There's nothing women can't do. There's absolutely nothing we

Hear the triumphant voice of Betty Williams, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and warrior for justice, who proclaimed: “There's nothing women can't do. There's absolutely nothing we can't do. We're far stronger in a lot of ways than men. Way, way stronger than men. And that's my message to any woman I meet – that includes you – there's nothing you can't do, and you know that.” These words blaze like fire in the cold halls of doubt, igniting the spirits of women everywhere. They are not spoken with hesitation or apology, but with certainty born of struggle, with courage proven in the crucible of conflict.

The origin of these words lies in Williams’s own life, a woman who rose out of ordinary circumstances to confront extraordinary violence. In the 1970s, when Northern Ireland was torn apart by sectarian conflict, she watched as violence claimed the lives of children in her community. Instead of despair, she found resolve. Together with Mairead Corrigan, she founded the Community of Peace People, rallying thousands of women into the streets, demanding an end to the bloodshed. Her conviction—that women are stronger in ways unseen—was not theory, but lived truth. For in the face of brutality, it was women who stepped forward to shield the innocent, to organize for peace, to insist that cycles of vengeance must end.

Consider, O listener, the countless examples in history where women’s strength has overturned despair. When nations burned in war, it was women who held families together, who tilled the fields, who nursed the wounded, and who rebuilt from ashes. When tyrants tried to silence voices, it was often women who became the fiercest heralds of truth—Sojourner Truth defying slavery, Rosa Parks sparking the fire of civil rights, Malala Yousafzai lifting the banner of education even after bullets sought to silence her. Again and again, the strength of women has proven itself greater than the strength of arms.

Williams’s words strike also at the heart of a falsehood long told: that women are weaker, less capable, bound to smaller roles. She turned this lie upside down, declaring boldly that women are not only equal but often far stronger—not always in brute force, but in endurance, resilience, vision, and compassion. Strength is not merely the lifting of weights or the wielding of weapons; true strength is the ability to stand in the storm, to suffer without surrender, to fight for peace when hatred seems unbreakable. By this measure, women have always been mighty.

Her message is also deeply personal: “That includes you.” She did not speak only to crowds, but to each individual woman, face to face. In her eyes, empowerment was not a distant abstraction but a living transmission of courage from one soul to another. She wanted every woman she met to feel the truth that she had lived—that there is no barrier too high, no struggle too great, no destiny beyond reach. By telling others, “you know that,” she reminded them that strength is already within, waiting to be remembered.

O seeker, the lesson is clear: never let anyone tell you that your worth is less, that your ability is limited, that your strength is diminished. The chains of doubt and tradition are illusions meant to blind you from the truth of your power. Betty Williams calls across time to remind you: there is nothing you cannot do. The world may try to measure your worth by false scales, but your resilience, your vision, your courage—these are the true measures of strength.

And what actions must we take? Begin by believing in your own strength. Speak encouragement into the lives of others, especially those who have forgotten their power. Support women in every field—whether in politics, science, business, or art—so their contributions are seen and honored. Teach the young that greatness is not bound by gender. And when the world grows dark, remember that strength is not only survival, but the refusal to surrender hope.

Thus remember Betty Williams’s fiery declaration: “There’s nothing women can’t do.” Let it be passed down as torchlight to every generation. For when women know their strength, when they rise without fear, the world itself rises with them. And in that rising, no chains can hold, no walls can stand, and no force can extinguish the truth that freedom and greatness belong equally to all.