Audre Lorde's most powerful quotes (with their source)
The top 3 according to 278 votes from people: Your silence will not protect you. · I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own. · In our world, divide and conquer must become define and empower.. (Updated Feb 20, 2020.)
"Your silence will not protect you", "I am not free while any woman is unfree" and "Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation": the most quoted lines of Audre Lorde, from Sister Outsider, The Cancer Journals and A Burst of Light, each with its source.
Top 13
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1
Your silence will not protect you.
"The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action", Sister Outsider (1984), p. 41.
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2
I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.
"The Uses of Anger", Sister Outsider (1984).
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3
In our world, divide and conquer must become define and empower.
"Age, Race, Class, and Sex", Sister Outsider (1984), p. 112.
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4
Anger is loaded with information and energy.
"The Uses of Anger", Sister Outsider (1984).
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5
Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.
A Burst of Light (1988), p. 125.
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6
The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House.
Title of her 1979 talk, published in Sister Outsider (1984).
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7
Without community there is no liberation.
"Age, Race, Class, and Sex", Sister Outsider (1984), p. 112.
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8
There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.
"Learning from the 60s", Sister Outsider (1984), p. 138.
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9
What I most regretted were my silences. Of what had I ever been afraid?
"The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action", Sister Outsider (1984), p. 41.
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10
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).
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11
Each time you love, love as deeply as if it were forever / Only, nothing is eternal.
Undersong (1992).
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12
Difference is that raw and powerful connection from which our personal power is forged.
"Age, Race, Class, and Sex", Sister Outsider (1984), p. 112.
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13
Poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought.
"Poetry Is Not a Luxury", Sister Outsider (1984), p. 37.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
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Comments (1)
"Your silence will not protect you" was on a poster in our women's studies classroom. Still hits.