The white fathers told us: I think, therefore I am. The black goddess within each of us - the poet - whispers in our dreams: I feel, therefore I can be free.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of emotions in the quest for freedom and self-identity.
Audre Lorde’s quote contrasts two philosophical perspectives: the rational thought represented by 'I think, therefore I am,' and the emotional wisdom expressed in 'I feel, therefore I can be free.' It highlights the significance of feeling and intuition in understanding oneself and achieving true freedom, suggesting that human experiences encompass more than just rational thought; they involve deep emotional awareness and connection to one's inner self.
In practice
In a speech about mental health, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of emotional well-being.
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.
Such a man as instinctively feeds on pure ambrosia and leaves alone the indigestible in things.
To-morrow I will live, the fool does say;_x000D_ _x000D_ To-day itself's too late, the wise lived yesterday.
Perhaps our originality manifests itself most strikingly in what we do with that which we did not originate. To discover something wholly new can be a matter of chance, of idle tinkering, or even of the chronic dissatisfaction of the untalented.
What I really hated, of course, was my mind. There must have been an off switch somewhere, but I was damned if I could find it.
I don't believe in yesterday, by the way.
Never do anything that isn't play.
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