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Our feelings are our most genuine paths to knowledge.

Audre Lorde

I have been woman for a long time beware my smile I am treacherous with old magic.
AUDRE LORDE

Beware Magic Old Smile Woman
I want to live the rest of my life, however long or short, with as much sweetness as I can decently manage, loving all the people I love, and doing as much as I can of the work I still have to do.
AUDRE LORDE

Decent Life Live Love Management People Sweet Want Work
The Seventh Sense – Women who build nations learn to love men who build nations learn to love children building sand castles by the rising sea.
AUDRE LORDE

Build Castle Children Deep Learning Love Nation Rise Sea Sense Women
My experience with people who tried to label me was that they usually did it to either dismiss me or use me.
AUDRE LORDE

Dismiss Experience Label People Try Used
The more I use my strength in the service of my vision the less I am afraid.
AUDRE LORDE

Afraid Inspirational Service Strength Vision
Anger, used, does not destroy. Hatred does.
AUDRE LORDE

Angry Destroy Hatred
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
In the recognition of loving lies the answer to despair.
AUDRE LORDE

Despair Love Lying Recognize
For women, then, poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence.
AUDRE LORDE

Existence Luxury Necessary Poetry Women
To that piece in each of us that refuses to be silent.
AUDRE LORDE

Pieces Refuse Silence
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
How hard it is to sleep in the middle of life.
AUDRE LORDE

Deep Life One Liner Sleep Struggle
Whenever the need for some pretense of communication arises, those who profit from our oppression call upon us to share our knowledge with them
AUDRE LORDE

Arise Communication Knowledge Need Oppression Share
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
Women are powerful and dangerous.
AUDRE LORDE

Danger One Liner Powerful Women Women Empowerment
Some problems we share as women, some we do not.
AUDRE LORDE

Problem Share Women
Anger is loaded with information and energy.
AUDRE LORDE

Angry Energy Information
The oppression of women knows no ethnic nor racial boundaries, true, but that does not mean it is identical within those boundaries.
AUDRE LORDE

Boundary Ethnic Oppression Women
Without community, there is no liberation.
AUDRE LORDE

Community Liberty One Liner
If they cannot love and resist at the same time, they probably will not survive.
AUDRE LORDE

Love Probable Resistance Survival Time
We must wake up knowing we have work to do and go to bed knowing we’ve done it.
AUDRE LORDE

Bed Done Motivational Satisfaction Wake Up Work
I am still learning – how to take joy in all the people I am, how to use all my selves in the service of what I believe, how to accept when I fail and rejoice when I succeed.
AUDRE LORDE

Acceptance Believe Joy Learning People Rejoice Service Success
You cannot use someone else’s fire. You can only use your own. And in order to do that, you must first be willing to believe that you have it.
AUDRE LORDE

Believe Fire Motivational Willing Women Empowerment
I am still learning – how to take joy in all the people I am, how to use all my selves in the service of what I believe, how to accept when I fail and rejoice when I succeed.
AUDRE LORDE

Acceptance Believe Joy Learning People Rejoice Service Success
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.
AUDRE LORDE

Black Gay Hell Loneliness Remember Truth
The learning process is something you can incite, literally incite, like a riot.
AUDRE LORDE

Incite Learning Process Riot
I find I am constantly being encouraged to pluck out some one aspect of myself and present this as the meaningful whole, eclipsing or denying the other parts of self.
AUDRE LORDE

Aspect Constant Deny Eclipse Encouragement Present

Our feelings are our most genuine paths to knowledge.

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Our feelings are our most genuine paths to knowledge.

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