Bossy Quotes

• I just love bossy women. I could be around them all day. To me, bossy is not a pejorative term at all. It means somebody's passionate and engaged and ambitious and doesn't mind leading.

  Amy Poehler

  Strong Women, Badass, Powerful

  "Amy Poehler Tells Katie Couric, "I Just Love Bossy Women!"". Interview with Katie Couric, www.glamour.com. March 28, 2011.

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• Am I bossy? Absolutely. I don't like to lose, and if I'm told 'no', then I find another way to get my 'yes.'

  Naomi Campbell

  Way, Ifs, Loses

  "Naomi Campbell: 'Everyone has a temper" by Jess Cartner-Morley, www.theguardian.com. September 7, 2013.

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• I am not bossy, I am the boss.

  Beyonce Knowles

  Empowering, Boss, Kick Ass

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• Girls are twice as likely as boys to avoid leadership roles for fear of being deemed 'bossy' by their peers.

  Anna Maria Chavez

  Girl, Boys, Roles

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• No, you're not allowed to be bossy when you're married. You have to learn compromise, and compassion and patience.

  Star Jones

  Patience, Compassion, Married

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• I mean, on the television, I've got to continue to be Star Jones Reynolds. And I enjoy that. But in my real life, I'm a wife now. You can't really be bossy when you're married.

  Star Jones

  Stars, Real, Mean

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• In your standard-issue family, of which few remain, but on which our expectations are still based, there are parents and there are children. The way you know which are which, aside from certain size and age differences and despite any behavior similarities, is that the parents are the bossy ones.

  Delia Ephron

  Nature, Children, Age Difference

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• Keeping a feminine approach is vital - men hate bossy females.

  Ida Lupino

  Hate, Men, Female

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• Despite popular opinion, there are no important parallels between Madonna and Monroe, who was a virtuoso comedienne but who was in secure, depressive, passive-aggressive, and infuriatingly obstructionist in her career habits. Madonna is manic, perfectionist, workaholic. Monroe abused alcohol and drugs, while Madonna shuns them. Monroe had a tentative, melting, dreamy solipsism; Madonna has Judy Holliday's wisecracking smart mouth and Joan Crawford's steel will and bossy, circus master managerial competence.

  Camille Paglia

  Depression, Smart, Careers

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• I'm not bossy - I just happen to be more capable than most everyone else.

  Shannon Hale

  Happens, Capable

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• Never underestimate the power of a bossy woman.

  Karen Hawkins

  Underestimate, Never Underestimate

  Karen Hawkins (2011). “Scandal in Scotland”, p.97, Simon and Schuster

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• My older sister is bossy, my brother is a stirrer and me - well, I am perfect!

  Jenny Eclair

  Brother, Perfect, Big Sister

  "My family values". Interview with Jo Mears, www.theguardian.com. August 28, 2009.

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• To forgive the incessant provocations of daily life - to keep on forgiving the bossy mother-in-law, the bullying husband, the nagging wife, the selfish daughter, the deceitful son - how can we do it? Only, I think, by remembering where we stand, by meaning our words when we say in our prayers each night, “Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We are offered forgiveness on no other terms. To refuse it is to refuse God’s mercy for ourselves. There is no hint of exceptions and God means what he says.

  C. S. Lewis

  Daughter, Mother, Bullying

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• I would hate people to think bossy is all I can do.

  Judi Dench

  Hate, Thinking, People

  "Judi Dench: 'I never want to stop working'". Interview with Tim Adams, www.theguardian.com. October 13, 2012.

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• Women have made tons of progress. But we still have a small percentage of the top jobs in any industry, in any nation in the world. I think that's partly because from a very young age, we encourage our boys to lead and we call our girls bossy.

  Sheryl Sandberg

  Girl, Jobs, Boys

  "Sheryl Sandberg Tells Oprah About Her ‘Date’ With Mark Zuckerberg, Her Marriage And Feeling Like A Fraud". Interview with Oprah Winfrey, www.huffingtonpost.com. June 6, 2013.

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• I want girls to feel that they can be sassy and full and weird and geeky and smart and independent, and not so withered and shriveled. (The American Apparel ads) I'm over this weird, exhausted girl. I'm over the girl that's tired and freezing and hungry. I like bossy girls. I like people filled with life. I'm over this weird media thing with all this, like, hollow-eyed, empty, party crap.

  Amy Poehler

  Girl, Smart, Party

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• In real life, I tend to yell at people a lot. Not because I'm bossy or mean, but because I'm frustrated.

  Jen Lancaster

  Real, Mean, People

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• I'll be bossy and damn proud! Banning words, please. Try banning the system that produces polices that promote inequity.

  Rosa Clemente

  Trying, Proud, Produce

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• I'm going to try really hard not to be bossy, but I've only done stand-up comedy and then my own show where you're the total boss of everything!

  Rosie O'Donnell

  Boss, Trying, Done

  "Lunch Date: Rosie O'Donnell". Interview with Carole Radziwill, www.glamour.com. August 30, 2006.

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• There are a lot of people who want to give orders and be bossy that don't deserve respect.

  John Trudell

  Order, People, Giving

  "Still confronting: Interview with John Trudell - Theory of the planted operative". Interview with Jose Barreiro, newsmaven.io. September 13, 2006.

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• Let's just say that where a change was required, I adjusted. In every relationship that exists, people have to seek a way to survive. If you really care about the person, you do what's necessary, or that's the end. For the first time, I found that I really could change, and the qualities I most admired in myself I gave up. I stopped being loud and bossy... Oh, all right. I was still loud and bossy, but only behind his back.

  Katharine Hepburn

  People, Quality, Care

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• We call our little girls bossy. Go to a playground; little girls get called bossy all the time - a word that's almost never used for boys - and that leads directly to the problems women face in the workforce.

  Sheryl Sandberg

  Girl, Boys, Littles

  "'Lean In': Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg Explains What's Holding Women Back". Interview with Renee Montagne, www.npr.org. March 11, 2013.

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• I'm completely in charge of my own life now. Sometimes there's no one there to slap me on the hand and say: 'Stop being so bullish and bossy,' and things like that.

  Kiri Te Kanawa

  Hands, Sometimes, Slap

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• My, aren't we bossy today. Give a girl an army and it goes straight to her head.

  Julie Kagawa

  Girl, Army, Giving

  Julie Kagawa (2011). “The Iron Queen”, p.280, Harlequin

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• A bossy woman is someone to search out and celebrate. A bossy woman is someone who cares and commits and is a natural leader.

  Amy Poehler

  Leader, Who Cares, Natural

  Amy Poehler (2014). “Yes Please”, p.237, Pan Macmillan

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