Q0555
“Poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our…” — Audre Lorde ("Poetry Is Not a Luxury" (1977),…)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: "Poetry Is Not a Luxury" (1977), in Sister Outsider. Theme: language.
English
Poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to "Poetry Is Not a Luxury" (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, knowledge, freedom.
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.
- Knowledge
- Knowledge is the philosophical study of what we can justifiably claim to know—and where certainty ends.
- 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.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Audre Lorde. (n.d.). Poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0555
MLA: Audre Lorde. “Poetry is not a luxury. It is a….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0555.
Chicago: Audre Lorde. “Poetry is not a luxury. It is a….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0555.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “Poetry is not a luxury. It is a…”?
The passage is attributed to Audre Lorde, "Poetry Is Not a Luxury" (1977), in Sister Outsider. The archive attributes this English wording to "Poetry Is Not a Luxury" (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, knowledge, freedom.