26 Quotes by Audre Lorde
Audre Lorde is a self-described "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet" who wrote extensively about social issues such as racism, sexism, and homophobia. Her work often focused on the experiences of marginalized groups and she was known for her powerful and insightful poetry. Lorde was also a vocal activist and worked to raise awareness of social injustices through her writing and public speaking. She was a key figure in the black feminist movement and her contributions continue to inspire and inform social justice movements today. (Bio)
Audre Lorde Quotes
There are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt.There are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt. (Meaning)
It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences. (Meaning)
There is no thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.
Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.
I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.
Some problems we share as women, some we do not. You [white women] fear your children will grow up to join the patriarchy and testify against you; we fear our children will be dragged from a car and shot down in the street, and you will turn your backs on the reasons they are dying.
Tomorrow belongs to those of us who conceive of it as belonging to everyone; who lend the best of ourselves to it, and with joy.
If I cannot air this pain and alter it, I will surely die of it. That's the beginning of social protest.
Divide and conquer must become define and empower.
Institutionalized rejection of difference is an absolute necessity in a profit economy which needs outsiders as surplus people.
Oppression is as American as apple pie.
To face the realities of our lives is not a reason for despair-despair is a tool of your enemies. Facing the realities of our lives gives us motivation for action. For you are not powerless... You know why the hard questions must be asked. It is not altruism, it is self-preservation-survival.
Once we recognize what it is we are feeling, once we recognize we can feel deeply, love deeply, can feel joy, then we will demand that all parts of our lives produce that kind of joy.
Whenever a conscious Black woman raises her voice on issues central to her existence, somebody is going to call her strident, because they don't want to hear about it, nor us. I refuse to be silenced and I refuse to be trivialized, even if I do not say what I have to say perfectly.
The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house.
Revolution is not a one time event.
Without community, there is no liberation.
You are the one that you are looking for.
Nothing I accept about myself can be used against me to diminish me.
We are all in the process of becoming.
Well, I do not want to be tolerated, nor misnamed. I want to be recognized.
Each time you love, love as deeply as if it were forever.
The transformation of silence into language and action is an act of self-revelation.
Anger is loaded with information and energy.
Even the smallest victory is never to be taken for granted. Each victory must be applauded.
My fear of anger taught me nothing.
― Audre Lorde Quotes
Chief Editor
Tal Gur is an author, founder, and impact-driven entrepreneur at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 major life goals around the globe. His journey and most recent book, The Art of Fully Living, has led him to found Elevate Society.
