15 Ani DiFranco Quotes For When Your Self-Esteem Needs SERIOUS Love

The first time I ever heard Ani DiFranco sing I was a lot like every other person who "just discovered" the singer and poet. 

I was 14 and I was a mess.

I didn’t know where I fit in, and even when I was smiling I was pretty sure that no one understood the little demons taking refuge in my brain and heart. 

Then came Ani, with her ferocity on the guitar and her refusal to be nice in her songs and her tremendous capacity for joy. 

Ani DiFranco taught a very little version of myself that being a feminist didn’t mean holding up a peace sign and chirping girl-power. 

Ani taught me that feminism meant living in your own truth, good, bad, ugly, and in between. 

When Ani fell in love, she fell in love hard and she sang about that love hard. 

When Ani was pissed at herself, she sang that hard, too.

When Ani saw an injustice she pointed it out and directed it to the world at large in the form of a song explosion. 

Ani didn’t try to be a famous singer, she tried to be a happy person, and that was a struggle I could relate to.

It’s still a struggle I relate to.

Last weekend I saw her in concert for the first time since I was fourteen. 

She bounded onto the stage and said, “Tonight my act of defiance is singing songs,” and she did, and it was beautiful. 

I cried easily eight times. Well, maybe just three, but still. 

Ani has continued to grow and so have I. 

She is still now (and always will be) the poet I turn to when my heart and soul have taken a beating.

When my self-esteem has tanked, it’s Ani who can lift me back up.

On the particularly bad days, when there’s no hope for my self-esteem, Ani is the one who makes me see that this too is fine. 

If I could I’d make you a mix tape, but because this is the internet, I’ll settle for sharing some of my favorite inspirational Ani DiFranco quotes. 

I hope they serve as a self-esteem balm for you, the way they always have for me. 

If you're searching for the best quotes and memes to share with the people you love (or just want to feel inspired yourself) ... look no further! From the sweetest love quotes, inspirational sayings, and hilarious friendship truths, we've got you covered. 

1.Nothing is more important than being true to who you really are.

"I'd rather be able to face myself in the bathroom mirror than be rich and famous."

2.There will always be women out there ready to support you.

"I have something to prove, as long as I know there's something that needs improvement, and you know that every time I move, I make a woman's movement."

3.Never forget to look for beauty in the unexpected.

"Sometimes the beauty is easy. Sometimes you don't have to try at all. Sometimes you can hear the wind blow in a handshake. Sometimes there's poetry written right on the bathroom wall."

4.Life isn't just a juggling act, it's about finding the right balance to keep you happy.

"You can't start with imbalance and end with peace, be that in your own body, in an ecosystem or between a government and its people. What we need to strive for is not perfection, but balance."

5.The fact that you exist at all makes you a person of tremendous worth.

"Someone's got to be interested in how I feel, just because I'm here and I'm real."

6.Don't let your own fear keep you from making a real difference.

"We have to be able to criticise what we love, to say what we have to say 'cause if your not trying to make something better, than as far as I can tell, you are just in the way."

7.Our entire world is supported by the friends we make along the way.

"Strangers are exciting, their mystery never ends. But, there's nothing like looking at your own history in the faces of your friends."

8.Choose your words, like your weapons, ever so carefully.

"Any tool is a weapon if you hold it right."

9.Don't doubt that you contain the strength to be the best version of yourself imaginable.

"My idea of feminism is self-determination, and it's very open-ended: every woman has the right to become herself, and do whatever she needs to do."

10.Sometimes when the going get's tough, you've just got to suck it up and DEAL.

"Maybe you don't like your job, maybe you didn't get enough sleep, well nobody likes their job, nobody got enough sleep. Maybe you just had the worst day of your life, but you know, there's no escape, there's no excuse, so just suck up and be nice."

11.No one can tear you down, because you are totally indomitable!

"If I'm gonna go down I'm gonna do it with style. You won't hear me surrender, you won't hear me confess cause you've left me with nothing but I have worked with less."

12.Actions will always mean more than words, so don't forget their power.

"There isn't much I have to say, that I wouldn't rather just shut up and do."

13.The happiness you find in your personal life is the first step towards making real change.

"The stronger I am in my personal life, the more energy I have to look outward, to address my society."

14.Let the joy that wells up inside you power the good you do in the world.

"I do it for the joy it brings, cause I'm a joyful girl. 'Cause the world owes us nothing, we owe each other the world."

15.Surviving is just one of the great things you're capable of doing.

"I don't care if they eat me alive, I've got better things to do then survive."