--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poetry is not a luxury." description: "\"Poetry is not a luxury.\" — Audre Lorde" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/audre-lorde-758_luxury_poetry-is-not-a-luxury-1253194_1253194.jpg" --- # Poetry is not a luxury. ![“Poetry is not a luxury.” quote by Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/audre-lorde-758_luxury_poetry-is-not-a-luxury-1253194_1253194.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/audre-lorde-758_luxury_poetry-is-not-a-luxury-1253194_1253194.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/audre-lorde-758_luxury_poetry-is-not-a-luxury-1253194_1253194.jpg) > “Poetry is not a luxury.” [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. Poetry is essential, not optional, as it expresses truths and experiences that other forms cannot capture. **In simple terms:** Poetry is essential. Key Takeaway Value poetry as a vital expression. Themes art expression truth Mood thoughtful empowering Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - education - activism - mental health - community building Key Concepts literary necessity cultural voice Questions to Reflect On - How does poetry shape your understanding of self? - In what ways can poetry influence social change? A Different Perspective Some may view poetry as nonessential. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Luxury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luxury/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poetry is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry-is/) [Poetry Luxury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry-luxury-1097379/) ## Related quotes > [If what we need to dream, to move our spirits most deeply and directly toward and through promise, is discounted as a luxury, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/if-what-we-need-to-dream-to-move-our-spirits-most-deeply-and-directly/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [... poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/poetry-is-not-a-luxury-it-is-a-vital-necessity-of-our-existence-it/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [I had no one to help me, but the T. S. Eliot helped me. So when people say that poetry is a luxury, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/i-had-no-one-to-help-me-but-the-t-s-eliot-helped-me-so-when-people/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [For women, then, poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/for-women-then-poetry-is-not-a-luxury-it-is-a-vital-necessity-of-our/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“Poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity for our existence. It forms the quality of light from which we predicate our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/poetry-is-not-a-luxury-it-is-a-vital-necessity-for-our-existence-it/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [For women ... poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of light within which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/for-women-poetry-is-not-a-luxury-it-is-a-vital-necessity-of-our/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Too many people in the modern world view poetry as a luxury, not a necessity like petrol. But to me it's the oil of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-betjeman/too-many-people-in-the-modern-world-view-poetry-as-a-luxury-not-a/) [John Betjeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-betjeman/) > [“Poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought. The farthest horizons of our hopes and fears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/poetry-is-the-way-we-help-give-name-to-the-nameless-so-it-can-be/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Of all the art forms, poetry is the most economical. It is the one which is the most secret, which requires the least physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/of-all-the-art-forms-poetry-is-the-most-economical-it-is-the-one/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [For we have been socialized to respect fear more than our own needs for language and definition, and while we wait in silence for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/for-we-have-been-socialized-to-respect-fear-more-than-our-own-needs/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Poetry is the dark side of the moon,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-wright/poetry-is-the-dark-side-of-the-moon/) [Charles Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-wright/) > [As to London we must console ourselves with the thought that if life outside is less poetic than it was in the days of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goldwin-smith/as-to-london-we-must-console-ourselves-with-the-thought-that-if-life/) [Goldwin Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goldwin-smith/) > [All poetry is misrepresentation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-bentham/all-poetry-is-misrepresentation/) [Jeremy Bentham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-bentham/) > [What I search for continuously in my art is adequate language, language I hope can stand beyond any particular occasion. What I'm finding is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/what-i-search-for-continuously-in-my-art-is-adequate-language/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [I think that at a certain age, say fifteen or sixteen, poetry is like masturbation. But later in life good poets burn their early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/i-think-that-at-a-certain-age-say-fifteen-or-sixteen-poetry-is-like/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) ## 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 Luxury quotes > [Let us have the luxury of silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/let-us-have-the-luxury-of-silence/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [I had an idea for a technologically advanced luxury watch. I got involved in digital art and neon painting and put on shows of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorgio-moroder/i-had-an-idea-for-a-technologically-advanced-luxury-watch-i-got/) [Giorgio Moroder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgio-moroder/) > [It's tragic what America has become because there is a great segment of society that now resents luxury and success and achievement by others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-leach/it-s-tragic-what-america-has-become-because-there-is-a-great-segment/) [Robin Leach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-leach/) > [“I've always been after the trappings of great luxury. But all I've got hold of are the trappings of great poverty. I've got hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-cook/i-ve-always-been-after-the-trappings-of-great-luxury-but-all-i-ve-got/) [Peter Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-cook/) > [For me, the melancholy of the late XXth Century is walking late at night by the Mont Blanc pen store and seeing these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/for-me-the-melancholy-of-the-late-xxth-century-is-walking-late-at/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [Is the minor convenience of allowing the present generation the luxury of doubling its energy consumption every 10 years worth the major hazard of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-r-brower/is-the-minor-convenience-of-allowing-the-present-generation-the/) [David R. Brower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-r-brower/) > [Our obsession with material things and lack of self-worth is evident in our need for an abundance of momentary luxuries and must-have amenities that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-i/our-obsession-with-material-things-and-lack-of-self-worth-is-evident/) [T.I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-i/) > [From my experience, I don't have the luxury to trust anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sirivi/from-my-experience-i-don-t-have-the-luxury-to-trust-anyone/) [Sirivi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sirivi/) > [Just as Wall Street needs to break the hold of the bonus culture, which drives risk-taking that is rational for individuals but damaging to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-schekman/just-as-wall-street-needs-to-break-the-hold-of-the-bonus-culture/) [Randy Schekman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-schekman/) > [It is, of course, a luxury to create art and, on top of this, to insist on expressing one's own artistic opinion. Nothing is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-beckmann/it-is-of-course-a-luxury-to-create-art-and-on-top-of-this-to-insist/) [Max Beckmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-beckmann/) > [“what a luxury to be alone once more,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/what-a-luxury-to-be-alone-once-more/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“There is an inverse relationship between the time spent purchasing luxury items such as cars and clothes and the time spent planning one’s financial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-j-stanley/there-is-an-inverse-relationship-between-the-time-spent-purchasing/) [Thomas J. Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-j-stanley/) > [“Looking out the rain-fogged window at the gray November day, Mary felt almost grateful for the snug warmth of her well-heated chamber. Escape, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-george/looking-out-the-rain-fogged-window-at-the-gray-november-day-mary-felt/) [Margaret George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-george/) > [“In general, poor is polite and rich is rude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/in-general-poor-is-polite-and-rich-is-rude/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [In a world where lifelong employment in the same job is a thing of the past, creativity is not a luxury. It is essential…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-robinson/in-a-world-where-lifelong-employment-in-the-same-job-is-a-thing-of/) [Ken Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-robinson/) [Browse all 1,926 Luxury quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luxury/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Poetry is not a luxury.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Audre Lorde" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/poetry-is-not-a-luxury/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Luxury" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/poetry-is-not-a-luxury/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/audre-lorde-758_luxury_poetry-is-not-a-luxury-1253194_1253194.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/audre-lorde-758_luxury_poetry-is-not-a-luxury-1253194_1253194.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/audre-lorde-758_luxury_poetry-is-not-a-luxury-1253194_1253194.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Poetry is not a luxury.” — 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": "Poetry is not a luxury.", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/poetry-is-not-a-luxury/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/poetry-is-not-a-luxury/#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 } } ] } ```