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Guide Picks - Quotations by Women
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General purpose quotation books still leave out most women's voices. Fortunately, if you want to hear women's voices, there are some great quotations books for your bookshelf. Just don't put them too far out of reach -- you'll want them handy when you want to hear a voice of wisdom or just need a few choice words on a topic. I like my quotations books both inspirational and witty, which has influenced my selections here. Already have one or two? No
problem. No one can have too many quote books.
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1) The Quotable Woman: The First 5,000 Years
Edited
by Elaine T. Partnow. A great collection, revised in 2001 and considerably expanded over the previous edition (which was already among the best). She's presented the quotes organized by person, and the women are in chronological order, giving a flavor of each woman's writings and a sense of the flow of history. With the help of the subject index, you should be able to find an appropriate quotation for just about any occasion or purpose. In addition, the indexes of women by career and ethnicity are helpful with other research.
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2) The New Beacon Book of Quotations by Women
Edited
by Rosalie Maggio. An exhaustive collection of quotations, organized by subject. The author index includes very brief descriptions of the author's years and occupation or contributions. The topics are a bit different than in a Bartlett's or other general quote collection too -- topics like connections, middle class, relationships, codependence.
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3) Treasury of Women's Quotations
Edited
by Carolyn Warner. Organized by topic, this collection is targeted to speechmakers. But it's also great for writers and for those of us who use quotes as personal inspiration. Topics include subjects like Action, Work, Style, Family, Heritage, Humor, and of course, Men and Women. Out of print: check online sources for used copies.
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4) Women in Praise of the Sacred
Subtitle: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women. Edited by Jane Hirshfield. Not precisely a quote book, this is nevertheless a collection I'd recommend if you're looking for religious and spiritual inspiration. It begins with the first known poem by any writer -- "The Hymn to Inanna" from about 2300 B.C.E. -- and includes 20th century poets, too. From many traditions, though a bit more from the Christian tradition than from others.
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5) An Impulse to Soar: Quotations by Women on Leadership
Edited
by Rosalie Maggio.
Looking for a small gift for someone who's moving into a position of leadership and responsibility? This artful and carefully-selected collection of quotes by women on the subject of leadership might be just the thing. It's not a thorough quote collection, but for its more specific purpose, it's just right.
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6) A Journal With Quotations for Women on Life
Edited
by Rosalie Maggio. Another great gift item (including for yourself): a journal book with some great quotations on the general subject of "life." The quotes can serve as a path to your inner thoughts and make keeping a journal a more interesting task.
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7) Women's Lip: Outrageous, Irreverent and Just Plain Hilarious Quotes
Edited by Rosalind Warren. Sure to bring a smile to your lips, and some outrageous humor to just about every occasion, this book is lighter on quotes than I would have wanted. But it's great to leave where others can find it, or to give as a gift, or even to leave where you can sample from it when you need something outrageous.
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8) The Girls' Book of Wisdom
Subtitle: Empowering, Inspirational Quotes from Over 400 Fabulous Females.
Edited by Catherine Dee. Targeted to the "young adult" market (read: older preteens and teenagers), this book is perfectly appropriate for that age group. Girls need to hear women's voices helping them through great times and through the depths of loss and misery; they'll find encouragement and fun, both, here.
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9) Quotable Women of the Twentieth Century
Edited by Tracy Quinn. The strength of this collection is its focus on relatively recent figures, and thus on relatively contemporary themes. "Wittiness" can refer to intelligence or good humor -- these quotes have one or both. I found it most charming and amusing -- but not especially inspirational.
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10) Great Quotes from Great Women
Edited by Peggy Anderson, illustrated by Michael McKee. Not very complete, but it's a good starter collection, one which won't intimidate and which has some great quotes and good biographical sketches of some remarkable women.
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