The transformation of silence into language and action is an act of self-revelation, and that always seems fraught with danger. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches (1984)
What I most regretted were my silences. Of what had I ever been afraid? To question or to speak as I believed could have meant pain, or death. But we all hurt in so many different ways, all the time, and pain will either change or end. Death, on the other hand, is the final silence. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches (1984)