Those of us who stand outside the circle of this society's definition of acceptable women; those of us who have been forged in the crucibles of difference - those of us who are poor, who are lesbians, who are black, who are older - know that survival is not an academic skill...For the master's tools will not dismantle the master's house. They will never allow us to bring about genuine change.

~ Audre Lorde

Audre Lorde Differences Different Exclusion Impoverished Lesbians Outcasts Poor Povetry Race Racism Rejection Social Acceptance Society Survival Survival Skills Women

Even if our survival skills have become impediments we would like to let go of because they have ceased to serve us, we can still love ourselves with them. In appreciation of our survival, we can be awed at how our resources brought us through, even when these resources were things like indifference, a wall of rage, a cold heart…We learn to embrace ourselves as humans with faults and problems.

~ Maureen Brady

Maureen Brady Abuse Survivors Child Sexual Abuse Child Sexual Abuse Survivor Empowerment Healing Healing Insights Rage Recovery Self Acceptance Self Acceptance Quotes Survival Survival Skills Survivor Survivors Survivorship Valuing Yourself

She is doing that on purpose, he thought as he tried to force his own smile away from his wide, damp jaws. She is being adorable as some sort of hideous ruse, to spite me. What a mean baby!...Do not fall in love with that baby...

~ Kelly Barnhill

Kelly Barnhill Babies Parenting Survival Skills