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.

Quote by Audre Lorde

Topics: Audre Lorde Quotes

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...

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...

In our work and in our living, we must recognize that difference is a reason...

In our work and in our living, we must recognize that difference is a reason...

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 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 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...

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....

But, on the other hand, I get bored with racism too and recognize that there...

But, on the other hand, I get bored with racism too and recognize that there...

When I dare to be powerful - to use my strength in the service of...

When I dare to be powerful - to use my strength in the service of...

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...

When I use my strength in the service of my vision it makes no difference...

When I use my strength in the service of my vision it makes no difference...

Once we recognize what it is we are feeling, once we recognize we can feel...

Once we recognize what it is we are feeling, once we recognize we can feel...

Each time you love, love as deeply as if it were forever.

Each time you love, love as deeply as if it were forever.

Life is very short and what we have to do must be done in the...

Life is very short and what we have to do must be done in the...

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...

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

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

Black women are programmed to define ourselves within this male attention and to compete with...

Black women are programmed to define ourselves within this male attention and to compete with...

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...

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

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

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...