Alicia Keys

What if… everything you are going through is preparing you for what you asked for?

You’ve got to have a good spirit on the inside. That’s what’s really going to make you look like you’re ready to rock the world.

I was subscribing to this sick identity. … Stay in your place, be feminine, be a lady, don’t make too much noise.

The memory of a day like today reminds me to hold the ones I love that much tighter, that much longer… Take that much more time to be present and to feel the blessing of another day…

It’s my nature to downplay.

I always feel excited when I can do something that’s about what I believe in.

Until we’re in those rooms as equally as men are, it can’t shift.

We won’t unlock opportunities for young women and girls unless we can change the mindset of every family and community. To achieve this, it cannot just be women who speak up for girls.

What sometimes is missing for young girls is that so early in our lives we’re shushed. And not just directly shushed. Sometimes we’re treated a little too preciously. They treat us like a doll. They don’t treat us like real beings, equal partners. I was loved early by my father, but I was never so precious that he didn’t think I could be there at the table.

I love to challenge the status quo. That’s been my mission from day one as an actress and an early feminist wanting equality and wanting to push the limits of what’s possible.

[My father] always reminded us that it was important to stand up for your rights, and regardless of who you are and where you come from, to hold your head up high with dignity and respect.

We think – or maybe we’re shown – that the only way to express ourselves is through that very sexy energy. I think there’s more than that which shows our power. For me, I sometimes feel the most sexy when I’m totally covered head to toe.

I have a little sister and I’m constantly annoyed [by] how terribly written most females are in most everything – and especially in comedy. Their anatomy seems to be the only defining aspect of their character, and I just find that untruthful and it straight up offends me.

The woman who doesn’t require validation from anyone is the most feared individual on the planet.

What gets me is how many women – young women – give up their power and their sense of self. Thinking they’re going to get more out of life if they take off their clothes and objectify themselves, instead of functioning on the principle that they’re smart and capable, that you can be an actress and not be on the covers of T&A magazines. I’m flabbergasted by how many legitimate actresses do that. It blows my mind.

All men should be feminists. If men care about women’s rights, the world will be a better place.

I feel there are certain people who are systematically ripping (feminism) down because of their lack of regard and their ignorance about what the women before us had to go through.

I’m usually good about my temper, but all these men trying to control women’s bodies are really beginning to piss me off.

[Feminism] means that you believe in the equality of the sexes in every way.

A woman who is convinced that she deserves to accept only the best challenges herself to give the best. Then she is living phenomenally.

I’m definitely a feminist. I’m f*cking disgusted by the way women are still treated.