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"Each of us is called upon to take a stand. So in these days ahead, as we examine ourselves and each other, our works, our fears, our differences, our sisterhood and survivals, I urge you to tackle what is most difficult for us all, self-scrutiny of our complacencies, the idea that since each of us believes she is on the side of right, she need not examine her position."
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"There is an illusion about America, a myth about America to which we are clinging which has nothing to do with the lives we lead and I don't believe that anybody in this country who has really thought about it or really almost anybody who has been brought up against it--and almost all of us have one way or another--this collision between one's image of oneself and what one actually is is always very painful and there are two things you can do about it, you can meet the collision head-on and try and become what you really are or you can retreat and try to remain what you thought you were, which is a fantasy, in which you will certainly perish."
"This has to be the most self-centered thing I've ever said, but no, I think you just wanted to vex me."
"I put myself and all the members of Congress in the same boat of things that could have been done better."
"Your mind is your world. Your heart is your nature. Your soul is your universe. Your life is your creation."
"Would the child you were yesterday admire the person you are today? If not, adjust for desired results."
"I am blind to the very things that make for our own peace."
"I have enjoyed my company so fondly, I may not feel alone when I am lonely."
"When our thoughts are unsettled and our inner world is in a muddle, we may sharpen our wits and try to recognize the invisible edges of our fractured stance. If we seek to figure out, what our life story is all about, we may be able to put the missing pieces in place and identify what is driving us, what we are actually up to and why we are running like mad dogs, sometimes. ['On a doggy day']"
"If you say something and reject any criticism, then your words truly meant to advise yourself."
"I wanted to laugh. Or maybe get mad. Or maybe shrug at how strange everyone was, especially me."
Explore more quotes by Audre Lorde
"Black women sharing close ties with each other, politically or emotionally, are not the enemies of Black men."
"If this society ascribes roles to Black men which they are not allowed to fulfill, is it Black women who must bend and alter our lives to compensate, or is it society that needs changing?"
"And when we speak we are afraidour words will not be heardnor welcomedbut when we are silentwe are still afraidSo it is better to speakrememberingwe were never meant to survive."
"There's always someone asking you to underline one piece of yourself - whether it's Black, woman, mother, dyke, teacher, etc. - because that's the piece that they need to key in to. They want to dismiss everything else."
"If what we need to dream, to move our spirits most deeply and directly toward and through promise, is discounted as a luxury, then we give up the core -- the fountain -- of our power, our womanness; we give up the future of our worlds. (From "Poetry is Not a Luxury")"
"Black and Third World people are expected to educate white people as to our humanity. Women are expected to educate men. Lesbians and gay men are expected to educate the heterosexual world. The oppressors maintain their position and evade their responsibility for their own actions. There is a constant drain of energy which might be better used in redefining ourselves and devising realistic scenarios for altering the present and constructing the future."
"Oppressed peoples are always being asked to stretch a little more, to bridge the gap between blindness and humanity."
"I can't really define it in sexual terms alone although our sexuality is so energizing why not enjoy it too?"
"It's a struggle but that's why we exist, so that another generation of Lesbians of color will not have to invent themselves, or their history, all over again."
"If you come as softlyAs wind within the treesYou may hear what I hearSee what sorrow sees.If you come as lightlyAs threading dewI will take you gladlyNor ask more of you.You may sit beside meSilent as a breathOnly those who stay deadShall remember death.And if you come I will be silentNor speak harsh words to you.I will not ask you why, now.Or how, or what you do.We shall sit here, softlyBeneath two different yearsAnd the rich earth between usShall drink our tears."
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