My silences had not protected me. Your silence will not protect you. But for every real word spoken, for every attempt I had ever made to speak those truths for which I am still seeking, I had made contact with other women while we examined the words to fit a world in which we all believed, bridging our differences.

Change is the immediate responsibility of each of us, wherever and however we are standing, in whatever arena we choose.

Next time, ask: What's the worst that will happen? Then push yourself a little further than you dare.

The strongest lesson I can teach my son is the same lesson I teach my daughter: how to be who he wishes to be for himself.

When I dare to be powerful - to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.

For we have been socialized to respect fear more than our own needs for language and definition, and while we wait in silence for that final luxury of fearlessness, the weight of that silence will choke us.

But the question is a matter of the survival and the teaching. That's what our work comes down to. No matter where we key into it, it's the same work, just different pieces of ourselves doing it.