--- title: "1 Despair Despair Quotes By Audre Lorde" description: "1 Despair Despair quotes by Audre Lorde. Plus more from Audre Lorde and more Despair Despair sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ed/audre-lorde-758_action_to-face-the-realities-of-our-lives-is-no_3060487.jpg" --- > [To face the realities of our lives is not a reason for despair-despair is a tool of your enemies. Facing the realities of our lives gives us motivation for action. For you are not powerless... You know why the hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/to-face-the-realities-of-our-lives-is-not-a-reason-for-despair/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ed/audre-lorde-758_action_to-face-the-realities-of-our-lives-is-no_3060487.jpg) ## More by Audre Lorde > [Every woman I have ever loved has left her print upon me, where I loved some invaluable piece of myself apart from me-so different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/every-woman-i-have-ever-loved-has-left-her-print-upon-me-where-i/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [There are many kinds of open. . . Love is a word, another kind of open. . . Take my word for jewel in your open light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/there-are-many-kinds-of-open-love-is-a-word-another-kind-of-open-take/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Your silence will not protect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/your-silence-will-not-protect-you/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [I can't really define it in sexual terms alone although our sexuality is so energizing why not enjoy it too?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-can-t-really-define-it-in-sexual-terms-alone-although-our-sexuality/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“For once we begin to feel deeply all the aspects of our lives, we begin to demand from ourselves and from our life-pursuits that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/for-once-we-begin-to-feel-deeply-all-the-aspects-of-our-lives-we/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [the fear of death is that you are dying too soon. Nobody wants to, but at the point that you die you can pray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/the-fear-of-death-is-that-you-are-dying-too-soon-nobody-wants-to-but/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“There is an important difference between openness and naïveté. Not everyone has good intentions nor means me well. I remind myself I do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/there-is-an-important-difference-between-openness-and-na-vet-not/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [What are the words you do not yet have? What do you need to say? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/what-are-the-words-you-do-not-yet-have-what-do-you-need-to-say-what/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [I learned to read from Mrs. Augusta Baker, the children's librarian. ... If that was the only good deed that lady ever did in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-learned-to-read-from-mrs-augusta-baker-the-children-s-librarian-if/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/poetry-is-not-only-dream-and-vision-it-is-the-skeleton-architecture/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“I think that in America there are certain kinds of problems and in Russia there are certain kinds of problems, but basically, when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-think-that-in-america-there-are-certain-kinds-of-problems-and-in/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Institutionalized rejection of differences is an absolute necessity in a profit economy which needs outsiders as surplus people. As members of such an economy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/institutionalized-rejection-of-differences-is-an-absolute-necessity/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/the-sharing-of-joy-whether-physical-emotional-psychic-or-intellectual/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“I forgot what we were celebrating. Because we were always celebrating something, a new job, a new poem, a new love, a new dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-forgot-what-we-were-celebrating-because-we-were-always-celebrating/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [How a diamond comes into a knot of flame How a sound comes into a word, coloured By who pays what for speaking. Some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/how-a-diamond-comes-into-a-knot-of-flame-how-a-sound-comes-into-a/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair-despair/audre-lorde/#itemlist", "name": "1 Despair Despair Quotes By Audre Lorde", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To face the realities of our lives is not a reason for despair-despair is a tool of your enemies. Facing the realities of our lives gives us motivation for action. For you are not powerless... You know why the hard questions must be asked. 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