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

Quote by Audre Lorde

Topics: Audre Lorde Quotes

Our visions begin with our desires.

Our visions begin with our desires.

There's always someone asking you to underline one piece of yourself - whether it's Black,...

There's always someone asking you to underline one piece of yourself - whether it's Black,...

I remember how being young and black and gay and lonely felt. A lot of...

I remember how being young and black and gay and lonely felt. A lot of...

In discussions around the hiring and firing of Black faculty at universities, the charge is...

In discussions around the hiring and firing of Black faculty at universities, the charge is...

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.

There are lesbians, God knows... if you came up through lesbian circles in the forties...

There are lesbians, God knows... if you came up through lesbian circles in the forties...

In other words, I would be giving in to a myth of sameness which I...

In other words, I would be giving in to a myth of sameness which I...

The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the...

The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the...

I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have...

I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have...

The failure of academic feminists to recognize difference as a crucial strength is a failure...

The failure of academic feminists to recognize difference as a crucial strength is a failure...

The sixties were characterized by a heady belief in instantaneous solutions.

The sixties were characterized by a heady belief in instantaneous solutions.

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

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

I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to...

I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to...

Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives....

Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives....

Your silence will not protect you.

Your silence will not protect you.

Black writers, of whatever quality, who step outside the pale of what black writers are...

Black writers, of whatever quality, who step outside the pale of what black writers are...

You know how fighting fish do it? They blow bubbles and in each one of...

You know how fighting fish do it? They blow bubbles and in each one of...

The quality of light by which we scrutinize our lives has direct bearing upon the...

The quality of light by which we scrutinize our lives has direct bearing upon the...

I can't really define it in sexual terms alone although our sexuality is so energizing...

I can't really define it in sexual terms alone although our sexuality is so energizing...

But the question is a matter of the survival and the teaching. That's what our...

But the question is a matter of the survival and the teaching. That's what our...