Authors: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

88 Memorable Quotes By Adrienne Rich, The Author Of Diving Into The Wreck

Famous As: American poet
Born On: May 16, 1929
Died On: March 27, 2012
Born In: Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Died At Age: 82

Adrienne Cecile Rich was a vocal feminist, poet and essayist from the United States, who became one of the most well-known poets of the latter part of the 20th century and has also been credited for being one of the most influential voices on feminism during her time. She studied at Radcliffe College and then went to Oxford University on a Guggenheim Fellowship but she did not complete her course. Rich’s first book of poetry collections titled ‘A Change of the World’ received plaudits and she got the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award for the book. Some of her noted works include ‘The Dream of a Common Language’, ‘Diving Into the Wreck’, ‘Snapshots of a Daughter-in-law’, ‘A Wild Patience Has Taken Me this Far’ and ‘An Atlas of the Difficult World’, among others. On the other hand, she has also written a bit of non-fiction on issues about which she felt strongly. Some of the important ones are ‘Blood, Bread and Poetry: Selected Prose’, ‘Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution’ and 'On Lies, Secrets and Silence’ among others. Rich was one of the most important intellectuals of her time and her books are still read all over the world due to their literary richness. Here are some of the best quotes by Adrienne Rich.

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There must be those among whom we can sit down and weep and still be counted as warriors.

There must be those among whom we can sit down and weep and still be counted as warriors.

Adrienne Rich
Lying is done with words, and also with silence.

Lying is done with words, and also with silence.

Adrienne Rich
Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brains and instincts; hence, grappling with hard work.

Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brains and instincts; hence, grappling with hard work.

Adrienne Rich
You must write, and read, as if your life depended on it.

You must write, and read, as if your life depended on it.

Adrienne Rich
When a woman tells the truth she is creating the possibility for more truth around her.

When a woman tells the truth she is creating the possibility for more truth around her.

Adrienne Rich
I keep coming back to you in my head, but you couldn't know that, and I have no carbons

I keep coming back to you in my head, but you couldn't know that, and I have no carbons

Adrienne Rich
I feel more helpless with you than without you.

I feel more helpless with you than without you.

Adrienne Rich
No one has imagined us. We want to live like trees,
sycamores blazing through the sulfuric air,
dappled with scars, still exuberantly budding,
our animal passion rooted in the city.

No one has imagined us. We want to live like trees, sycamores blazing through the sulfuric air, dappled with scars, still exuberantly budding, our animal passion rooted in the city.

Adrienne Rich
Until we know the assumptions in which we are drenched, we cannot know ourselves.

Until we know the assumptions in which we are drenched, we cannot know ourselves.

Adrienne Rich
[Poetry] is the liquid voice that can wear through stone.

[Poetry] is the liquid voice that can wear through stone.

Adrienne Rich
If you are trying to transform a brutalized society into one where people can live in dignity and hope, you begin with the empowering of the most powerless. You build from the ground up.

If you are trying to transform a brutalized society into one where people can live in dignity and hope, you begin with the empowering of the most powerless. You build from the ground up.

Adrienne Rich
My heart is moved by all I cannot save:
so much has been destroyed
I have to cast my lot with those
who age after age, perversely,
with no extraordinary power,
reconstitute the world.

My heart is moved by all I cannot save: so much has been destroyed I have to cast my lot with those who age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power, reconstitute the world.

Adrienne Rich
I touch you knowing we weren't born tomorrow,
and somehow, each of us will help the other live,
and somewhere, each of us must help the other die.

I touch you knowing we weren't born tomorrow, and somehow, each of us will help the other live, and somewhere, each of us must help the other die.

Adrienne Rich
It will take all your heart, it will take all your breath
It will be short, it will not be simple

It will take all your heart, it will take all your breath It will be short, it will not be simple

Adrienne Rich
The connections between and among women are the most feared, the most problematic, and the most potentially transforming force on the planet.

The connections between and among women are the most feared, the most problematic, and the most potentially transforming force on the planet.

Adrienne Rich
I don't trust them but I'm learning to use them.

I don't trust them but I'm learning to use them.

Adrienne Rich
No person, trying to take responsibility for her or his identity, should have to be so alone. There must be those among whom we can sit down and weep, and still be counted as warriors.

No person, trying to take responsibility for her or his identity, should have to be so alone. There must be those among whom we can sit down and weep, and still be counted as warriors.

Adrienne Rich
...you look at me like an emergency

...you look at me like an emergency

Adrienne Rich
A thinking woman sleeps with monsters
that beak which grips her, she becomes.

A thinking woman sleeps with monsters that beak which grips her, she becomes.

