Audre Lorde

"The library as a symbol of secular authority in the absence of religious authority."

"We are not responsible for the monsters, only for how we respond to them."

"When we name something, we claim it."

"The erotic cannot be felt secondhand."

"Difference is that raw and powerful connection from which our personal power is forged."

"There are no doorways in our skins."

"We touch each other and are touched by each other in the work place."

"I am not in conflict with myself for being Black and loving myself."

"Art is of fundamental importance in the liberation of our people."

"We must build our own definitions based on our own needs and not on borrowed definitions."

"The prison of the everyday world."

"When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed."

"The act of writing becomes a way of questioning and deepening experience."

"Language is a place of struggle."

"When we look at ourselves through the eyes of others, we learn to despise ourselves."

"Joy and inspiration constitute a dynamic challenge to all that is oppressive."

"The deepest feeling always shows itself in silence."

"We learn to speak, to claim ourselves and our power."

"There is no way to live my life without defining myself."

"Within the erotic, I find a breadth of feeling that enlivens and strengthens me."

"Difference must be not merely tolerated, but seen as a fund of necessary polarities."

"Every revolution comes down to a change of consciousness."

"I am still learning."

"The future is built by those who embrace possibility."

"We cannot simply attend to the obvious oppressions."

"Visibility is the price of our humanity."

"Light and strength, touch and time, touch and wonder."

"To love oneself is to love those that will come after us."

"We must risk being called selfish whenever we act on our own behalf."

"Every woman is a repository of strength."