Shulamith Firestone

"Perseverance in the face of ridicule and dismissal is a form of courage."

"Adventure means leaving behind the comfort of the known to explore new possibilities."

"Health is not merely physical; it is freedom from the burden of constant servitude."

"Leadership among women means not reproducing the hierarchies we seek to destroy."

"Success measured by patriarchal standards may be a form of failure."

"Friendship between women is radical because it exists outside male-mediated relationships."

"Happiness under oppression is a kind of forgetting; we must remember to be free."

"Death is the ultimate silencer, which is why women's lives must be fully lived now."

"The peace that comes from accepting injustice is not peace but resignation."

"Nature has been invoked to justify the chains placed upon women."

"Music expresses what cannot be said in words; it is a form of revolutionary language."

"Faith in the possibility of change is the first requirement for creating it."

"Gratitude for small mercies can blind us to the need for fundamental transformation."

"Relationships based on equality do not yet exist; we must invent them."

"Time is stolen from women through endless unpaid work and emotional labor."

"Wisdom requires seeing through the myths that justify our oppression."

"Life is not meant to be endured; it is meant to be lived fully and freely."

"The personal is collective; what happens to one woman happens to all."

"We inherit a world not of our making, but we can make the world we leave behind."

"Humor is a weapon and a survival tool; we must laugh to keep from crying."

"Creativity is suppressed in women because creativity is power."

"Justice delayed is justice denied, and women have waited long enough."

"Patience is a virtue demanded of the powerless; the powerful can afford to be impatient."

"The personal sphere is where ideology becomes practice and practice becomes oppression."

"We must use every tool available to us, including those created by our oppressors."

"The revolution will not be televised, and women's liberation will not be gifted."

"Culture teaches women to smile through pain; liberation means being allowed to scream."

"The future is not predetermined; it is something we must fight to create."

"Diversity of thought is not a luxury; it is necessary for genuine liberation."

"The body politic includes all our bodies; none are expendable."