Adrienne Rich
If you think you can grasp me, think again:
 my story flows in more than one direction
 a delta springing from the riverbed
 with its five fingers spread

If you think you can grasp me, think again: my story flows in more than one direction a delta springing from the riverbed with its five fingers spread

Adrienne Rich
War is an absolute failure of imagination, scientific and political. That a war can be represented as helping a people to 'feel good' about themselves, or their country, is a measure of that failure.

War is an absolute failure of imagination, scientific and political. That a war can be represented as helping a people to 'feel good' about themselves, or their country, is a measure of that failure.

Adrienne Rich
The unconscious wants truth. It ceases to speak to those who want something else more than truth.

The unconscious wants truth. It ceases to speak to those who want something else more than truth.

Adrienne Rich
Sleeping. Turning in turn like planets rotating in their midnight meadow: a touch is enough to let us know we're not alone in the universe, even in sleep.

Sleeping. Turning in turn like planets rotating in their midnight meadow: a touch is enough to let us know we're not alone in the universe, even in sleep.

Adrienne Rich
I choose to love this time for once
with all my intelligence

-from

I choose to love this time for once with all my intelligence -from "Splittings

Adrienne Rich
The serious revolutionary, like the serious artist, can't afford to lead a sentimental or self-deceiving life.

The serious revolutionary, like the serious artist, can't afford to lead a sentimental or self-deceiving life.

Adrienne Rich
Not biology, but ignorance of ourselves, has been the key to our powerlessness

Not biology, but ignorance of ourselves, has been the key to our powerlessness

Adrienne Rich
When I talk of taking a trip I mean forever.

When I talk of taking a trip I mean forever.

Adrienne Rich
The moment of change is the only poem.

The moment of change is the only poem.

Adrienne Rich
I am an instrument in the shape/ of a woman trying to translate pulsations/ into images for the relief of the body/ and the reconstruction of the mind.

I am an instrument in the shape/ of a woman trying to translate pulsations/ into images for the relief of the body/ and the reconstruction of the mind.

Adrienne Rich
Poems are like dreams: in them you put what you don't know you know.

Poems are like dreams: in them you put what you don't know you know.

Adrienne Rich
These scars bear witness but whether to repair or to destruction I no longer know.

These scars bear witness but whether to repair or to destruction I no longer know.

Adrienne Rich
And I ask myself and you, which of our visions will claim us
which will we claim
how will we go on living
how will we touch, what will we know
what will we say to each other.

And I ask myself and you, which of our visions will claim us which will we claim how will we go on living how will we touch, what will we know what will we say to each other.

Adrienne Rich
Love, our subject:
we've trained it like ivy to our walls.

Love, our subject: we've trained it like ivy to our walls.

Adrienne Rich
What kind of beast would turn its life into words?

What kind of beast would turn its life into words?

Adrienne Rich
A thinking woman sleeps with monsters.

A thinking woman sleeps with monsters.

Adrienne Rich
If I cling to circumstances I could feel
not responsible. Only she who says
she did not choose, is the loser in the end.

If I cling to circumstances I could feel not responsible. Only she who says she did not choose, is the loser in the end.

Adrienne Rich
For now, poetry has the capacity - in its own ways and by its own means - to remind us of something we are forbidden to see.

For now, poetry has the capacity - in its own ways and by its own means - to remind us of something we are forbidden to see.

Adrienne Rich
What we see, we see 
and seeing is changing

What we see, we see and seeing is changing

Adrienne Rich
To do something very common, in my own way.

To do something very common, in my own way.

Adrienne Rich
In a world where language and naming are power, silence is oppression, is violence.

In a world where language and naming are power, silence is oppression, is violence.

Adrienne Rich
There is nothing revolutionary whatsoever about the control of women's bodies by men. The woman's body is the terrain on which patriarchy is erected.

There is nothing revolutionary whatsoever about the control of women's bodies by men. The woman's body is the terrain on which patriarchy is erected.

Adrienne Rich
I've had to guess at her, sewing her skin together as I sew mine, though with a different stitch

I've had to guess at her, sewing her skin together as I sew mine, though with a different stitch

Adrienne Rich
Most women have not even been able to touch this anger, except to drive it inward like a rusted nail.

Most women have not even been able to touch this anger, except to drive it inward like a rusted nail.

Adrienne Rich
There is no 'the truth,' 'a truth'--truth is not one thing, or even a system. It is an increasing complexity.

There is no 'the truth,' 'a truth'--truth is not one thing, or even a system. It is an increasing complexity.

Adrienne Rich
You touched me in places so deep
I wanted to ignore you.

You touched me in places so deep I wanted to ignore you.

