We can sit in our safe corners mute as bottles, and we will still be no less afraid…[I]n this way alone we can survive, by taking part in a process of life that is creative and continuing, that is growth. And it is never without fear — of visibility, of the harsh light of scrutiny and perhaps judgment….But we have lived through all of those already, in silence….And I remind myself all the time now that if I were to have been born mute, or had maintained an oath of silence my whole life long for safety, I would still have suffered, and I would still die. It is very good for establishing perspective —
from "Transformation of Silence into Language and Action," Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider, Santa Cruz, CA: Crossing Press, 1984
Thoughts In Random Patterns 