Flying for independence

Happy July 4th! I thought I would share some words from a baker's dozen of forward thinking independent woman who have flown before us. Some are still flying. Others are not. They are listed in no particular order. May we keep up the good fight!

Susan B. Anthony: I have encountered riotous mobs and have been hung in effigy, but my motto is: Men's rights are nothing more. Women's rights are nothing less.

Rosa Parks: It was not pre-arranged. It just happened that the driver made and demand and I just didn't feel like obeying his demand . . . I was quite tired after spending a full day working.

Eleanor Rssoevelt: Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.

Wilma Rudolph: Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.

Ida B. Wells: Brave men do not gather by thousands to torture and murder a single individual, so gagged and bound he cannot make even feeble resistance or defense.

Benazir Bhutto: We are prepared to risk our lives. We’re prepared to risk our liberty. But we’re not prepared to surrender this great nation to militants. The attack was on what I represent. The attack was on democracy and very unity and integrity of Pakistan.

Marva Collins: Trust yourself. Think for yourself. Act for yourself. Speak for yourself. Be yourself. Imitation is suicide.

Michelle Bachelet: Who would have thought 20, 10, five years ago, that Chile would elect a woman president? ... Thank you for inviting me to lead this voyage.

Corazon Aquino: Faith is not simply a patience that passively suffers until the storm is past. Rather, it is a spirit that bears things - with resignations, yes, but above all, with blazing, serene hope.

Margaret Thatcher: Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and importance, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.

Christine Todd Whitman: It's pretty hard to say no when a vice president-elect and a president-elect ask you to be part of the national team.

Shirley Chisholm: You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.

Ayn Rand: Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence, is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the proof and the result of your loyalty to the achievement of your values.