Adrienne Rich
Poetry is, among other things, a criticism of language.

Poetry is, among other things, a criticism of language.

Adrienne Rich
I came to explore the wreck. The words are purposes...are maps...I came to see the damage that was done and the treasures that prevail

I came to explore the wreck. The words are purposes...are maps...I came to see the damage that was done and the treasures that prevail

Adrienne Rich
It is always what is under pressure in us, especially under pressure of concealment--that explodes in poetry.

It is always what is under pressure in us, especially under pressure of concealment--that explodes in poetry.

Adrienne Rich
But from here on
I want more crazy mourning, more howl, more keening

-from

But from here on I want more crazy mourning, more howl, more keening -from "A Woman Dead in Her Forties

Adrienne Rich
A language is a map of our failures

A language is a map of our failures

Adrienne Rich
We are not supposed to go down into the darkness of the core. Yet, if we can risk it, the something born of that nothing is the beginning of truth.

We are not supposed to go down into the darkness of the core. Yet, if we can risk it, the something born of that nothing is the beginning of truth.

Adrienne Rich
Nothing can be done but by inches. I write out my life hour by hour, word by word . . . imagining the existence of something uncreated this poem our lives.

Nothing can be done but by inches. I write out my life hour by hour, word by word . . . imagining the existence of something uncreated this poem our lives.

Adrienne Rich
Every journey into the past is complicated by delusions, false memories, false namings of real events

Every journey into the past is complicated by delusions, false memories, false namings of real events

Adrienne Rich
The liar has many friends, and leads an existence of great loneliness.

The liar has many friends, and leads an existence of great loneliness.

Adrienne Rich
If you unquestioningly accept one piece of the culture that despises and fears you, you are vulnerable to other pieces.

If you unquestioningly accept one piece of the culture that despises and fears you, you are vulnerable to other pieces.

Adrienne Rich
I wanted to choose words that even you
would have to be changed by

Take the word
of my pulse, loving and ordinary
Send out your signals, hoist
your dark scribbled flags
but take
my hand

I wanted to choose words that even you would have to be changed by Take the word of my pulse, loving and ordinary Send out your signals, hoist your dark scribbled flags but take my hand

Adrienne Rich
Those who speak largely of the human condition are usually those most exempt from its oppressions - whether of sex, race, or servitude.

Those who speak largely of the human condition are usually those most exempt from its oppressions - whether of sex, race, or servitude.

Adrienne Rich
- this is where I live now. If you had known me
once, you'd still know me now though in a different
light and life. This is no place you ever knew me.

- this is where I live now. If you had known me once, you'd still know me now though in a different light and life. This is no place you ever knew me.

Adrienne Rich
We move but our words stand 
become responsible 
for more than we intended

and this is verbal privilege

We move but our words stand become responsible for more than we intended and this is verbal privilege

Adrienne Rich
She had to possess the courage to enter, through language, states which most people deny or veil with silence.

She had to possess the courage to enter, through language, states which most people deny or veil with silence.

Adrienne Rich
We are, I am, you are
by cowardice or courage
the one who find our way
back to this scene
carrying a knife, a camera
a book of myths
in which
our names do not appear.

We are, I am, you are by cowardice or courage the one who find our way back to this scene carrying a knife, a camera a book of myths in which our names do not appear.

Adrienne Rich
No one’s fated or doomed to love anyone.
The accidents happen, we’re not heroines,
they happen in our lives like car crashes,
books that change us, neighborhoods
we move into and come to love.

No one’s fated or doomed to love anyone. The accidents happen, we’re not heroines, they happen in our lives like car crashes, books that change us, neighborhoods we move into and come to love.

Adrienne Rich
The possibilities that exist between two people, or among a group of people, are a kind of alchemy. They are the most interesting thing in life. The liar is someone who keeps losing sight of these possibilities

The possibilities that exist between two people, or among a group of people, are a kind of alchemy. They are the most interesting thing in life. The liar is someone who keeps losing sight of these possibilities

Adrienne Rich
I came to explore the wreck. / The words are purposes. / The words are maps. / I came to see the damage that was done / and the treasures that prevail.

I came to explore the wreck. / The words are purposes. / The words are maps. / I came to see the damage that was done / and the treasures that prevail.

Adrienne Rich
I have a notion that genius knows itself; that Dickinson chose her seclusion, knowing she was exceptional and knowing what she needed.

I have a notion that genius knows itself; that Dickinson chose her seclusion, knowing she was exceptional and knowing what she needed.

Adrienne Rich
This is why the classical of the jazz music station plays?
to give a ground of meaning to our pain?

This is why the classical of the jazz music station plays? to give a ground of meaning to our pain?

