Maureen Chiquet Quotes

Even before I went to the UN, I often would want to say something in a meeting - only woman at the table - and I'd think, 'OK well, I don't think I'll say that. It may sound stupid.' And then some man says it, and everybody thinks it's completely brilliant, and you are so mad at yourself for not saying something.

Women in politics are too prone to say “I’m not ready yet.” Most men say “I’ll do it. I’ll do it.”

To say you want to be a director is to risk sounding obnoxious, pretentious, arrogant, and I think women are more fearful of sounding that way than men are.

Women don't take enough risks. Men are just 'foot on the gas pedal.' We're not going to close the achievement gap until we close the ambition gap.

Almost without exception, the talented women I have known have believed they had less ability than they actually had. And almost without exception, the talented men I have known believed they had more.

As women, we feel we can't ask for things. There's been a lot of research done recently and, more often than not, if a woman goes in to ask for a raise, she'll get it. But she's thinking, 'Do I deserve it? I've got to give a list of why I deserve it.' Whereas a man will just go in and ask for a raise. It's so scary.

Female inferiority is internalised by us. Women need a lot more confidence.

I had a great deal of confidence when I graduated from Berkeley. I had almost none when I was at Princeton. After a while, when people tell you you can't do something because you're a woman, you begin to believe maybe they're right.

There was one time I wrestled two boys and I beat them both! They weighed a lot less than I did and I think they didn't want to hurt a girl, so I don't know if I really won - I'd like to think I did.

Confidence in a bloke would be arrogance in a woman. For years, I didn't give interviews because I was scared of people judging me or thinking I was arrogant.

Some men think that if you're empowered and sure of yourself then you're a man-hater, but it's like, 'No, I'm just the same as you are, but maybe just a tiny bit more confident.'

I think today women are very scared to celebrate themselves, because then they just get labeled.

When women apply for a job, we ask ourselves, 'Am I qualified? Do I have the experience? Do I have the education? Do I have the abilities?' When a man looks at that job, he thinks, 'How much does it pay?' We need to stop second-guessing our abilities. We need to stand up and make ourselves heard.

The men couldn't understand how I could be so successful and so insecure at the same time - because it doesn't really exist in the same way in the male psyche.

If women dabble in rap but they're not rappers, to get from dabbling to doing it is really difficult, confidence-wise.

In general, the threshold for a woman becoming worried at how she's coming off in terms of asserting her power, that threshold is continually lower than it is for men.

Doubt is what I see with a lot of women, we doubt ourselves. Whether it's because we think we're too fat or ugly or not smart enough, our gender puts ourselves down. But we need to own exactly who we are.

Guys are more apt to test me than they are to test a Charles Barkley. I think I have to go out and prove myself all the time, and that's fine, because I've had to prove myself my whole life.

I truly believe there is this confidence gap, at least for me. You have to 'manipulate' yourself to get over it, and I do think it has something to do with being a female. If you live in fear or doubt and have that confidence gap, you are simply not going to achieve your full potential and what you know you can achieve.

I think that women are often underestimated - our suggestions, our advice, our leadership style. I think one of the reasons that that happens is women are much less likely to blow their own horn and brag about everything that they've done.

Women get labeled 'bossy' when it's like, 'Maybe I'm a leader. Maybe I just know what I want.'

Why do girls always feel like they have to apologize for giving an opinion or taking up space in the world? Have you ever noticed that?" Nicole asked. "You go on websites and some girl leaves a post and if it's longer than three sentences or she's expressing her thoughts about some topic, she usually ends with, 'Sorry for the rant' or 'That may be dumb, but that's what I think.

I have been envious of male characteristics, if not the men themselves. I'm jealous of the ease with which they seem to inhabit their professional pursuits: the lack of apologizing, of bending over backward to make sure the people around them are comfortable with what they're trying to do. The fact that they are so often free of the people-pleasing instincts I have considered to be a curse of my female existence.

I think that there's a tendency for actors who play strong women to have them take on all the worst characteristics of men, to become cold and detached and hardened.

I'm not saying that women leaders would eliminate violence. We are not more moral than men; we are only uncorrupted by power so far. When we do acquire power, we might turn out to have an equal impulse toward aggression.