tried the female thing. I was in a movie called Dinner for Schmucks a couple of years ago with Steve Carell and I created a female character for that movie. And after a few months of trying her out on the road it just didn't work. I mean, I can think like a terrorist, I can think like a white trash guy, I can even try and think like an African American, but I can't figure out how a woman. ~ Jeff Dunham

I want to keep playing strong female roles. I don't mean superheroes, but women who are really alive. ~ Bel Powley

We were pulling into the next station, when the woman suddenly got to her feet and made a move to squeeze past me. As her knees made contact with mine, she turned towards me. Her eyes locked straight onto mine, her eyelids pinned back, with a look I could only describe as sheer dread. In the next second, deep tram-lines formed between her eyebrows and her expression shifted. It was as if she was silently imploring me, entreating me. To do what? I had no idea. I was immobile, her gaze pressing me into my seat by some centrifugal force and I held her stare, unsure of how to react. Just as swiftly, she dropped her eyes and the moment passed. With one final glance behind her, she was swallowed up in the bodies at the door.
She was getting off. Something wasn't right. ~ A.J. Waines

One of the things you never really see in a romance book is a woman who has self-esteem issues. I mean, I'm sure they're out there, but they're few and far between. Like they can have eating disorders, post-traumatic stress from sexual assault or mental abuse. They can be sold into sex trafficking and they can carry epic amounts of grief. We have female characters who have suffered every loss imaginable and ones who are scarred physically and mentality, but where in the hell are the average women? Ones who look in the mirror and cringe a little? Like, why are all those others acceptable to women, but reading or knowing another woman who has a low self-esteem is, like, worse than all that drama llama? ~ J. Lynn

[Writing in the voice of female characters] is scary. You get more cautious as you get older. I probably wouldn't write as an American either. I'd find a reason to make them half British.
I'm aware that female writers have been writing brilliant female characters for hundreds of years. I could make a terrible fool of myself unless I work out what the traps are, find bad female characters by male writers, work out why they're bad and give my wife every single book to read. ~ David Mitchell

I would tell any actress that the trick is to play all the female characters on your show, and then all the men are yours. ~ Sarah Michelle Gellar

The corner of the witch's mouth twitched. "My remedy can bring a soul back into the body, but it won't work if the soul doesn't want to stay. Do you understand? ~ Lina J. Potter

I came to the realization that a strong female is frightening to everybody, because all societies are male-dominated - black societies, poor people, rich people, any racial group, they're all dominated by men. A strong female is going to threaten everybody across the board. ~ Madonna Ciccone

I've certainly seen stats that if you have a woman director or a woman screenwriter, the number of female characters goes way up. ~ Emma Donoghue

Oil production affects gender relations by reducing the presence of women in the labor force. The failure of women to join the nonagricultural labor force has profound social consequences: it leads to higher fertility rates, less education for girls, and less female influence within the family. It also has far-reaching political consequences: when fewer women work outside the home, they are less likely to exchange information and overcome collective action problems; less likely to mobilize politically, and to lobby for expanded rights; and less likely to gain representation in government. This leaves oil-producing states with atypically strong patriarchal cultures and political institutions ~ Michael L. Ross

I have learned how to be a lady. It's just so dull I can't stick with it. ~ Shari L. Tapscott