Adrienne Rich
Yet we can't wait for the undamaged to make our connections for us; we can't wait to speak until we are wholly clear and righteous. There is no purity, and, in our lifetimes, no end to this process.

Yet we can't wait for the undamaged to make our connections for us; we can't wait to speak until we are wholly clear and righteous. There is no purity, and, in our lifetimes, no end to this process.

Adrienne Rich
I write for the still-fragmented parts in me, trying to bring them together. Whoever can read and use any of this, I write for them as well.

I write for the still-fragmented parts in me, trying to bring them together. Whoever can read and use any of this, I write for them as well.

Adrienne Rich
Can you remember? When we thought
the poets taught how to live?

Can you remember? When we thought the poets taught how to live?

Adrienne Rich
We must use what we have to invent what we desire.

We must use what we have to invent what we desire.

Adrienne Rich
The friend I can trust is the one who will let me have my death.
The rest are actors who want me to stay and further the plot.

The friend I can trust is the one who will let me have my death. The rest are actors who want me to stay and further the plot.

Adrienne Rich
I know you are reading this poem
in a room where too much has happened for you to bear
where the bedclothes lie in stagnant coils on the bed
and the open valise speaks of flight
but you cannot leave yet.

I know you are reading this poem in a room where too much has happened for you to bear where the bedclothes lie in stagnant coils on the bed and the open valise speaks of flight but you cannot leave yet.

Adrienne Rich
Silence can be a plan
rigorously executed

the blueprint to a life

It is a presence
it has a history a form

Do not confuse it
with any kind of absence

Silence can be a plan rigorously executed the blueprint to a life It is a presence it has a history a form Do not confuse it with any kind of absence

Adrienne Rich
Only to have a grief
equal to all these tears!

There's not a sob in my chest.
Dry hearted Peer Gynt
I pare away, no hero,
merely a cook.

Only to have a grief equal to all these tears! There's not a sob in my chest. Dry hearted Peer Gynt I pare away, no hero, merely a cook.

Adrienne Rich
The thing I came for:
[...]
the thing itself and not the myth

The thing I came for: [...] the thing itself and not the myth

Adrienne Rich
In every room, the furniture reflects you larger than life, or dwindling

In every room, the furniture reflects you larger than life, or dwindling

Adrienne Rich
But it is the subjects, the conversations, the facts we shy away from, which claim us in the form of writer's block, as mere rhetoric, as hysteria, insomnia, and constriction of the throat.

But it is the subjects, the conversations, the facts we shy away from, which claim us in the form of writer's block, as mere rhetoric, as hysteria, insomnia, and constriction of the throat.

Adrienne Rich
I don't think we can separate art from overall human dignity and hope

I don't think we can separate art from overall human dignity and hope

Adrienne Rich
...because life is short and you too are thirsty.

...because life is short and you too are thirsty.

Adrienne Rich
And yet, protest it if we will,
Some corner of the mind retains
The medieval man, who still
Keeps watch upon those starry skeins
And drives us out of doors at night
To gaze at anagrams of light.

And yet, protest it if we will, Some corner of the mind retains The medieval man, who still Keeps watch upon those starry skeins And drives us out of doors at night To gaze at anagrams of light.

Adrienne Rich
An education is not something that you get, but something that you claim.

An education is not something that you get, but something that you claim.

Adrienne Rich
Vous travaillez pour l'armee, madame?' (You are working for the army?), a Frenchwoman said to me early in the Vietnam war, on hearing I had three sons.

Vous travaillez pour l'armee, madame?' (You are working for the army?), a Frenchwoman said to me early in the Vietnam war, on hearing I had three sons.

Adrienne Rich
Who neither touched nor spoke?
whose nape, whose finger-ends
nervelessly lied the hours away?

Who neither touched nor spoke? whose nape, whose finger-ends nervelessly lied the hours away?

Adrienne Rich
There is a cop who is both prowler and father:
he comes from your block, grew up with your brothers,
had certain ideals.

There is a cop who is both prowler and father: he comes from your block, grew up with your brothers, had certain ideals.

Adrienne Rich
You grieve in loneliness, and if I understand you fuck in loneliness.

You grieve in loneliness, and if I understand you fuck in loneliness.

Adrienne Rich
Those years you never looked at any of us. Staring into your own eyelids. Like you saw a light there. Can you see me now?

Those years you never looked at any of us. Staring into your own eyelids. Like you saw a light there. Can you see me now?

Adrienne Rich
Theory-the seeing of patterns, showing the forest as well as the trees

Theory-the seeing of patterns, showing the forest as well as the trees

Adrienne Rich