When I was 18 years old, I picked up the book “Bossy Pants” by Tina Fey, and it changed my life. I’ve always been a little funny, a little odd, a little strange, and Tina Fey illuminated the power in this. When I was 20, Amy Poehler released her book “Yes Please” and again I reveled in the genius of a funny and insightful woman. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are blazing the way for women, simply by being funny, simply by functioning in a part of entertainment that was once dominated by men. The closest thing I have to religion in my life, are the two saint candles I have in my bathroom with Amy Poehler and Tina Fey’s heads pasted on top of the angelic figures bodies. I look to these woman for guidance, they are my light in the dark. I believe every woman should look to them for inspiration and purchase a copy of their books, if they haven't already. Nevertheless I have shared 26 amazing quotes that will help any woman get through her day.
Tina Fey, “Bossy Pants”
1. “Do your thing and don't care if they like it.”
2. “Some people say, 'Never let them see you cry.' I say, if you’re so mad you could just cry, then cry. It terrifies everyone.”
3. “If you retain nothing else, always remember the most important rule of beauty, which is: who cares?”
4. “Don’t waste your energy trying to educate or change opinions; go over, under, through, and opinions will change organically when you’re the boss. Or they won’t. Who cares? Do your thing, and don’t care if they like it.”
5. “Gay people don’t actually try to convert people. That’s Jehovah’s Witnesses you’re thinking of.”
6. “To say I’m an overrated troll, when you have never even seen me guard a bridge, is patently unfair.”
7. I was a little excited but mostly blorft. "Blorft" is an adjective I just made up that means 'Completely overwhelmed but proceeding as if everything is fine and reacting to the stress with the torpor of a possum.' I have been blorft every day for the past seven years.”
8. “So, my unsolicited advice to women in the workplace is this. When faced with sexism, or ageism, or lookism, or even really aggressive Buddhism, ask yourself the following question: “Is this person in between me and what I want to do?” If the answer is no, ignore it and move on. Your energy is better used doing your work and outpacing people that way. Then, when you’re in charge, don’t hire the people who were jerky to you.”
9. “Whatever the problem, be part of the solution. Don’t just sit around raising questions and pointing out obstacles.”
10. “I feel about Photoshop the way some people feel about abortion. It is appalling and a tragic reflection on the moral decay of our society … unless I need it, in which case, everybody be cool.”
11. “THERE ARE NO MISTAKES, only opportunities.”
12. “I was ten. I had noticed something was weird earlier in the day, but I knew from commercials that one's menstrual period was a blue liquid that you poured like laundry detergent onto maxi pads to test their absorbency. This wasn't blue, so ... I ignored it for a few hours.”
13. “MAKE STATEMENTS also applies to us women: Speak in statements instead of apologetic questions. No one wants to go to a doctor who says, “I’m going to be your surgeon? I’m here to talk to you about your procedure? I was first in my class at Johns Hopkins, so?” Make statements, with your actions and your voice.”
Amy Poehler, “Yes Please”
- “I want to be around people that do things. I don’t want to be around people anymore that judge or talk about what people do. I want to be around people that dream and support and do things."
- “That is the motto women should constantly repeat over and over again. Good for her! Not for me."
- “I think we should stop asking people in their twenties what they 'want to do' and start asking them what they don’t want to do.”
- “Saying 'yes' doesn’t mean I don’t know how to say no, and saying “please” doesn’t mean I am waiting for permission.”
- “Hopefully as you get older, you start to learn how to live with your demon. It’s hard at first. Some people give their demon so much room that there is no space in their head or bed for love. They feed their demon and it gets really strong and then it makes them stay in abusive relationships or starve their beautiful bodies. But sometimes, you get a little older and get a little bored of the demon. Through good therapy and friends and self-love you can practice treating the demon like a hacky, annoying cousin. Maybe a day even comes when you are getting dressed for a fancy event and it whispers, “You aren’t pretty,” and you go, “I know, I know, now let me find my earrings.” Sometimes you say, “Demon, I promise you I will let you remind me of my ugliness, but right now I am having hot sex so I will check in later.”
- “People are their most beautiful when they are laughing, crying, dancing, playing, telling the truth, and being chased in a fun way.”
- “The only way we will survive is by being kind. The only way we can get by in this world is through the help we receive from others. No one can do it alone, no matter how great the machines are.”
- “Great people do things before they're ready. They do things before they know they can do it. Doing what you're afraid of, getting out of your comfort zone, taking risks like that — that's what life is. You might be really good. You might find out something about yourself that's really special and if you're not good, who cares? You tried something. Now you know something about yourself.”
- “A lot of people don’t know I am always thisfuckingclose to doing some crazy shit.”
- “You have to care about your work but not about the result. You have to care about how good you are and how good you feel, but not about how good people think you are or how good people think you look.” (“It’s never overreacting to ask for what you want and need.”) “If you can dance and be free and not embarrassed you can rule the world.”
- “It’s very hard to have ideas. It’s very hard to put yourself out there, it’s very hard to be vulnerable, but those people who do that are the dreamers, the thinkers, and the creators. They are the magic people of the world.”
- “Great people do things before they’re ready. They do things before they know they can do it.”
- “How a person treats their waitress is a great indication of their character.”
