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For each of us as women, there is a dark place within, where hidden and growing our true spirit rises, beautiful and tough as chestnut stanchions against our nightmare of weakness.

Audre Lorde

What I most regretted were my silences. Of what had I ever been afraid?
AUDRE LORDE

Afraid Regret Silence Women
For each of us as women, there is a dark place within, where hidden and growing our true spirit rises, beautiful and tough as chestnut stanchions against our nightmare of weakness.
AUDRE LORDE

Beautiful Darkness Growth Hide Night Place Rise Spirit Weakness Women
We must constantly encourage ourselves and each other to attempt the heretical actions that our dreams imply and so many of our old ideas disparage.
AUDRE LORDE

Action Attempt Constant Dreams Encouragement Ideas Ourselves
To search for power within myself means I must be willing to move through being afraid to whatever lies beyond.
AUDRE LORDE

Afraid Beyond Myself Power Search Willing
The erotic has often been misnamed by men and used against women.
AUDRE LORDE

Against Erotic Men Women
If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive.
AUDRE LORDE

Alive Eat Fantasy Inspirational Myself People Self Respect
But the true feminist deals out of a lesbian consciousness whether or not she ever sleeps with women.
AUDRE LORDE

Conscious Deal Feminism Lesbian Sleep Women
Some problems we share as women, some we do not.
AUDRE LORDE

Problem Share Women
I have a duty to speak the truth as I see it and share not just my triumphs, not just the things that felt good, but the pain, the intense, often unmitigated pain. It is important to share how I know survival is survival and not just a walk throught the rain.
AUDRE LORDE

Duty Important Intense Pain Rain Speak Survival Truimph Truth
Oppressors always expect the oppressed to extend to them the understanding so lacking in themselves.
AUDRE LORDE

Expectation Extend Lack Oppression Understand
If I cannot air this pain and alter it, I will surely die of it. That’s the beginning of social protest.
AUDRE LORDE

Alter Beginning Die Justice Pain Protest Social
Our feelings are our most genuine paths to knowledge.
AUDRE LORDE

Emotion Feeling Genuine Knowledge Path
I believe one of the hardest things you can do is conquer your fears, but if you have a goal, then it’s your job to open up and let it be real no matter how scary it seems.
AUDRE LORDE

Believe Conquer Fear Goals Inspirational Job Matter Scare
Life is very short and what we have to do must be done in the now.
AUDRE LORDE

Done Inspirational Life
We do not have to romanticize our past in order to be aware of how it seeds our present.
AUDRE LORDE

Aware Fear Past Present Romantic Seed
I wish to raise a Black man who will recognize that the legitimate objects of his hostility are not women, but the particulars of a structure that programs him to fear and despise women as well as his own Black self.
AUDRE LORDE

Black Lives Matter Fear Object Raise Recognize Structure Women

For each of us as women, there is a dark place within, where hidden and growing our true spirit rises, beautiful and tough as chestnut stanchions against our nightmare of weakness.

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For each of us as women, there is a dark place within, where hidden and growing our true spirit rises, beautiful and tough as chestnut stanchions against our nightmare of weakness.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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