Authors: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

100 Inspirational Quotes By Audre Lorde, The Author Of Zami

Famous As: American Poet Whose Poems Expressed Anger and Outrage at Civil and Social Injustices
Born On: 1934
Died On: 1992
Born In: Harlem, New York, United States
Founder / Co Founder: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press
Died At Age: 58
Audrey Geraldine Lorde, better known as simply Audre Lorde, was an American civil rights activist, author and feminist of Caribbean descent, who is best known for waging her activism through her poems. She was born in New York in 1934 and following her school education, she went to study at the University of New Mexico, where she developed her ideas as an activist and feminist, who also happened to be lesbian. She was not only a poet but also an essayist and shared her thoughts on the different aspects of social activism in journals which were radical enough to publish them. Eventually she went on to attend Columbia University and earned a post graduate degree in Library Science. She continued to work as a librarian at several institutions but at the same time, she continued to be a prominent civil rights activist and poet. Lorde was an extremely important social activist of her time and continued to be so for the majority of her life. The combination of a political activist and firebrand poet, with great oratory skills is a rare combination and in the process a great many Lorde quotes finds great resonance even today. Here are the selected ones.
Your silence will not protect you.

Your silence will not protect you.

Audre Lorde
If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive.

If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive.

Audre Lorde
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.

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.

Audre Lorde
I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood.

I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood.

Audre Lorde
It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.

It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.

Audre Lorde
Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.

Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.

Audre Lorde
And when we speak we are afraid
our words will not be heard
nor welcomed
but when we are silent
we are still afraid
So it is better to speak
remembering
we were never meant to survive

And when we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard nor welcomed but when we are silent we are still afraid So it is better to speak remembering we were never meant to survive

Audre Lorde
I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.

I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.

Audre Lorde
The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house

The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house

Audre Lorde
Our feelings are our most genuine paths to knowledge.

Our feelings are our most genuine paths to knowledge.

Audre Lorde
Revolution is not a one time event.

Revolution is not a one time event.

Audre Lorde
There is no thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.

There is no thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.

Audre Lorde
Pain is important: how we evade it, how we succumb to it, how we deal with it, how we transcend it.

Pain is important: how we evade it, how we succumb to it, how we deal with it, how we transcend it.

Audre Lorde
But the true feminist deals out of a lesbian consciousness whether or not she ever sleeps with women.

But the true feminist deals out of a lesbian consciousness whether or not she ever sleeps with women.

Audre Lorde
I am my best work - a series of road maps, reports, recipes, doodles, and prayers from the front lines.

I am my best work - a series of road maps, reports, recipes, doodles, and prayers from the front lines.

Audre Lorde
I find I am constantly being encouraged to pluck out some one aspect of myself and present this as the meaningful whole, eclipsing or denying the other parts of self.

I find I am constantly being encouraged to pluck out some one aspect of myself and present this as the meaningful whole, eclipsing or denying the other parts of self.

Audre Lorde
Unless one lives and loves in the trenches, it is difficult to remember that the war against dehumanization is ceaseless.

Unless one lives and loves in the trenches, it is difficult to remember that the war against dehumanization is ceaseless.

Audre Lorde
Without community, there is no liberation.

Without community, there is no liberation.

Audre Lorde
I am deliberate and afraid of nothing.

I am deliberate and afraid of nothing.

Audre Lorde
We have been raised to fear the yes within ourselves, our deepest cravings.

We have been raised to fear the yes within ourselves, our deepest cravings.

Audre Lorde
Sometimes we are blessed with being able to choose
the time, and the arena, and the manner of our revolution,
but more usually
we must do battle where we are standing.

Sometimes we are blessed with being able to choose the time, and the arena, and the manner of our revolution, but more usually we must do battle where we are standing.

Audre Lorde
The erotic is a measure between the beginnings of our sense of self and the chaos of our strongest feelings.

The erotic is a measure between the beginnings of our sense of self and the chaos of our strongest feelings.

Audre Lorde
The learning process is something you can incite, literally incite, like a riot.

The learning process is something you can incite, literally incite, like a riot.

Audre Lorde
Some women wait for themselves around the next corner and call the empty spot peace but the opposite of living is only not living and the stars do not care.

Some women wait for themselves around the next corner and call the empty spot peace but the opposite of living is only not living and the stars do not care.

Audre Lorde
Poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought.

Poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought.

Audre Lorde
...and that visibility which makes us most vulnerable is that which also is the source of our greatest strength.

...and that visibility which makes us most vulnerable is that which also is the source of our greatest strength.

Audre Lorde
I realize that if I wait until I am no longer afraid to act, write, speak, be, I'll be sending messages on a Ouija board, cryptic complaints from the other side

I realize that if I wait until I am no longer afraid to act, write, speak, be, I'll be sending messages on a Ouija board, cryptic complaints from the other side

Audre Lorde
Institutionalized rejection of difference is an absolute necessity in a profit economy which needs outsiders as surplus people.

Institutionalized rejection of difference is an absolute necessity in a profit economy which needs outsiders as surplus people.

Audre Lorde
...oppression is as American as apple pie...

...oppression is as American as apple pie...

Audre Lorde
I soon discovered that if you keep your mouth shut, people are apt to believe you know everything, and they begin to feel freer and freer to tell you anything, anxious to show that they know something, too.

I soon discovered that if you keep your mouth shut, people are apt to believe you know everything, and they begin to feel freer and freer to tell you anything, anxious to show that they know something, too.

Audre Lorde