"Women are like teabags. We don't know our true strength until we are in hot water!"
About this Quote
The line’s intent is motivational, but its subtext is political. Strength isn’t framed as an innate trophy women carry around for applause; it’s situational, revealed under stress, often because stress is what women are handed. That’s a sly indictment of a system that keeps “testing” women while denying them credit for passing. Coming from a First Lady who refused to remain ornamental - who held press conferences, wrote a daily column, pushed civil rights, and helped shape the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - it reads as self-portrait and recruitment poster. She’s telling women: the ordeal you didn’t choose can still become leverage.
There’s also a carefully chosen accessibility here. The joke is clean, quotable, friendly. It doesn’t threaten; it disarms. In an era when “ambitious woman” could sound like a scandal, Roosevelt uses wit as a Trojan horse: a warm cup of tea carrying a message about power.
Quote Details
| Topic | Resilience |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Roosevelt, Eleanor. (2026, January 18). Women are like teabags. We don't know our true strength until we are in hot water! FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/women-are-like-teabags-we-dont-know-our-true-19295/
Chicago Style
Roosevelt, Eleanor. "Women are like teabags. We don't know our true strength until we are in hot water!" FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/women-are-like-teabags-we-dont-know-our-true-19295/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Women are like teabags. We don't know our true strength until we are in hot water!" FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/women-are-like-teabags-we-dont-know-our-true-19295/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.







