And this is a grave responsibility, projected from within each of us, not to settle for the convenient, the shoddy, the conventionally expected, nor the merely safe.
Interpretation
We must take responsibility for seeking higher standards and not just accept what is easy or conventional.
In this quote, Audre Lorde emphasizes the importance of personal responsibility in striving for excellence and authenticity. She encourages individuals to look beyond societal norms and superficial safety, urging them to pursue deeper, more meaningful choices that reflect their true selves and values.
In practice
In a motivational speech about personal growth and self-improvement.
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.
Needing leads to bleeding - to almost all inevitable suffering.
Do not deny the classical approach, simply as a reaction, or you will have created another pattern and trapped yourself there.
How can we embrace rest and play if we've tied our self-worth to what we produce?
Inner silence promotes clarity of mind; It makes us value the inner world; It trains us to go inside to the source of peace and inspiration when we are faced with problems and challenges.
I must remain always, both in principle + actively, interested in everything. Taking all of knowledge as my province.
I remember my first visit with my guru. He had shown that he read my mind. So I looked at the grass and I thought, 'My god, he's going to know all the things I don't want people to know.' I was really embarrassed. Then I looked up and he was looking directly at me with unconditional love.
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