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.
I know the anger lies inside of me like I know the beat of my heart and the taste of my spit. It is easier to be furious than to be yearning. Easier to crucify myself in you than to take on the threatening universe of whiteness by admitting that we are worth wanting each other.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote explores the complexities of anger and love, emphasizing the difficulty of vulnerability.
Audre Lorde's quote delves into the internal struggle between anger and yearning. It highlights how anger can often serve as a defensive shield against the vulnerabilities of longing and desire. The speaker acknowledges that it is easier to express fury than to confront the deeper emotional truth of wanting connection and intimacy. The reference to a 'threatening universe of whiteness' points to societal pressures that complicate these feelings, suggesting that admitting love and the desire for connection can be fraught with challenges.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about emotional challenges in relationships, this quote can highlight the difficulty of expressing true feelings.
More from Audre Lorde
All quotes →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.
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They who go Feel not the pain of parting; it is they Who stay behind that suffer.
These impossible women! How they do get around us! The poet was right: Can't live with them, or without them.
One of the things that makes a Negro unpleasant to white folk is the fact that he suffers from their injustice. He is thus a standing rebuke to them.