Audre Lorde Quotes on Bravery and Authenticity

Audre Laude Quotes on Bravery and Authenticity

If you’ve been afraid of judgment or struggled to express yourself, read these Audre Laude quotes. Take a small, but braving step to be authentically you.

Audre Laude was an American writer, feminist, and activist. In her own words, she was "Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet”. She was instrumental in fighting sexism, racism classism and hemophobia. Her work is brave and authentic, in a way that inspires us to take action against injustice.

Her words can light a fire, inspire a revolution and instill confidence. It can make us question our choices, rethink our lives and encourage us to be who we truly want to become.

She has penned a number of books over the years including Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name - A Biomythography, The Cancer Journals, and A Burst of Light: and Other Essays.

We've curated some of her famous quotes below, including the famous Audre Laude quote “I dare to be powerful”.

“Each time you love, love as deeply as if it were forever.”

― Audre Lorde

We love this quote. It inspires us to give our best, our 100% even when we are feeling vulnerable. It reminds us to give love a real chance by loving deeply. What is braver than loving deeply, without knowing the consequences?

“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”

― Audre Lorde

Strength and bravery arise from believing and working towards our vision. When you do that, the fear of failure and judgement fades.

“Nothing I accept about myself can be used against me to diminish me.”

― Audre Lorde

If you are honest to yourself, nothing and no one can diminish you. Everything begins from within. This radical authenticity requires bravery, to accept who you truly are.

“Your silence will not protect you.”

― Audre Lorde

Often, we recede in the shadows, hide our true feelings, denying ourselves the opportunity to be authentic and to shine. When we stay quite in face of discrimination, injustice, or even during important conversations, we are not protected. We often forget that being silent is also choosing a side. This quote inspires us to be brave and voice our opinions.

“Life is very short. What we have to do must be done in the now,"

― Audre Lorde, The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action.

Believing that we are going to live forever and putting of our life goals for later is like living in denial. Facing our mortality and braving our inevitable future with grace and working toward our goals is what we must do in the now.

“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”

― Audre Lorde

Don’t ever feel guilty for putting yourself first. Unless you are happy and healthy, no one else around you can be so. Laude goes as far as to equate self-care to self-preservation.

“Our visions begin with our desires.”

– Audre Lorde

Our desires turn into action and action turns into reality. Dare to dream. Be brave enough to accept your desires and work towards achieving them.

“Pain is important: how we evade it, how we succumb to it, how we deal with it, how we transcend it.”

– Audre Lorde

We love this quote on pain. It takes courage to accept the role of pain in our lives. These beautiful words by Lorde are almost poetic.

“I learned so much from listening to people. And all I knew was, the only thing I had was honesty and openness.”

– Audre Lorde

In this quote Lorde is hinting at the power of authenticity and listening. She says that the best way to learn something about others is by listening to them and by being honest and authentic.

“Only by learning to live in harmony with your contradictions can you keep it all afloat."

― Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches

This simple quote by Laude is deep and beautiful. It inspires us to accept the contradictions in our lives.

“The love expressed between women is particular and powerful because we have had to love in order to live; love has been our survival,"

― Audre Lorde

True, Lorde was an activist and fought sexism and hemophilia. However, her quote here is true for all women. We as women have to be brave enough to rely on each other and support each other, no matter what.

“We have been raised to fear the yes within ourselves, our deepest cravings.”

― Audre Lorde

In this quote, Laude talks about authenticity and bravery, both. Our conditioning since birth has led us to believe that everything, we deeply want is wrong. It's something we should stay away from. Here, Laude invites us to embrace that deep desire, acknowledge it and be

“Tell them about how you're never really a whole person if you remain silent, because there's always that one little piece inside you that wants to be spoken out, and if you keep ignoring it, it gets madder and madder and hotter and hotter, and if you don't speak it out one day it will just up and punch you in the mouth from the inside.”

― Audre Lorde

This book excerpt is brilliant. It illustrates why it is important to be authentic, to be you. Because if you aren't, things build up inside. Like a volcano that hot and fluid, all that is unexpressed builds up. And one fine day, explodes, destroying everything in its path. We have one life, live yours, truly and deeply. Just the way you want.

“You cannot, you cannot use someone else’s fire. You can only use your own. And in order to do that, you must first be willing to believe that you have it.”

― Audre Lorde

And that fire is ignited when you know deep within who you authentically are. What you want to become and why. Being able to take a step back and looking at who you are – physically, emotionally and spiritually is the first step. When we try to fit in and become like everyone else in the society (when we are truly not that), we are diminished. We cannot use what someone else believes to drive our life. We have to choose our own path. One that maybe less travelled.

“When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard nor welcomed, but when we are silent we are still afraid, so it is better to speak,"

― Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems

Audre Laude was an activist who believed in speaking up. About things that were uncomfortable for some. Her quote here encourages us to do the same. To speak up. To be brave and say our truth. That is the only way to remain authentic.

We hope you enjoyed this collection of Audre Lorde quotes on authenticity and bravery. Let us know which one is your favorite in the comments below.