--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Without community, there is no…" description: "\"Without community, there is no liberation...but community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fda/audre-lorde-758_community_without-community-there-is-no-liberation_557892.jpg" --- # Without community, there is no liberation...but community… ![“Without community, there is no liberation...but community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences do not exist.” quote by Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fda/audre-lorde-758_community_without-community-there-is-no-liberation_557892.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fda/audre-lorde-758_community_without-community-there-is-no-liberation_557892.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fda/audre-lorde-758_community_without-community-there-is-no-liberation_557892.jpg) > “Without community, there is no liberation...but community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences do not exist.” [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. Freedom requires community, but true community respects and preserves differences rather than erasing them. **In simple terms:** Community must honor diversity, not pretend differences don’t exist. Key Takeaway Cultivate inclusive spaces that celebrate varied identities. Themes social justice diversity solidarity Mood empathetic thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - activism - workplace inclusion - educational settings - online forums Key Concepts intersectionality collective liberation identity politics Questions to Reflect On - How can you ensure differences are valued in your group? - What practices foster genuine inclusive dialogue? A Different Perspective Ideal communities can be hard to sustain amid conflict. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Liberation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberation/) [Pretense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pretense/) ## Related quotes > [Without community, there is no liberation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/without-community-there-is-no-liberation/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Difference is that raw and powerful connection from which our personal power is forged... We have been taught to either ignore our differences or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/difference-is-that-raw-and-powerful-connection-from-which-our/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [By community I mean that community you have a special vision for, that only you see, that no one else in a room sees.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/by-community-i-mean-that-community-you-have-a-special-vision-for-that/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [“Wendell Berry’s definition: “If the word community is to mean or amount to anything, it must refer to a place (in its natural integrity)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-votava/wendell-berry-s-definition-if-the-word-community-is-to-mean-or-amount/) [Mark Votava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-votava/) > [Me and my boyfriend have so many differences, I exist. he doesn't](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/me-and-my-boyfriend-have-so-many-differences-i-exist-he-doesn-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Don’t dwell upon contrasts. Differences do exist between people, but dwelling upon them is a dangerous process.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henepola-gunaratana/don-t-dwell-upon-contrasts-differences-do-exist-between-people-but/) [Henepola Gunaratana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henepola-gunaratana/) > [Everyone wants to be happy; happiness is a right. And while on a secondary level differences exist of nationality, faith, family background, social status…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/everyone-wants-to-be-happy-happiness-is-a-right-and-while-on-a/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Differences will always exist, but division doesn't always have to result.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/differences-will-always-exist-but-division-doesn-t-always-have-to/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [Differences exist in practice and organization between the Lord's Church and man-made institutions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-m-nelson/differences-exist-in-practice-and-organization-between-the-lord-s/) [Russell M. Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-m-nelson/) > [“We must stand together, realizing the complexity of our histories, both personal and social, choosing when we can tolerate each other’s company and when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-nestle/we-must-stand-together-realizing-the-complexity-of-our-histories-both/) [Joan Nestle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-nestle/) > [Except for their genitals, I don't know what immutable differences exist between men and women. Perhaps there are some other unchangeable differences; probably there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-weisstein/except-for-their-genitals-i-don-t-know-what-immutable-differences/) [Naomi Weisstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-weisstein/) > [Now each one of us, black or white, is a symbol. The war is out in the open and the skin color is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/now-each-one-of-us-black-or-white-is-a-symbol-the-war-is-out-in-the/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [We cannot settle for the pretenses of connection, or for the parodies of self-love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/we-cannot-settle-for-the-pretenses-of-connection-or-for-the-parodies/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“Employment is an employee’s kissing of an employer’s ass. A salary is the employer’s pretense to be cleaning his ass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/employment-is-an-employee-s-kissing-of-an-employer-s-ass-a-salary-is/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [There's this American pretense, which is the pretense of the journalist with the view from nowhere - which has somehow morphed into the journalist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/there-s-this-american-pretense-which-is-the-pretense-of-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) ## 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 Community quotes > [Race is the idea that a human being is more superior than another human being, race in society grants illusional rights to mistreat each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/race-is-the-idea-that-a-human-being-is-more-superior-than-another/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) > [But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-sarabhai/but-we-are-convinced-that-if-we-are-to-play-a-meaningful-role/) [Vikram Sarabhai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-sarabhai/) > [In the hearing world, I'm constantly having to lip-read and trying to understand what's going on. Sign language is so beautiful. It gives you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-ayling-ellis/in-the-hearing-world-i-m-constantly-having-to-lip-read-and-trying-to/) [Rose Ayling-Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-ayling-ellis/) > [The strains and stresses suffered by the individual in society are grounded in the normal functioning of that society (and of the individual!) rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/the-strains-and-stresses-suffered-by-the-individual-in-society-are/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [Hackney gets a bit of a bad rap, but it's the only place I've ever lived that felt like a community. I know my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-horgan/hackney-gets-a-bit-of-a-bad-rap-but-it-s-the-only-place-i-ve-ever/) [Sharon Horgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-horgan/) > [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-haque/the-social-media-channel-isn-t-about-beauty-contests-and-popularity/) [Umair Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-haque/) > [We're at a point in history were we have to become a part of the neighborhood of inhabited planets, like a neighborhood of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-re-at-a-point-in-history-were-we-have-to-become-a-part-of-the/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [I have to feel the audience. I enjoy that feeling of community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-gahan/i-have-to-feel-the-audience-i-enjoy-that-feeling-of-community/) [Dave Gahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-gahan/) > [It rolls off my back. Ridicule doesn't mean anything - even from people you're supposed to wear knee pads around, like the scientific community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-schultz/it-rolls-off-my-back-ridicule-doesn-t-mean-anything-even-from-people/) [Dwight Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-schultz/) > [Jeff Chu's pilgrimage across America to discover his own place as a gay man in the Christian church as well as attitudes about being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-freitas/jeff-chu-s-pilgrimage-across-america-to-discover-his-own-place-as-a/) [Donna Freitas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-freitas/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Human life consists of doing certain things ... to take part in the life of the community; to be able to talk about subjects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/human-life-consists-of-doing-certain-things-to-take-part-in-the-life/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [Parents who are stressed or disturbed will have more difficulty in meeting their children's needs. 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Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/) [Browse all 13,840 Community quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Without community, there is no liberation...but community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences do not exist.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Audre Lorde" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/without-community-there-is-no-liberation-but-community-must-not-mean/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Community" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/without-community-there-is-no-liberation-but-community-must-not-mean/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fda/audre-lorde-758_community_without-community-there-is-no-liberation_557892.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fda/audre-lorde-758_community_without-community-there-is-no-liberation_557892.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fda/audre-lorde-758_community_without-community-there-is-no-liberation_557892.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Without community, there is no liberation...but community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor…” — 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": "Without community, there is no liberation...but...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/without-community-there-is-no-liberation-but-community-must-not-mean/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/without-community-there-is-no-liberation-but-community-must-not-mean/#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 } } ] } ```