quotes

Beautiful Lives by Susan is a site about Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome (formerly referred to as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder). In my efforts to market this site through social media, I have styled many graphic images with quotes about PTSS. In honor of Women’s History Month, I’d like to share some of them here, with you.

Quotes by Women Who Know About Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome

Many years ago, one of my supervisors noticed how much I loved quotes. So, for my birthday one year, she gave me a small, beautiful book of wonderful quotes. Oh, how I prized that gift so highly.

At the time, it was nearly impossible for me to sit down and read a book. I simply didn’t have enough patience so I had to move fast or not at all. Needless-to-say, it was a difficult journey for me as it is for anyone with PTSS.

However, that one small gift brought a ray of sunshine to each day when I opened my little book of quotes and found encouragement, inspiration, and ability to move forward with a lighter step in my day.

I Share Because I Care

Today, I still love quotes and I especially love to share them with others. It’s how I show that I care about someone. Sometimes, I find it difficult to find the words to express what I’m feeling, but that’s when somehow, somewhere, the Universe sends me a message through a quote and that’s one of the many small miracles in my life for which I am so grateful.

The Authors Behind the Quotes

Quotes are powerful tools to quickly insert a jolt of wisdom into any published content. But, it’s also interesting to know a little bit about the person behind the quote. And, sometimes, what’s even more interesting is the story behind the quote.

Each quote shown below is followed by a bit of trivia and interesting facts about the person quoted. In addition, there is a link to a recent publication by the author that you can reach by clicking through the name of the book or the quote image.

Susan Pease Banitt

Susan Pease Banitt, LCSW, Trauma Expert • Helps people heal from traumatic stress.

She is a social worker, psychotherapist and author who specializes in the treatment of severe trauma and PTSD. Additionally, she has worked in the field of mental health for more than four decades in diverse settings: inpatient, outpatient, and medical with adults and children, and trained in the Harvard medical teaching hospitals in Boston, MA. She is also a Karuna Reiki® Master, Kripalu trained yoga teacher (RYT 200), and shamanic healer in the Celtic tradition.In addition Susan studied Past Life Regression Therapy with Dr. Brian Weiss.

The Trauma Tool Kit – Healing PTSD from the Inside Out • Wisdom, Attachment, and Love in Trauma Therapy: Beyond Evidence-Based Practice

Judith Lewis Herman

Judith Lewis Herman, Psychiatrist • An American psychiatrist, researcher, teacher, and author.

This woman has focused on the understanding and treatment of incest and traumatic stress. Herman is Professor of clinical psychiatry at Harvard University Medical School and Director of Training at the Victims of Violence Program in the Department of Psychiatry at the Cambridge Health Alliance in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a founding member of the Women’s Mental Health Collective.

Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence–From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

Jessica Stern

Jessica Stern • One of the foremost experts on terrorism.

She serves on the Hoover Institution Task Force on National Security and Law. In 2009, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for her work on trauma and violence. She has authored Terror In The Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill, selected by the New York Times as a notable book of the year; and numerous articles on terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. She served on President Clinton’s National Security Council Staff in 1994-95

Terror in the Name of God; Why Religious Militants Kill • ISIS The State of Terror

Cover Image Credits:
Susan Pease Bannitt
Judith Lewis Herman
Jessica Stern

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Quotes by Women I Admire

Perpetrators; Their Influence In Our Lives

Quotes by women are not the easiest to find. It’s indicative of the imbalance that still exists in most places in the world between the sexes. Nevertheless, for inspiration, I look for quotes by strong, independent women who make a positive impact on other people’s lives.

Quotes by Women I Admire

It takes all kinds of women to make the world go round and every woman has her story. Not to mention, we are all at different stages of growth and awareness. Still, there is so much we have to offer each other from a kind word or bright smile to a bag of groceries when times are tough. Above all, quotes by women corroborate our stories with each other and remind us that we are not alone.

Moreover, quotes by women remind me that I have role models to look to for inspiration and healing. I believe it is also from the mutual female perspectives that we derive strength from each other.

I’ve been up. I’ve been down. But, in the end, I can say without a doubt, its the women in my life, from early childhood on, who have been my true inspiration to keep getting up, dusting myself off, and getting back in the proverbial saddle.

Michelle Obama

“We should always have three friends in our lives-one who walks ahead who we look up to and follow; one who walks beside us, who is with us every step of our journey; and then, one who we reach back for and bring along after we’ve cleared the way.” —Michelle Obama

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American writer, lawyer, and university administrator who was First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She is married to the 44th U.S. President, Barack Obama, and was the first African-American First Lady.

Madeleine Albright

“It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.” —Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937) is an American politician and diplomat. She is the first female United States Secretary of State in U.S. history, having served from 1997 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton.

