---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Guilt is only another way of avoiding…"
description: "\"Guilt is only another way of avoiding informed action.\" — Audre Lorde"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/048/audre-lorde-758_action_guilt-is-only-another-way-of-avoiding-in_915824.jpg"
---

#  Guilt is only another way of avoiding informed action.

![“Guilt is only another way of avoiding informed action.” quote by Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/048/audre-lorde-758_action_guilt-is-only-another-way-of-avoiding-in_915824.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/048/audre-lorde-758_action_guilt-is-only-another-way-of-avoiding-in_915824.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/048/audre-lorde-758_action_guilt-is-only-another-way-of-avoiding-in_915824.jpg)

> “Guilt is only another way of avoiding informed action.”

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Guilt distracts from taking informed, purposeful action; it is an avoidance mechanism.

**In simple terms:** Guilt stops you from acting wisely.

Key Takeaway

Act with knowledge, not guilt.

Themes

guilt action knowledge

Mood

thoughtful empowering

Type

philosophical motivational

When to use this quote

- decision making
- activism
- personal responsibility
- social justice work

Key Concepts

ethical philosophy psychology

Questions to Reflect On

- When does guilt indicate a need for reflection?
- How can you transform guilt into constructive action?

A Different Perspective

Guilt can also signal moral awareness that shouldn't be ignored.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/action/) [Another way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/another-way/) [Avoiding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/avoiding/) [Avoiding Informed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/avoiding-informed-1378562/) [Guilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guilt/) [Guilt Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guilt-way-1378561/) [Informed Action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/informed-action-1378564/) [Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regret/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Way Avoiding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way-avoiding-1378563/)

## Related quotes

> [I have no creative use for guilt, yours or my own. Guilt is only another way of avoiding informed action, of buying time out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-have-no-creative-use-for-guilt-yours-or-my-own-guilt-is-only/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

> [Nine times out of ten, talking is a way of avoiding doing things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-c-wrede/nine-times-out-of-ten-talking-is-a-way-of-avoiding-doing-things/)

[Patricia C. Wrede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-c-wrede/)

> [I'd chosen instead to just change my route, go miles out of the way, as if avoiding it would make it go away once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/i-d-chosen-instead-to-just-change-my-route-go-miles-out-of-the-way-as/)

[Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/)

> [I realized that, for me, travel for work - I'm not speaking so much about travel for pleasure - had actually become a way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/i-realized-that-for-me-travel-for-work-i-m-not-speaking-so-much-about/)

[Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/)

> [“Most of us probably entertain either of these attitudes on different days. On a good day (as we perceive it), we tend toward self-righteous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-bridges/most-of-us-probably-entertain-either-of-these-attitudes-on-different/)

[Jerry Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-bridges/)

> [Guilt is also a way for us to express to others that we are a person of good conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hodgkinson/guilt-is-also-a-way-for-us-to-express-to-others-that-we-are-a-person-2/)

[Tom Hodgkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hodgkinson/)

> [“There is a way of avoiding which resembles seeking.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/there-is-a-way-of-avoiding-which-resembles-seeking/)

[Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/)

> [Guilt is also a way for us to express to others that we are a person of good conscience. 'I feel really guilty about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hodgkinson/guilt-is-also-a-way-for-us-to-express-to-others-that-we-are-a-person/)

[Tom Hodgkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hodgkinson/)

> [Legalism is nothing but a leader's way of avoiding suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-edwards/legalism-is-nothing-but-a-leader-s-way-of-avoiding-suffering/)

[Gene Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-edwards/)

> [“We need guilt the same way we need pain—because it reminds us what happened, and it helps us not to do it again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-wells/we-need-guilt-the-same-way-we-need-pain-because-it-reminds-us-what/)

[Dan Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-wells/)

> [And after hearing what our Church can say, If still our reason runs another way, That private reason 'tis more just to curb, Than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/and-after-hearing-what-our-church-can-say-if-still-our-reason-runs/)

[John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/)

