Audre Lorde Quotes
Audre Lorde was an American Black feminist philosopher, poet, and essayist whose work shaped contemporary thinking on race, gender, sexuality, and difference. Sister Outsider and the autobiographical Zami: A New Spelling of My Name developed her insistence that difference is not the obstacle to but the precondition of liberation, and that the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. The quotes below are attributed to Audre Lorde, organized by topic.
Audre Lorde on Freedom
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Attributed to Audre Lorde:
“Your silence will not protect you.”
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“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.”
The Uses of Anger : Women Responding to Racism (1981)
Audre Lorde on Knowledge
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“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”
The Cancer Journals (1980) -
“The Cancer Journals (1980)”
When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid. -
“The Uses of Anger : Women Responding to Racism (1981)”
I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own. -
“When I speak of the erotic , then I speak of it as an assertion of the life force of women; of that creative energy empowered, the knowledge and use of which we are now reclaiming in our language, our history, our dancing, our loving, our work, our lives.”
As quoted in Meditations for Women Who Do Too Much (1990) by Anne Wilson Schaef, entry for June 26: "Living Life Fully -
“Feminism must be on the cutting edge of real social change if it is to survive as a movement in any particular country.”
A Burst of Light (1988), cited in Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks -
“A Burst of Light (1988), cited in Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks”
Feminism must be on the cutting edge of real social change if it is to survive as a movement in any particular country.
Audre Lorde on Life
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“As quoted in Meditations for Women Who Do Too Much (1990) by Anne Wilson Schaef, entry for June 26: "Living Life Fully”
When I speak of the erotic , then I speak of it as an assertion of the life force of women; of that creative energy empowered, the knowledge and use of which we are now reclaiming in our language, our history, our dancing, our loving, our work, our lives. -
“Lorde, Audre (1988). "A Burst of Light : Living with Cancer". A burst of light : essays . Firebrand Books. p. 125. ISBN 0932379400 .”
Overextending myself is not stretching myself. I had to accept how difficult it is to monitor the difference. Necessary for me as cutting down on sugar. Crucial. Physically. Psychically. Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.
Audre Lorde on Love
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Attributed to Audre Lorde:
“The erotic is a measure between the beginnings of our sense of self and the chaos of our strongest feelings.”
Audre Lorde on Politics
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Attributed to Audre Lorde:
“The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house.”
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Attributed to Audre Lorde:
“It is not our differences that divide us; it is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate them.”
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“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence; it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
Lorde, Audre (1988). "A Burst of Light : Living with Cancer". A burst of light : essays . Firebrand Books. p. 125. ISBN 0932379400 .
Audre Lorde on Time
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“Each time you love , love as deeply as if it were forever / Only, nothing is eternal.”
Undersong