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.
When I pontificate, it sounds so, you know, Oh, well, she's preaching. I'm not preaching, but I think maybe I learned it from my animal friends. Kindness and consideration of somebody besides yourself. I think that keeps you feeling young. I really do.
I would give all the wealth of the world, and all the deeds of all the heroes, for one true vision.
The only superstition I have is that I must start a new book on the same day that I finish the last one, even if it's just a few notes in a file. I dread not having work in progress.
A truly American sentiment recognizes the dignity of labor and the fact that honor lies in honest toil.
Everything you possess of skill, and wealth, and handicraft, wasn't it first merely a thought and a quest?
At the moment of vision, the eyes see nothing.
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