"In our work and in our living, we must recognize that difference is a reason for celebration and growth, rather than a reason for destruction"
About this Quote
The line works because it refuses neutrality. “In our work and in our living” collapses the usual escape hatch that lets institutions talk progressive while private life stays segregated, and vice versa. Lorde’s insistence on “must recognize” is not motivational-poster energy; it’s an ethical ultimatum. Recognition is depicted as a practice with consequences, not an opinion you hold.
The subtext is the part that bites: destruction is not a freak accident that happens when people “don’t get along.” It’s an outcome produced when difference is treated as threat. Lorde is writing from inside multiple, intersecting forms of marginalization (Black, lesbian, feminist, mother, cancer survivor), and her work consistently critiques how even liberation movements replicate hierarchies by demanding sameness as the price of belonging. “Celebration and growth” isn’t naive optimism; it’s strategic. Celebration signals joy as a political resource, while growth implies discomfort, friction, and change - the kinds of change institutions often fear because it redistributes attention, safety, and power.
Contextually, this sits in Lorde’s broader argument (especially in her essays on “the master’s tools”) that difference can’t be managed with token inclusion. It has to be cultivated as a source of new knowledge - or it will be weaponized into yet another excuse for domination.
Quote Details
| Topic | Equality |
|---|---|
| Source | Verified source: Black Women Writers at Work (Audre Lorde, 1983)
Evidence: In our work and in our living, we must recognize that difference is a reason for celebration and growth, rather than a reason for destruction. (pp. 100–116 (Audre Lorde interview section; quote appears within this range; exact page not verified from primary scan)). Primary-source attribution: this line appears in Audre Lorde’s interview as printed in Claudia Tate (ed.), Black Women Writers at Work (Continuum, 1983). A commonly-circulated alternate attribution to an “Oberlin College Commencement Speech, 1985” appears on some secondary sites, but I did not find a verifiable primary transcript tying this exact wording to Oberlin. The maps-legacy page reproduces the passage and explicitly cites: “Audre Lorde.” Black Women Writers at Work. Ed. Claudia Tate. NY: Continuum, 1983. 100-16. Because I have not accessed a page-image scan of the Continuum book itself here, I cannot confirm the exact page number inside pp. 100–116 where the sentence occurs, only the cited page range for the interview section. Other candidates (1) Conversations with Audre Lorde (Audre Lorde, 2004) compilation97.2% Audre Lorde Joan Wylie Hall. destructive as any imposed by racism . This is particularly ... In our work and in our l... |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Lorde, Audre. (2026, February 20). In our work and in our living, we must recognize that difference is a reason for celebration and growth, rather than a reason for destruction. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/in-our-work-and-in-our-living-we-must-recognize-138386/
Chicago Style
Lorde, Audre. "In our work and in our living, we must recognize that difference is a reason for celebration and growth, rather than a reason for destruction." FixQuotes. February 20, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/in-our-work-and-in-our-living-we-must-recognize-138386/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"In our work and in our living, we must recognize that difference is a reason for celebration and growth, rather than a reason for destruction." FixQuotes, 20 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/in-our-work-and-in-our-living-we-must-recognize-138386/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
