Sometimes we drug ourselves with dreams of new ideasl The head will save us. The brain alone will set us free. But there are no new ideas waiting in the wings to save us as women, as human. There are only old and forgotten ones, new combinations, extrapolations and recognitions from within ourselves--along with the renewed courage to try them out.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that true creativity comes from within and is built upon past ideas rather than waiting for new inspirations to appear.
Audre Lorde's quote suggests that as individuals, particularly women, we often seek new ideas to drive us forward, but in reality, our power lies in rediscovering and reinterpreting old concepts. It underscores the importance of self-innovation and courage to experiment with these ideas, highlighting that our liberation comes not from external sources but from the courage to utilize our inner knowledge and experiences.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a women's empowerment seminar to inspire creativity.
The fact that we are here and that I speak these words is an attempt to break that silence and bridge some of those differences between us, for it is not difference which immobilizes us, but silence. And there are so many silences to be broken.
There is no thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.
There are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt.
I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.
I am deliberate and afraid of nothing.
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.
A good intention clothes itself with sudden power. When a god wishes to ride, any chip or pebble will bud and shoot out winged feet, and serve him for a horse.
Piensa el sentimiento, siente el pensamiento." (roughly translated, "Think about the emotional and feel the intellectual")
Perfection does not come from belief or faith. Talk does not count for anything. Parrots can do that. Perfection comes through the disinterested performance of action.
I know who I am, I know what I can and can't do. I know what I will and won't do. I know what I'm capable of and I don't agree to do things that I don't think I can pull off.
As water shapes its flow in accordance with the ground, so an army manages its victory in accordance with the situation of the enemy.
In order not to leave any traces, when you do something, you should do it with your whole body and mind; you should be concentrated on what you do. You should do it completely, like a good bonfire. You should not be a smoky fire. You should burn yourself completely. If you do not burn yourself completely, a trace of yourself will be left in what you do. You should not have any remains after you do something. But this does not mean to forget all about it.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.