75+ Best Sheryl Sandberg Quotes: Exclusive Selection

Sheryl Kara Sandberg is the chief operating officer of Facebook, the founder of LeanIn.Org, and a philanthropist. In June 2012, she was elected to Facebook’s board of directors, becoming the first woman to serve on its board. Profoundly inspirational Sheryl Sandberg quotes will encourage you to think a little deeper than you usually would and broaden your perspective.

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Famous Sheryl Sandberg Quotes

We need women at all levels, including the top, to change the dynamic, reshape the conversation, to make sure women’s voices are heard and heeded, not overlooked and ignored. Sheryl Sandberg

What would you do if you weren’t afraid? Sheryl Sandberg

You can date whoever you want, but you should marry the nerds and the good guys. Sheryl Sandberg

Done is better than perfect. Sheryl Sandberg

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

When looking for a life partner, my advice to women is date all of them the bad boys, the cool boys, the commitment phobic boys, the crazy boys. But do not marry them. The things that make the bad boys sexy do not make them good husbands. When it comes time to settle down, find someone who wants an equal partner. Someone who thinks women should be smart, opinionated and ambitious. Someone who values fairness and expects or, even better, wants to do his share in the home. These men exist and, trust me, over time, nothing is sexier. Sheryl Sandberg

If more women are in leadership roles, we’ll stop assuming they shouldn’t be. Sheryl Sandberg

In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders. Sheryl Sandberg

What about the rat race in the first place? Is it worthwhile? Or are you just buying into someone else’s definition of success? Only you can decide that, and you’ll have to decide it over and over and over. But if you think it’s a rat race, before you drop out, take a deep breath. Maybe you picked the wrong job. Try again. And then try again. Sheryl Sandberg

We cannot change what we are not aware of, and once we are aware, we cannot help but change. Sheryl Sandberg

It’s easy to dislike the few senior women out there. What if women were half the positions in power? It would be harder to dislike all of them. Sheryl Sandberg

Careers are a jungle gym, not a ladder. Sheryl Sandberg

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

Women need to shift from thinking I’m not ready to do that to thinking I want to do that and I’ll learn by doing it. Sheryl Sandberg

Until women are as ambitious as men, they’re not gong to achieve as much as men. Sheryl Sandberg

There is no perfect fit when you’re looking for the next big thing to do. You have to take opportunities and make an opportunity fit for you, rather than the other way around. The ability to learn is the most important quality a leader can have. Sheryl Sandberg

People who are underprivileged have more to grieve and have more to overcome. Sheryl Sandberg

There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women. Sheryl Sandberg

It turns out that a husband who does the laundry, it’s very romantic when you’re older. And it’s hard to believe when you’re younger. But it’s absolutely true. Sheryl Sandberg

Fortune does favor the bold and you’ll never know what you’re capable of if you don’t try. Sheryl Sandberg

I think there are things that we can all do to build resilience in ourselves, but also to build resilience in each other. Sheryl Sandberg

If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat! Just get on. Sheryl Sandberg

My grandfather had a paint store. It’s what put my mom through college. Small business is part of my family history. Sheryl Sandberg

I hope you find true meaning, contentment, and passion in your life. I hope you navigate the difficult times and come out with greater strength and resolve. I hope you find whatever balance you seek with your eyes wide open. And I hope that you yes, you have the ambition to lean in to your career and run the world. Because the world needs you to change it. Sheryl Sandberg

Over the last 10 years, women have stalled out at the top. Sheryl Sandberg

But the upside of painful knowledge is so much greater than the downside of blissful ignorance. Sheryl Sandberg

I would be better at my job if I were technical. Sheryl Sandberg

Success and likeability are positively correlated for men and negatively for women. When a man is successful, he is liked by both men and women. When a woman is successful, people of both genders like her less. Sheryl Sandberg

Women are not making it to the top. A hundred and ninety heads of state; nine are women. Of all the people in parliament in the world, thirteen per cent are women. In the corporate sector, women at the top C level jobs, board seats tops out at fifteen, sixteen per cent. Sheryl Sandberg

Motivation comes from working on things we care about. It also comes from working with people we care about. Sheryl Sandberg

Most people assume that women are responsible for households and child care. Most couples operate that way not all. That fundamental assumption holds women back. Sheryl Sandberg

She explained that many people, but especially women, feel fraudulent when they are praised for their accomplishments. Instead of feeling worthy of recognition, they feel undeserving and guilty, as if a mistake has been made. Despite being high achievers, even experts in their fields, women can’t seem to shake the sense that it is only a matter of time until they are found out for who they really are  impostors with limited skills or abilities. Sheryl Sandberg

I have a five year old son and a three year old daughter. I want my son to have a choice to contribute fully in the workforce or at home. And I want my daughter to have the choice to not just succeed, but to be liked for her accomplishments. Sheryl Sandberg

Being confident and believing in your own self worth is necessary to achieving your potential. Sheryl Sandberg

And what I saw happening is that women don’t make one decision to leave the workforce. They makes lots of little decisions really far in advance that kind of inevitably lead them there. Sheryl Sandberg

When woman work outside the home and share breadwinning duties, couples are more likely to stay together. In fact, the risk of divorce reduces by about half when a wife earns half the income and a husband does half the housework. Sheryl Sandberg

What works for men does not always work for women, because success and likability are positively correlated for men and negatively correlated for women. That’s what the research shows. As a man gets more successful, everyone is rooting for him. As a woman gets more successful, both men and women like her less. Sheryl Sandberg