> [... we need to interrogate "reverence," for idolization can be another way one is objectified and not really taken seriously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bell-hooks/we-need-to-interrogate-reverence-for-idolization-can-be-another-way/)

[Bell Hooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bell-hooks/)

> [I've got the public. I don't care about the critics. I did at one time. I don't any more. I did when I needed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-neiman/i-ve-got-the-public-i-don-t-care-about-the-critics-i-did-at-one-time/)

[LeRoy Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leroy-neiman/)

> [Social media is not just another way to connect feminist and activist voices - it amplifies our messages as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-valenti/social-media-is-not-just-another-way-to-connect-feminist-and-activist/)

[Jessica Valenti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-valenti/)

> [Cooking brings me so much joy. I love everything, down to the execution of the plate to picking out fresh ingredients at the market.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-budig/cooking-brings-me-so-much-joy-i-love-everything-down-to-the-execution/)

[Kathryn Budig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-budig/)

## 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/)

[Explore all 377 Audre Lorde quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

## More Action quotes

> [I always say there are two things to be successful. The first is decide exactly what you want - set your goals - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/i-always-say-there-are-two-things-to-be-successful-the-first-is/)

[Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/)

> [You'd be surprised how hard it can often be to translate an action into an idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/you-d-be-surprised-how-hard-it-can-often-be-to-translate-an-action/)

[Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/)

> [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/)

[Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/)

> [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/)

[William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/)

> [Every thought I have imprisioned in expression I must free by my deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/every-thought-i-have-imprisioned-in-expression-i-must-free-by-my-deeds/)

[Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/)

> [It took me 20 years to buy an electric typewriter, because I was afraid it would be too sensitive. I like to bang the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmore-leonard/it-took-me-20-years-to-buy-an-electric-typewriter-because-i-was/)

[Elmore Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmore-leonard/)

> [Every action that helps us manifest our divine nature more and more is good; every action that retards it is evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/every-action-that-helps-us-manifest-our-divine-nature-more-and-more/)

[Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/)

> [As you begin changing your thinking, start immediately to change your behaviour. Begin to act the part of the person you would like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-you-begin-changing-your-thinking-start-immediately-to-change-your/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/)

[Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/)

> [For comedy action, I must know the language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sammo-hung/for-comedy-action-i-must-know-the-language/)

[Sammo Hung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sammo-hung/)

> [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

> [“Action is a powerful thing. When you smile through your sadness, it can completely change your outlook. Try it! Smile :) Now hold onto…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leticia-rae/action-is-a-powerful-thing-when-you-smile-through-your-sadness-it-can/)

[Leticia Rae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leticia-rae/)

> [I reject criticism because the last thing I wanted was to sit there and look at people talking. I think people are conditioned to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-tyrnauer/i-reject-criticism-because-the-last-thing-i-wanted-was-to-sit-there/)

[Matt Tyrnauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-tyrnauer/)

> [“I take my actions because of my passion not because of compulsion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/i-take-my-actions-because-of-my-passion-not-because-of-compulsion/)

[Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/)

> [When the first Superman movie came out I was frequently asked "What is a hero?" ...My answer was that a hero is someone who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-reeve/when-the-first-superman-movie-came-out-i-was-frequently-asked-what-is/)

[Christopher Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-reeve/)

[Browse all 14,940 Action quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/action/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Guilt is only another way of avoiding informed action.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Audre Lorde"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/guilt-is-only-another-way-of-avoiding-informed-action/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Action"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/guilt-is-only-another-way-of-avoiding-informed-action/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/048/audre-lorde-758_action_guilt-is-only-another-way-of-avoiding-in_915824.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/048/audre-lorde-758_action_guilt-is-only-another-way-of-avoiding-in_915824.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/048/audre-lorde-758_action_guilt-is-only-another-way-of-avoiding-in_915824.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Guilt is only another way of avoiding informed action.” — Audre Lorde",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Audre Lorde",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Guilt is only another way of...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/guilt-is-only-another-way-of-avoiding-informed-action/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/guilt-is-only-another-way-of-avoiding-informed-action/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
