Q0554
“Your silence will not protect you.” — Audre Lorde ("The Transformation of Silence into Language…)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action" (1977), in Sister Outsider. Theme: language.
English
Your silence will not protect you.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action" (1977), 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
Across 4 recurring voices here (notably Ludwig Wittgenstein and Kwasi Wiredu), language is framed through Analytic Philosophy and Africana Philosophy. Some passages define language; others warn how it fails; still others relocate it inside habit, community, or language. This passage enters that discussion through language, courage, justice.
Concepts in this quote
- Language
- Language appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat language as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.
- Courage
- Courage is the virtue of facing fear without abandoning judgment—central to ethics from Aristotle to modern existential resolve.
- Justice
- Justice concerns fairness, rights, desert, and the arrangement of institutions that claim to treat people as equals.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Audre Lorde. (n.d.). Your silence will not protect you. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0554
MLA: Audre Lorde. “Your silence will not protect you..” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0554.
Chicago: Audre Lorde. “Your silence will not protect you..” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0554.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “Your silence will not protect you.”?
The passage is attributed to Audre Lorde, "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action" (1977), in Sister Outsider. The archive attributes this English wording to "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action" (1977), 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 language?
Across 4 recurring voices here (notably Ludwig Wittgenstein and Kwasi Wiredu), language is framed through Analytic Philosophy and Africana Philosophy. Some passages define language; others warn how it fails; still others relocate it inside habit, community, or language. This passage enters that discussion through language, courage, justice.