I realized that searching for a mentor has become the professional equivalent of waiting for Prince Charming. We all grew up on the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, which instructs young women that if they just wait for their prince to arrive, they will be kissed and whisked away on a white horse to live happily ever after. Now young women are told that if they can just find the right mentor, they will be pushed up the ladder and whisked away to the corner office to live happily ever after. Once again, we are teaching women to be too dependent on others. Sheryl Sandberg

My hope in writing Lean In Women, Work, and the Will to Lead was to change the conversation from what women can’t do to what we can. Sheryl Sandberg

Each one of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done. Sheryl Sandberg

It is the ultimate luxury to combine passion and contribution. It’s also a very clear path to happiness. Sheryl Sandberg

A truly equal world would be one where women ran half our countries and companies and men ran half our homes. Sheryl Sandberg

I think we build resilience to prepare for whatever adversity we’ll face. And we all face some adversity we’re all living some form of Option B. Sheryl Sandberg

Let me fall if I must fall. The one I become will catch me. Slowly Sheryl Sandberg

We can each define ambition and progress for ourselves. The goal is to work toward a world where expectations are not set by the stereotypes that hold us back, but by our personal passion, talents and interests. Sheryl Sandberg

Social gains are never handed out. They must be seized. Sheryl Sandberg

There are so many kids in this country growing up in poverty, facing very, very hard challenges. We need resilience for all of them. Sheryl Sandberg

The reason I don’t have a plan is because if I have a plan I’m limited to today’s options. Sheryl Sandberg

I spent most of my career in business not saying the word woman. Because if you say the word woman in a business context, and often in a political context, the person on the other side of the table thinks you’re about to sue them or ask for special treatment, right? Sheryl Sandberg

Real change will come when powerful women are less of an exception. It is easy to dislike senior women because there are so few. Sheryl Sandberg

For any of us in this room today, let’s start out by admitting we’re lucky. We don’t live in the world our mothers lived in, our grandmothers lived in, where career choices for women were so limited. Sheryl Sandberg

The gender stereotypes introduced in childhood are reinforced throughout our lives and become self fulfilling prophesies. Most leadership positions are held by men, so women don’t expect to achieve them, and that becomes one of the reasons they don’t. Sheryl Sandberg

It’s more pressure on women to if they marry or partner with someone, to partner with the right person. Because you cannot have a full career and a full life at home with your children if you are also doing all of the housework and child care. Sheryl Sandberg

So please ask yourself What would I do if I weren’t afraid? And then go do it. Sheryl Sandberg

I would love to meet J.K. Rowling and tell her how much I admire her writing and am amazed by her imagination. I read every Harry Potter book as it came out and looked forward to each new one. I am rereading them now with my kids and enjoying them every bit as much. She made me look at jelly beans in a whole new way. Sheryl Sandberg

Aggressive and hard charging women violate unwritten rules about acceptable social conduct. Men are continually applauded for being ambitious and powerful and successful, but women who display these same traits often pay a social penalty. Female accomplishments come at a cost. Sheryl Sandberg

Turning feelings into words can help us process and overcome adversity. Sheryl Sandberg

Our culture needs to find a robust image of female success that is first, not male, and second, not a white woman on the phone, holding a crying baby. Sheryl Sandberg

We need to build resilience together, rooted in religion, rooted in schools, rooted in our health care institutions. Sheryl Sandberg

The promise of equality is not the same as true equality. Sheryl Sandberg

I think when tragedy occurs, it presents a choice. You can give in to the void the emptiness that fills your heart, your lungs, constricts your ability to think or even breathe. Or you can try to find meaning. Sheryl Sandberg

As we get older, we define happiness less in terms of excitement and more in terms of peacefulness. Reverend Veronica Goines sums this up as, Peace is joy at rest, and joy is peace on its feet. Sheryl Sandberg

I really think we need more women to lean into their careers and to be really dedicated to staying in the work force. Sheryl Sandberg

And in situations where a man and a woman each receive negative feedback, the woman’s self confidence and self esteem drop to a much greater degree. The internalization of failure and the insecurity it breeds hurt future performance, so this pattern has serious long term consequences. Sheryl Sandberg

When you’re more valuable, the people around you will do more to make it work. Sheryl Sandberg

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. Sheryl Sandberg

I want to tell any young girl out there who’s a geek, I was a really serious geek in high school. It works out. Study harder. Sheryl Sandberg

Every job will demand some sacrifice. The key is to avoid unnecessary sacrifice. Sheryl Sandberg

What I tell everyone, and I really do for myself is, I have a long run dream, which is I want to work on stuff that I think matters. Sheryl Sandberg

But knowing that things could be worse should not stop us from trying to make them better. When the suffragettes marched in the streets, they envisioned a century later, men and women would be truly equal. A century later, we are still squinting, trying to bring that vision into focus. Sheryl Sandberg

In fact, my New Year’s resolution every year, and I’m Jewish so I get two New Years a year, is to meditate, and I fail every time. Sheryl Sandberg

Resilience comes from deep within us and from support outside us. It comes from gratitude for what’s good in our lives and from leaning in to the suck. It comes from analyzing how we process grief and from simply accepting that grief. Sometimes we have less control than we think. Other times we have more. I learned that when life pulls you under, you can kick against the bottom, break the surface, and breathe again. Sheryl Sandberg

Success, for me, is that if my son chooses to be a stay at home parent, he is cheered on for that decision. And if my daughter chooses to work outside the home and is successful, she’s cheered on and supported. Sheryl Sandberg