Quotes from Audre Lorde

Every Black woman in America lives her life somewhere along a wide curve of ancient and unexpressed angers.

When I use my strength in the service of my vision it makes no difference whether or not I am afraid.

But, on the other hand, I get bored with racism too and recognize that there are still many things to be said about a Black person and a White person loving each other in a racist society.

To encourage excellence is to go beyond the encouraged mediocrity of our society

Art is not living. It is the use of living.

You know how fighting fish do it? They blow bubbles and in each one of those bubbles is an egg and they float the egg up to the surface. They keep this whole heavy nest of eggs floating, and they're constantly repairing it. It's as if they live in both elements.

I can't really define it in sexual terms alone although our sexuality is so energizing why not enjoy it too?

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

The more I use my strength in the service of my vision the less I am afraid.

It is not the destiny of Black America to repeat white America's mistakes. But we will, if we mistake the trappings of success in a sick society for the signs of a meaningful life.

I remember how being young and black and gay and lonely felt. A lot of it was fine, feeling I had the truth and the light and the key, but a lot of it was purely hell.

What I leave behind has a life of its own.

Hatred is a death wish for the hated, not a life wish for anything else.

Part of the lesbian consciousness is an absolute recognition of the erotic within our lives and, taking that a step further, dealing with the erotic not only in sexual terms.

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

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.

Only by learning to live in harmony with your contradictions can you keep it all afloat.

Black women sharing close ties with each other, politically or emotionally, are not the enemies of Black men.

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.

I would like to do another piece of fiction dealing with a number of issues: Lesbian parenting, the 1960's, and interracial relationships in the Lesbian and Gay community.

The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House

When we create out of our experiences, as feminists of color, women of color, we have to develop those structures that will present and circulate our culture.

I can't really define it in sexual terms alone although our sexuality is so energizing why not enjoy it too?

Art is not living. It is the use of living.