Along with her family, Albright immigrated to the United States in 1948 from Czechoslovakia. Her father, Diplomat Josef Korbel, settled the family in Denver, and she became a U.S. citizen in 1957. Albright graduated from Wellesley College in 1959 and earned a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1975, writing her thesis on the Prague Spring. She worked as an aide to Senator Edmund Muskie before taking a position under Zbigniew Brzezinski on the National Security Council. She served in that position until the end of President Jimmy Carter’s singular term in 1981. VIA Wikipedia

Shonda Lynn Rhimes

“You can waste your lives drawing lines. Or, you can live you life crossing them.” —Shonda Rhimes

Shonda Lynn Rhimes (born January 13, 1970) is an American television producer, screenwriter, and author. She is best known as the showrunner—creator, head writer, and executive producer—of the television medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. 

In 2007, Rhimes was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 People Who Help Shape the World.  In 2015, she published her first book, a memoir, Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun, and Be Your Own Person. VIA WIkipedia

Maya Angelou

“That knowledge humbles me, melts my bones, closes my ears, and makes my teeth rock loosely in their gums. And it also liberates me. I am a big bird winging over high mountains, down into serene valleys. I am ripples of waves on silver seas. I’m a spring leaf trembling in anticipation.” —Maya Angelou

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.” —Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and was credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees. Angelou is best known for her series of seven autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of 17 and brought her international recognition and acclaim. VIA Wikipedia

Jenny Han

“Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August.” —Jenny Han

Jenny Han (born September 3, 1980) is an American author of young adult fiction. She wrote The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy and the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before series. Han wrote her first book, the children’s’ novel Shug, while she was still in college. Shug is about Annemarie Wilcox, a twelve-year-old trying to navigate the perils of junior high school. Her next project was a young adult romance trilogy, about a girl’s coming-of-age during her summer breaks. The three novels, The Summer I Turned Pretty, It’s Not Summer Without You, and We’ll Always Have Summer, quickly became New York Times Best Sellers. VIA Wikipedia

Katherine Hepburn

“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.” —Katherine Hepburn

Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress. Known for her fierce independence and spirited personality, Hepburn was a leading lady in Hollywood for more than 60 years. She appeared in a range of genres, from screwball comedy to literary drama, and she received four Academy Awards — a record for any performer — for Best Actress. In 1999, Hepburn was named by the American Film Institute as the greatest female star of Classic Hollywood Cinema. VIA Wikipedia

Yoko Ono

“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.” —Yoko Ono

“Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.”
—Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono (Japanese: 小野 洋子, born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist who is also known for her work in performance art and film-making. She performs in both English and Japanese. Ono grew up in Tokyo and also spent several formative years in New York City. She studied at Gakushuin, but withdrew from her course after two years and moved to New York in 1953 to live with her family. Then, she spent some time at Sarah Lawrence College and then became involved in New York City’s downtown artists scene, which included the Fluxus group. Yoko and John Lennon first met in 1966 at her own art exhibition in London, and they became a couple in 1968 and wed the following year. VIA Wikipedia

This lyrical biography explores the life and art of Yoko Ono, from her childhood haiku to her avant-garde visual art and experimental music. An outcast throughout most of her life, and misunderstood by every group she belonged to, Yoko always followed her own unique vision to create art that was ahead of its time and would later be celebrated. Her focus remained on being an artist, even when the rest of world saw her only as the wife of John Lennon. Yoko Ono’s moving story will inspire any young adult who has ever felt like an outsider, or who is developing or questioning ideas about being an artist, to follow their dreams and find beauty in all that surrounds them.

Brene Brown

“Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are.” —Brene Brown

Brene Brown is an American research professor at The Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston. She has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy and is the author of five #1 New York Times bestsellers: The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, Rising Strong, Braving the Wilderness, and her latest book, Dare to Lead, which is the culmination of a seven-year study on courage and leadership. VIA Wikipedia

Ayn Rand

“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” —Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum; February 2 [O.S. January 20] 1905 – March 6, 1982) was a Russian-American writer and philosopher. She is known for her two best-selling novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and she developed a philosophical system she named Objectivism. Educated in Russia, she moved to the United States in 1926. She had a play produced on Broadway in 1935 and 1936. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful, she achieved fame with her 1943 novel, The Fountainhead. In 1957, Rand published her best-known work, the novel Atlas Shrugged. Afterward, she turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own periodicals and releasing several collections of essays until her death in 1982.VIA Wikipedia

Louis Hay

“I choose to make the rest of my life the best of my life.” —Louis Hay

Louise Lynn Hay (October 8, 1926 – August 30, 2017) was an American motivational author and the founder of Hay House. She authored several New Thought self-help books, including the 1984 book, You Can Heal Your Life. VIA Wikipedia

I hope you enjoyed quotes by women. My promise to you is to continue to curate quotes by women until I have a database full of thousands to share with all my readers.

Cover Image Credits:
Maya Angelou
Michelle Obama
Yoko Ono
Eleanor Roosevelt

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