--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What is there possibly left for us to be…" description: "\"What is there possibly left for us to be afraid of, after we have dealt face to face with death and not embraced it? Once I accept the existence of dyi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31f/audre-lorde-758_accepting_what-is-there-possibly-left-for-us-to-be_851238.jpg" --- # What is there possibly left for us to be afraid of, after… ![“What is there possibly left for us to be afraid of, after we have dealt face to face with death and not embraced it? Once I accept the existence of dying as a life process, who can ever have power over me again?” quote by Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31f/audre-lorde-758_accepting_what-is-there-possibly-left-for-us-to-be_851238.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31f/audre-lorde-758_accepting_what-is-there-possibly-left-for-us-to-be_851238.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31f/audre-lorde-758_accepting_what-is-there-possibly-left-for-us-to-be_851238.jpg) > “What is there possibly left for us to be afraid of, after we have dealt face to face with death and not embraced it? Once I accept the existence of dying as a life process, who can ever have power over me again?” [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. Confronting mortality removes fear, empowering personal agency over life and death. **In simple terms:** Accepting death frees us from fear. Key Takeaway Embrace mortality to gain power over fear. Themes mortality empowerment fear agency Mood reflective empowering Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - grief counseling - personal development - spiritual practice - creative writing Key Concepts existentialism psychology resilience Questions to Reflect On - How does confronting death change your daily choices? - What fears remain after accepting mortality? A Different Perspective Fear may persist despite acceptance, especially in trauma. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accept Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accept-existence-751795/) [Accepting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accepting/) [Afraid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afraid/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Death Embraced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-embraced-751796/) [Dying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dying/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Existence Dying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence-dying-508122/) [Face Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/face-death/) [Face to face](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/face-to-face/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) ## Related quotes > [“What a terrible thing it is for children to see death, you say. We have it all wrong. If you make a child terrified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-dekker/what-a-terrible-thing-it-is-for-children-to-see-death-you-say-we-have/) [Ted Dekker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-dekker/) > [Unborn eternity does not die; existence is dying and falls asleep in the eternity beyond existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/unborn-eternity-does-not-die-existence-is-dying-and-falls-asleep-in/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > ['Cause I understand now. You said I was gonna die, but you mean this whole world, is gonna blink out of existence. But that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-noble/cause-i-understand-now-you-said-i-was-gonna-die-but-you-mean-this/) [Donna Noble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-noble/) > [I came face to face with death at thirteen years old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-white/i-came-face-to-face-with-death-at-thirteen-years-old/) [Ryan White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-white/) > [“If I had had the power to prevent my own birth I should certainly never have consented to accept existence under such ridiculous conditions.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/if-i-had-had-the-power-to-prevent-my-own-birth-i-should-certainly/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [Once you accept the existence of God - however you define him, however you explain your relationship to him - then you are caught…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morris-west/once-you-accept-the-existence-of-god-however-you-define-him-however/) [Morris West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morris-west/) > [Old age is your own creation: it can be a misery, it can be a celebration; it can be simply a despair, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/old-age-is-your-own-creation-it-can-be-a-misery-it-can-be-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [But the question is, whether the animals who endure such sufferings of various kinds for the service and entertainment of man, would accept existence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/but-the-question-is-whether-the-animals-who-endure-such-sufferings-of/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [For one who feels compelled, as I do, to accept the existence of the Master Architect, it is important to examine his handiwork for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-b-eyring/for-one-who-feels-compelled-as-i-do-to-accept-the-existence-of-the/) [Henry B. Eyring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-b-eyring/) > [Mind's requirements and expectations cannot be fulfilled. Existence has no obligation to fulfill mind's requirements and demands. You have to accept existence as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/mind-s-requirements-and-expectations-cannot-be-fulfilled-existence/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Actually, I think most people accept the existence of qualia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-chalmers/actually-i-think-most-people-accept-the-existence-of-qualia/) [David Chalmers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-chalmers/) > [I can accept the theory of relativity as little as I can accept the existence of atoms and other such dogmas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mach/i-can-accept-the-theory-of-relativity-as-little-as-i-can-accept-the/) [Ernst Mach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mach/) > [This search for perfection - which is a search for divinity - is nothing more than the failure to accept our existence the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernadette-roberts/this-search-for-perfection-which-is-a-search-for-divinity-is-nothing/) [Bernadette Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernadette-roberts/) > [When I planned to ski Everest, the first thing I faced was, 'How can I return alive?' All the preparation and training was based…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuichiro-miura/when-i-planned-to-ski-everest-the-first-thing-i-faced-was-how-can-i/) [Yuichiro Miura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuichiro-miura/) > [“If you´re not ready to face death, you´re not ready to face life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alin-sav/if-you-re-not-ready-to-face-death-you-re-not-ready-to-face-life/) [Alin Sav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alin-sav/) ## 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 Accepting quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing! It is the jester! A voice from the Void, to cheer poor Cicero! I accept your gift, dearest Night Mother.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/laughing-laughing-laughing-laughing-it-is-the-jester-a-voice-from-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [This duo inside of me causes the perfect opportunity to live and learn twice as fast as those who choose to accept simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/this-duo-inside-of-me-causes-the-perfect-opportunity-to-live-and/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [Don't be bitter. Everybody suffers. If you can accept your suffering then you will understand other people better. Be grateful for pain. Love life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/don-t-be-bitter-everybody-suffers-if-you-can-accept-your-suffering/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [It takes an unusually philosophic mind to accept that all one’s suffering might be to no end, really, in the larger scheme of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-takes-an-unusually-philosophic-mind-to-accept-that-all-one-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No nation being under another nation can accept gifts, and kick at the responsibility attached to those gifts, imposed by the conquering nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-nation-being-under-another-nation-can-accept-gifts-and-kick-at-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Even with clothing naked animals, there were people who wanted to send in money. A woman in Santa Barbara, California, sent a $40,000 check.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-abel/even-with-clothing-naked-animals-there-were-people-who-wanted-to-send/) [Alan Abel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-abel/) > [Society understands the architecture of academia and knows there are relevant qualifications in different fields, and the media accepts the idea of specialisations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-griffiths/society-understands-the-architecture-of-academia-and-knows-there-are/) [Jay Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-griffiths/) > [Whatever your conscious mind assumes and believes to be true, your subconscious mind will accept and bring to pass. Believe in good fortune, divine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-murphy/whatever-your-conscious-mind-assumes-and-believes-to-be-true-your/) [Joseph Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-murphy/) > [Losing someone is easy, but accepting it is hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/losing-someone-is-easy-but-accepting-it-is-hard/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [As my films are born at the moment when they are reflected into another person's mind and memories, there are no misconceptions. I totally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pirjo-honkasalo/as-my-films-are-born-at-the-moment-when-they-are-reflected-into/) [Pirjo Honkasalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pirjo-honkasalo/) [Browse all 6,788 Accepting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accepting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What is there possibly left for us to be afraid of, after we have dealt face to face with death and not embraced it? 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