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These 7 Quotes From Forbes Most Powerful Women Summit Are Ultra Inspiring

This week, Fortune magazine held its 15th annual Most Powerful Women Summit. The conference attracted more than 450 female professionals and featured speakers such as former U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe, Instagram COO Emily White, BlogHer co-founder Lisa Stone, 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl, Physique 57 co-founder Tanya Becker and (of course) Arianna Huffington and Sheryl Sandberg. In between moments of silliness — Warren Buffet accompanying Glenn Close on ukulele, anyone? — these women offered serious advice on leaning in (or not), following your passions, fighting sexism in business and finding that elusive 'work/life balance.'

by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

This week, Fortune magazine held its 15th annual Most Powerful Women Summit. The conference attracted more than 450 female professionals and featured speakers such as former U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe, Instagram COO Emily White, BlogHer co-founder Lisa Stone, 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl, Physique 57 co-founder Tanya Becker and (of course) Arianna Huffington and Sheryl Sandberg. In between moments of silliness — Warren Buffet accompanying Glenn Close on ukulele, anyone? — these women offered serious advice on leaning in (or not), following your passions, fighting sexism in business and finding that elusive 'work/life balance.'

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Anne-Marie Slaughter, New America Foundation CEO

"I see much less of an ambition gap and much more of a workplace and society that isn't allowing us to use the talent that is multiplied well beyond this room ... There are millions of women out there who ... need more than, 'Honey, you can do it if you try hard enough.'"

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Ursula Burns, Xerox Chairman and CEO

"This concept of having it all ... that's not the point. The point is pick the places that you want to be great, and that you want to focus your energy on, and then do that — understanding that you're not gonna be great at everything. And then relax. It's amazing how much stress and insanity we put on ourselves ... (Don't) be a slacker, but also don't be insane about accomplishments."

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Ginni Rometty, IBM Chairman and CEO

"The most important thing for any of us to be in our jobs is curious."

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Olympia Snowe, former Maine Senator

"I believe in getting in front of the train, not being run over by it."

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Martina Navratilova, retired tennis player

"No matter how good you are, you can't be your own coach. You just can't see your faults."

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Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO

"We need to start asking men 'How do you do it all? How do you be a father and employer? And we need to recognize that we have all these messages that explicitly discourage leadership in girls ... That's what 'Lean In' is trying to change."

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Elena Kagan, Supreme Court Justice

"Learn from your errors and know that you're not going to be perfect, but you can get better."

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