Q0553
“The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house.” — Audre Lorde ("The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle…)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House" (1979), in Sister Outsider. Theme: power.
English
The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House" (1979), in Sister Outsider and files it under Feminist Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Audre Lorde
Audre Lorde (1934–1992) was a Black lesbian feminist poet and essayist whose Sister Outsider gathered speeches that treat difference, anger, and language as philosophical-political problems. She wrote as a self-described warrior poet confronting racism, sexism, and homophobia.
How to read this passage
Philosophers analyze domination, authority, freedom, and the micro-politics of everyday life. Power can enable justice or crush it. This passage enters that discussion through power, freedom, otherness.
Concepts in this quote
- Power
- Power is the capacity to affect others and to shape what counts as possible—central to politics and ethics.
- Freedom
- Freedom is among the most searched and most contested themes in philosophy: what it is to choose, to be responsible, and to live without illegitimate constraint.
- Otherness
- Otherness appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat otherness as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Audre Lorde. (n.d.). The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0553
MLA: Audre Lorde. “The master's tools will never dismantle the master's….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0553.
Chicago: Audre Lorde. “The master's tools will never dismantle the master's….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0553.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “The master's tools will never dismantle the master's…”?
The passage is attributed to Audre Lorde, "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House" (1979), in Sister Outsider. The archive attributes this English wording to "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House" (1979), in Sister Outsider and files it under Feminist Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Audre Lorde mean by power?
Philosophers analyze domination, authority, freedom, and the micro-politics of everyday life. Power can enable justice or crush it. This passage enters that discussion through power, freedom, otherness.