--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Power is the ability to take one's place…" description: "\"Power is the ability to take one's place in whatever discourse is essential to action and the right to have one's part matter.\" — Carolyn Heilbrun" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/660/carolyn-heilbrun-11912_ability_power-is-the-ability-to-take-one-s-place_1813153.jpg" --- # Power is the ability to take one's place in whatever… ![“Power is the ability to take one's place in whatever discourse is essential to action and the right to have one's part matter.” quote by Carolyn Heilbrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/660/carolyn-heilbrun-11912_ability_power-is-the-ability-to-take-one-s-place_1813153.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/660/carolyn-heilbrun-11912_ability_power-is-the-ability-to-take-one-s-place_1813153.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/660/carolyn-heilbrun-11912_ability_power-is-the-ability-to-take-one-s-place_1813153.jpg) > “Power is the ability to take one's place in whatever discourse is essential to action and the right to have one's part matter.” [Carolyn Heilbrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-heilbrun/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Power involves securing one's voice in essential discussions and ensuring one's contributions matter. **In simple terms:** Power is having a voice that matters. Key Takeaway Speak up in key conversations. Themes power voice agency discourse gender Mood assertive empowering Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - workplace meetings - community activism - academic panels - policy debates Key Concepts Sociology political theory feminist thought Questions to Reflect On - Which discourses need my input? - How can I amplify marginalized voices? A Different Perspective Power can be limited by structural barriers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) [Action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/action/) [Discourse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discourse/) [Discourse Essential](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discourse-essential-2132761/) [Essential Action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/essential-action-2132762/) [Essentials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/essentials/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Power Ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power-ability-291117/) ## Related quotes > [“Stopping, sitting down and finding time for reflection are considered to be the most essential action related to fulfilling a human’s destination”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/stopping-sitting-down-and-finding-time-for-reflection-are-considered/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“the true test of awesome power is the ability not to use it,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-l-chalker/the-true-test-of-awesome-power-is-the-ability-not-to-use-it/) [Jack L. Chalker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-l-chalker/) > [“Psychic power is the ability to download information directly from the Universe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lada-ray/psychic-power-is-the-ability-to-download-information-directly-from/) [Lada Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lada-ray/) > [The qualities and capacities that are important in running-such factors as will power, the ability to apply effort during extreme fatigue and the acceptance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-fixx/the-qualities-and-capacities-that-are-important-in-running-such/) [Jim Fixx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-fixx/) > [POWER: The ability to make our fellow humans squirm, sweat and stammer on command. Often regarded as an aphrodisiac; actually a potent laxative that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-bayan/power-the-ability-to-make-our-fellow-humans-squirm-sweat-and-stammer/) [Rick Bayan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-bayan/) > [Personal power is the ability to enter into different planes of reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/personal-power-is-the-ability-to-enter-into-different-planes-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Power: The ability to force or coerce someone to do your will, even if they would choose not to, because of your position or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hunter/power-the-ability-to-force-or-coerce-someone-to-do-your-will-even-if/) [James Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hunter/) > [Personal power is the ability to take action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/personal-power-is-the-ability-to-take-action/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [Power is the ability to afford not to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-deutsch/power-is-the-ability-to-afford-not-to-learn/) [Karl Deutsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-deutsch/) > [Power is the ability to define reality and to have other people respond to your definition as if it were their own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-wade-noble/power-is-the-ability-to-define-reality-and-to-have-other-people/) [Dr Wade Noble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-wade-noble/) > [“Real power is basically the ability to change something if you want to change it. It’s the ability to make change happen. Real power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/real-power-is-basically-the-ability-to-change-something-if-you-want/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [Real power has to do with one's ability to influence the hearts and minds of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/real-power-has-to-do-with-one-s-ability-to-influence-the-hearts-and/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Power is the ability to get things done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosabeth-moss-kanter/power-is-the-ability-to-get-things-done/) [Rosabeth Moss Kanter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosabeth-moss-kanter/) > [Power is the ability not to have to please.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-janeway/power-is-the-ability-not-to-have-to-please/) [Elizabeth Janeway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-janeway/) > [If I could have one super power, it would be the ability to read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-kimmel/if-i-could-have-one-super-power-it-would-be-the-ability-to-read/) [Jimmy Kimmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-kimmel/) ## More by Carolyn Heilbrun > [We cannot guess the outcome of our actions... Which is why our actions must always be acceptable in themselves, and not as strategies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-heilbrun/we-cannot-guess-the-outcome-of-our-actions-which-is-why-our-actions/) [Carolyn Heilbrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-heilbrun/) > [I don't know why togetherness was ever held up as an ideal of marriage. Away from home for both, then together, that's much better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-heilbrun/i-don-t-know-why-togetherness-was-ever-held-up-as-an-ideal-of/) [Carolyn Heilbrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-heilbrun/) > [In former days, everyone found the assumption of innocence so easy; today we find fatally easy the assumption of guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-heilbrun/in-former-days-everyone-found-the-assumption-of-innocence-so-easy/) [Carolyn Heilbrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-heilbrun/) > [“. . . the less androgynous the person, the likelier he or she was to be incapable of action if the appropriate action was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-heilbrun/the-less-androgynous-the-person-the-likelier-he-or-she-was-to-be/) [Carolyn Heilbrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-heilbrun/) > [“But will anyone again look at that tree, read that poem, love a dog in quite my way? I am a particular and, despite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-heilbrun/but-will-anyone-again-look-at-that-tree-read-that-poem-love-a-dog-in/) [Carolyn Heilbrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-heilbrun/) > [maturity ... is letting things happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-heilbrun/maturity-is-letting-things-happen/) [Carolyn Heilbrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-heilbrun/) > [one sank into the ancient sin of anomie when challenges failed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-heilbrun/one-sank-into-the-ancient-sin-of-anomie-when-challenges-failed/) [Carolyn Heilbrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-heilbrun/) > [Ardent, intelligent, sweet, sensitive, cultivated, erudite. These are the adjectives of praise in an androgynous world. Those who consider them epithets of shame or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-heilbrun/ardent-intelligent-sweet-sensitive-cultivated-erudite-these-are-the/) [Carolyn Heilbrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-heilbrun/) > [Quoting, like smoking, ... is a dirty habit to which I am devoted. But then ... I am a professor of English literature; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-heilbrun/quoting-like-smoking-is-a-dirty-habit-to-which-i-am-devoted-but-then/) [Carolyn Heilbrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-heilbrun/) > [That is the point of quotations. One can use another's words to be insulting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-heilbrun/that-is-the-point-of-quotations-one-can-use-another-s-words-to-be/) [Carolyn Heilbrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-heilbrun/) > [ a revolutionary marriage ... \[is\] one in which both partners have work at the center of their lives and must find a delicate balance… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-heilbrun/a-revolutionary-marriage-is-one-in-which-both-partners-have-work-at/) [Carolyn Heilbrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-heilbrun/) > [The rare, delicate flavor of a life after retiring in one's sixties, whatever one has "retired" from, the pleasure I experienced beyond my job…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-heilbrun/the-rare-delicate-flavor-of-a-life-after-retiring-in-one-s-sixties/) [Carolyn Heilbrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-heilbrun/) > [What marks a writer is this: until she - or he, of course - writes down whatever happened, turns it into a story, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-heilbrun/what-marks-a-writer-is-this-until-she-or-he-of-course-writes-down/) [Carolyn Heilbrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-heilbrun/) > [Whether deliberately, unconsciously or accidentally, she seems to have composed her own life so that its fitful, rudderless, and self-doubting first half was alchemized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-heilbrun/whether-deliberately-unconsciously-or-accidentally-she-seems-to-have/) [Carolyn Heilbrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-heilbrun/) > [Upon becoming fifty the one thing you can't afford is habit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-heilbrun/upon-becoming-fifty-the-one-thing-you-can-t-afford-is-habit/) [Carolyn Heilbrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-heilbrun/) [Explore all 57 Carolyn Heilbrun quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-heilbrun/) ## More Ability quotes > [I don't think there's a direct correlation between my sexuality and my skiing ability. But I think because I was so concerned about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-kenworthy/i-don-t-think-there-s-a-direct-correlation-between-my-sexuality-and/) [Gus Kenworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-kenworthy/) > [“the importance of ability. The things that make a great job great, I discovered, are rare and valuable. If you want them in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/the-importance-of-ability-the-things-that-make-a-great-job-great-i/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [The ability of the gospel to unite us on common strengths and common truths is one of the great miracles . . . of the gospel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-ability-of-the-gospel-to-unite-us-on-common-strengths-and-common/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Maybe law enforcement would like the ability to turn on the camera on your Mac.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cook/maybe-law-enforcement-would-like-the-ability-to-turn-on-the-camera-on/) [Tim Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cook/) > [I've seen guys come along with more ability - they've been faster or bigger or stronger - but they never worked hard to develop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-largent/i-ve-seen-guys-come-along-with-more-ability-they-ve-been-faster-or/) [Steve Largent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-largent/) > [The youth of India has the strength to move the entire World with a click of a mouse, we have generated that ability!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/the-youth-of-india-has-the-strength-to-move-the-entire-world-with-a/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [An absolutely necessary part of a writer's equipment, almost as necessary as talent, is the ability to stand up under punishment, both the punishment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-shaw/an-absolutely-necessary-part-of-a-writer-s-equipment-almost-as/) [Irwin Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-shaw/) > [I'd be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I'd been given. I'd be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/i-d-be-more-frightened-by-not-using-whatever-abilities-i-d-been-given/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) > [You can only do the work to the very best of your ability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-baranski/you-can-only-do-the-work-to-the-very-best-of-your-ability/) [Christine Baranski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-baranski/) > [Judge a person not by his ability to make money but by his ability to retain it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/judge-a-person-not-by-his-ability-to-make-money-but-by-his-ability-to/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Bobby had faith in my ability as a singer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-london/bobby-had-faith-in-my-ability-as-a-singer/) [Julie London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-london/) [Browse all 9,990 Ability quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Power is the ability to take one's place in whatever discourse is essential to action and the right to have one's part matter.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Carolyn Heilbrun" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-heilbrun/power-is-the-ability-to-take-one-s-place-in-whatever-discourse-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ability" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-heilbrun/power-is-the-ability-to-take-one-s-place-in-whatever-discourse-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/660/carolyn-heilbrun-11912_ability_power-is-the-ability-to-take-one-s-place_1813153.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/660/carolyn-heilbrun-11912_ability_power-is-the-ability-to-take-one-s-place_1813153.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/660/carolyn-heilbrun-11912_ability_power-is-the-ability-to-take-one-s-place_1813153.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Power is the ability to take one's place in whatever discourse is essential to action and the right to have…” — Carolyn Heilbrun", "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": "Carolyn Heilbrun", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-heilbrun/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Power is the ability to take...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-heilbrun/power-is-the-ability-to-take-one-s-place-in-whatever-discourse-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-heilbrun/power-is-the-ability-to-take-one-s-place-in-whatever-discourse-is/#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 } } ] } ```