--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was going to die, sooner or later…" description: "\"“I was going to die, sooner or later, whether or not I had even spoken myself. My silences had not protected me. Your silences will not protect you… Wh..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c1/audre-lorde-758_breaking-silence_i-was-going-to-die-sooner-or-later-wheth_2866807.jpg" --- # I was going to die, sooner or later, whether or not I had… ![“I was going to die, sooner or later, whether or not I had even spoken myself. My silences had not protected me. Your silences will not protect you… What are the words you do not yet have? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of…” quote by Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c1/audre-lorde-758_breaking-silence_i-was-going-to-die-sooner-or-later-wheth_2866807.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c1/audre-lorde-758_breaking-silence_i-was-going-to-die-sooner-or-later-wheth_2866807.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c1/audre-lorde-758_breaking-silence_i-was-going-to-die-sooner-or-later-wheth_2866807.jpg) > ““I was going to die, sooner or later, whether or not I had even spoken myself. My silences had not protected me. Your silences will not protect you… What are the words you do not yet have? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence? We have been socialized to respect fear more than our own need for language." I began to ask each time: "What's the worst that could happen to me if I tell this truth?" Unlike women in other countries, our breaking silence is unlikely to have us jailed, "disappeared" or run off the road at night. Our speaking out will irritate some people, get us called bitchy or hypersensitive and disrupt some dinner parties. And then our speaking out will permit other women to speak, until laws are changed and lives are saved and the world is altered forever. Next time, ask: What's the worst that will happen? Then push yourself a little further than you dare. Once you start to speak, people will yell at you. They will interrupt you, put you down and suggest it's personal. And the world won't end. And the speaking will get easier and easier. And you will find you have fallen in love with your own vision, which you may never have realized you had. And you will lose some friends and lovers, and realize you don't miss them. And new ones will find you and cherish you. And you will still flirt and paint your nails, dress up and party, because, as I think Emma Goldman said, "If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution." And at last you'll know with surpassing certainty that only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth. And that is not speaking.”” [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. Silence sustains oppression; speaking truth is risky but essential for change, despite backlash and personal loss. **In simple terms:** Speak out despite fear. Key Takeaway Break silence to transform society. Themes activism fear truth silence empowerment Mood determined hopeful Type motivational inspirational When to use this quote - public speaking - advocacy - personal storytelling - community organizing Key Concepts social justice psychology political theory Questions to Reflect On - What personal costs are you willing to bear for truth? - How can you support others who speak out? 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They will interrupt you, put you down and suggest it’s personal. And the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/once-you-start-to-speak-people-will-yell-at-you-they-will-interrupt/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [The speaking will get easier and easier. And you will find you have fallen in love with your own vision, which you may never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/the-speaking-will-get-easier-and-easier-and-you-will-find-you-have/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [I was going to die, if not sooner, then later, whether or not I had ever spoken myself. My silences had not protected me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-was-going-to-die-if-not-sooner-then-later-whether-or-not-i-had-ever/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“In becoming forcibly and essentially aware of my mortality, and of what I wished and wanted for my life, however short it might be,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/in-becoming-forcibly-and-essentially-aware-of-my-mortality-and-of-2/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“In becoming forcibly and essentially aware of my mortality, and of what I wished and wanted for my life, however short it might be,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/in-becoming-forcibly-and-essentially-aware-of-my-mortality-and-of/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth, and that is not speaking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/only-one-thing-is-more-frightening-than-speaking-your-truth-and-that/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“I wanted to be Emma Goldman. I wanted to digest Doris Lessing’s Golden Notebooks like biscuits. I felt like Harriet the Spy, looking for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-bright/i-wanted-to-be-emma-goldman-i-wanted-to-digest-doris-lessing-s-golden/) [Susie Bright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-bright/) > [“In the weeks leading up to his arrival by train in Pittsburgh, Alexander Berkman had been obsessed with the escalating drama at Homestead. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcgrath-morris/in-the-weeks-leading-up-to-his-arrival-by-train-in-pittsburgh-2/) [James McGrath Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcgrath-morris/) > [“In the weeks leading up to his arrival by train in Pittsburgh, Alexander Berkman had been obsessed with the escalating drama at Homestead. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcgrath-morris/in-the-weeks-leading-up-to-his-arrival-by-train-in-pittsburgh/) [James McGrath Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcgrath-morris/) > [“I’d rather have roses on my table, than diamonds on my neck. —EMMA GOLDMAN The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ban-breathnach/i-d-rather-have-roses-on-my-table-than-diamonds-on-my-neck-emma/) [Sarah Ban Breathnach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ban-breathnach/) > [They look for a victim to chivy, and howl him down, and finally lynch him in a sheer storm of sexual frenzy which they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/they-look-for-a-victim-to-chivy-and-howl-him-down-and-finally-lynch/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [“On the sixth of September, 1901, President McKinley was shot by Leon Czolgosz at Buffalo. Immediately an unprecedented campaign of persecution was set in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/on-the-sixth-of-september-1901-president-mckinley-was-shot-by-leon/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [A skillful playwright might have a good time with the story of the assassination of President William McKinley, and especially with the three most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-baker/a-skillful-playwright-might-have-a-good-time-with-the-story-of-the/) [Russell Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-baker/) > [“But the question is, historically, part of the group that you're a part of - whether it's racial, gender, religious, whatever - how has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-applebaum/but-the-question-is-historically-part-of-the-group-that-you-re-a-part/) [Jacob Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-applebaum/) > [“There is no conflict between the individual and the social instincts, any more than there is between the heart and the lungs: the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-riggle/there-is-no-conflict-between-the-individual-and-the-social-instincts/) [Nick Riggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-riggle/) ## 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 Breaking silence quotes > [“I’m in,’ said Sanjay, breaking the silence that had fallen following my negotiation. ‘Oh, chico. Adventure, danger, destruction. What else was I doing?’ muttered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-lewis/i-m-in-said-sanjay-breaking-the-silence-that-had-fallen-following-my/) [Maria Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-lewis/) > [You know," Kirk said finally, breaking the silence. "I see it. He is pretty hot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/you-know-kirk-said-finally-breaking-the-silence-i-see-it-he-is-pretty/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [We say and exclaim within ourselves without breaking silence, in a tumult where everything speaks except our mouths. The realities of the soul are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/we-say-and-exclaim-within-ourselves-without-breaking-silence-in-a/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [I cannot forget that the Nobel Prize for Peace was also a commission - a commission to work harder than I had ever worked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/i-cannot-forget-that-the-nobel-prize-for-peace-was-also-a-commission/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but beautiful, struggle for a new world. This is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/now-let-us-begin-now-let-us-rededicate-ourselves-to-the-long-and/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [A true revolution of values will see that the western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/a-true-revolution-of-values-will-see-that-the-western-arrogance-of/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/every-nation-must-now-develop-an-overriding-loyalty-to-mankind-as-a/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our present policies... True compassion is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/a-true-revolution-of-values-will-soon-cause-us-to-question-the/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [When I break My Silence, the impact of My Love will be universal and all life in creation will know, feel and receive of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meher-baba/when-i-break-my-silence-the-impact-of-my-love-will-be-universal-and/) [Meher Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meher-baba/) > [Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/love-is-somehow-the-key-that-unlocks-the-door-which-leads-to-ultimate/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [“Because it is so hard, some people wait until they are in their thirties, forties, fifties, or even older before breaking their silence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-merryn/because-it-is-so-hard-some-people-wait-until-they-are-in-their/) [Erin Merryn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-merryn/) > [The 'tide in the affairs of men' does not remain at the flood; it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-tide-in-the-affairs-of-men-does-not-remain-at-the-flood-it-ebbs/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/we-are-now-faced-with-the-fact-my-friends-that-tomorrow-is-today-we-2/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [“He whispered, breaking the silence because he could no longer bear it, daring to make a noise because a whisper was better than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-golden/he-whispered-breaking-the-silence-because-he-could-no-longer-bear-it/) [Christopher Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-golden/) > [They asked if our own nation wasn't using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/they-asked-if-our-own-nation-wasn-t-using-massive-doses-of-violence/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) [Browse all 51 Breaking silence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breaking-silence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I was going to die, sooner or later, whether or not I had even spoken myself. My silences had not protected me. Your silences will not protect you… What are the words you do not yet have? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence? We have been socialized to respect fear more than our own need for language.\" I began to ask each time: \"What's the worst that could happen to me if I tell this truth?\" Unlike women in other countries, our breaking silence is unlikely to have us jailed, \"disappeared\" or run off the road at night. Our speaking out will irritate some people, get us called bitchy or hypersensitive and disrupt some dinner parties. And then our speaking out will permit other women to speak, until laws are changed and lives are saved and the world is altered forever. Next time, ask: What's the worst that will happen? Then push yourself a little further than you dare. Once you start to speak, people will yell at you. They will interrupt you, put you down and suggest it's personal. And the world won't end. And the speaking will get easier and easier. And you will find you have fallen in love with your own vision, which you may never have realized you had. And you will lose some friends and lovers, and realize you don't miss them. And new ones will find you and cherish you. And you will still flirt and paint your nails, dress up and party, because, as I think Emma Goldman said, \"If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution.\" And at last you'll know with surpassing certainty that only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth. And that is not speaking.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Audre Lorde" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-was-going-to-die-sooner-or-later-whether-or-not-i-had-even-spoken/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Breaking silence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-was-going-to-die-sooner-or-later-whether-or-not-i-had-even-spoken/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c1/audre-lorde-758_breaking-silence_i-was-going-to-die-sooner-or-later-wheth_2866807.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c1/audre-lorde-758_breaking-silence_i-was-going-to-die-sooner-or-later-wheth_2866807.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c1/audre-lorde-758_breaking-silence_i-was-going-to-die-sooner-or-later-wheth_2866807.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I was going to die, sooner or later, whether or not I had even spoken myself. 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