“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.”
Alice Walker
quolira
quolira.com
There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.
About this quote
Meaning
This declaration affirms that women face no ceiling on their potential achievements. Michelle Obama is saying that collective ambition, effort, and solidarity among women can carry them to any height, and that no external barrier should be accepted as final. The word "we" is deliberate, framing accomplishment not as a solitary pursuit but as something women reach together.
Context
Michelle Obama delivered this line during her address at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, a speech that drew wide praise for its emotional clarity and sense of purpose. She was speaking at a moment of particular historical weight for American women, urging the audience to consider how far progress had come and how much further it could go. The line became one of the most shared phrases from that convention season, circulating widely as a rallying message.
About the author
Michelle Obama served as First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, alongside President Barack Obama. Before entering the White House, she had a career in law and public service in Chicago. Throughout her time as First Lady she championed causes including education, health, and support for military families. After leaving Washington she became an author and continued to speak publicly on issues of equity, opportunity, and civic engagement, maintaining a strong cultural presence well beyond her years in the White House.
Up next
“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.”
Audre Lorde · 1981 speech
“A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it's in hot water.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
“We should all be feminists.”
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie · 2012 TEDxEuston talk, later a 2014 book
“I raise up my voice not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.”
Malala Yousafzai
“Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.”
Maya Angelou
“Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.”
Buddha · The Dhammapada
“No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.”
Nathaniel Hawthorne · The Scarlet Letter, 1850
“Don't take anything personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality.”
Don Miguel Ruiz · The Four Agreements, 1997
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.”
Alice Walker
“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”
W. B. Yeats
“It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.”
André Gide · Autumn Leaves, 1950
