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Sonia Johnson

Sonia Johnson Quotes

Writer

Sonia Johnson, born on February 27, 1936, is an accomplished writer whose works span various literary genres. Known for her profound insights and unique narrative style, her work has gained recognition and acclaim.

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All Men People Feminism Thinking World Ifs Feelings Spirit Access Asks

Famous Sonia Johnson Quotes

“I am a warrior in the time of women warriors; the longing for justice is the sword I carry.”

Women Feminism Women Warriors

Author:Sonia Johnson

“I look out upon the world men have made—their legislatures, courts, churches, schools, art, architecture, their politics, their economics—and I don't see anything I would have done as they have done it. Not one single thing. Their system does not reflect me at all, neither my mode of being in the world nor my world view; rather, it is inimical to all I love, all I desire, all I am. Its every aspect pains me to look at, to think about; it hurts me on all levels of my life; it is not my home.”

Book:Wildfire: Igniting the She/Volution

Source: Wildfire: Igniting the She/Volution

“It is unthinkable and monstrous in patriarchy for women to demonstrate that we care as much about justice and dignity, as much about freedom for ourselves and our sisters -- to the laying down of our lives, if necessary -- as men and women have always cared about justice and freedom for men. It is the ultimate anti-patriarchal act. It is heresy. It is revolution.”

Book:Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

Source: Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

“So long as we think dugout canoes are the only possibility-all that is real or can be real-we will never see the ship, we will never feel the free wind blow.”

Thinking Feels Long Real Possibility Ignorance Wind Blow Ships Being Real

Book:Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

Source: Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

“Sometimes I think we can tell how important it is to risk by how dangerous it is to do so.”

Thinking Important Sometimes Risk Dangerous

Book:Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

Source: Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

“We survive day by day on this planet by adjusting down, adjusting down. Little by little, imperceptibly, we adjust to increasingly deadly conditions, and come to accept them as 'natural' or inevitable.”

Littles Earth Natural Accepting Conditions Planets Inevitable Adjusting

Book:Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

Source: Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

“I don't have time' is the single most frequently given reason for living fractional, perpetually indentured lives, for not living fully or freely. Because time is life, when we say we don't have enough time, we are admitting that we don't have enough life.”

Reason Enough Time Given Enough Time Admitting Living Fully

Book:Wildfire: Igniting the She/Volution

Source: Wildfire: Igniting the She/Volution

“Like the one-tenth of our brain that we currently use, I think now that most if not all of us have access to about one-tenth of our possible feelings.”

Ifs Thinking Use Feelings Brain Access

Book:The ship that sailed into the living room: sex and intimacy reconsidered

Source: The ship that sailed into the living room: sex and intimacy reconsidered

“The guiding principle of my life, 'the means are the ends,' has taught me that our participation in a corrupt system facilitates it and corrupts and therefore defeats us.”

Mean Ends Principles Taught Defeat Participation Facilitate Guiding Principles

Book:Wildfire: Igniting the She/Volution

Source: Wildfire: Igniting the She/Volution

“Some people always assume that if you mention a problem, you caused it.”

People Ifs Problem Assuming

Book:Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

Source: Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

“The church belongs to its hierarchy, which is men in power. Those outside the hierarchy, and especially women, are at best only renters and at worst squatters in religious territory.”

Men Religion Church Religious Worst Territory Hierarchy Squatters

Author:Sonia Johnson

“The spirit of religious totalitarianism is abroad in the world; it is in the very air we breathe today in this land. Everywhere are those who claim to have a corner on righteousness, on direct access to God ... The bigots of the world are having a heyday.”

World Today Spirit Religion Religious Air Land Direct Claims Corners Breathe Access Righteousness Totalitarianism Bigots Heyday

Author:Sonia Johnson

“people are strong despite suffering, not because of it.”

People Suffering Strong Despite

Book:Wildfire: Igniting the She/Volution

Source: Wildfire: Igniting the She/Volution

“I like to remind people what radical means -- 'at the root of things.' It shouldn't be considered a pejorative. There isn't a great name out of history you can pick who wasn't 'radical.”

People Mean Names Picks Roots Radical

Author:Sonia Johnson

“As we do at such times I turned on my automatic pilot and went through the motions of normalcy on the outside, so that I could concentrate all my powers on surviving the near-mortal wound inside.”

Sadness Sad Wounds Mortals Pilots Surviving Normality Normalcy

Author:Sonia Johnson

“Somehow I evolved into a person who ceased to ask permission.”

Persons Asks Permission

Author:Sonia Johnson

“It's funny how heterosexuals have lives and the rest of us have "lifestyles."”

Justice Diversity Social Justice Lifestyle

Book:Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

Source: Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

“We must remember that one determined person can make a significant difference, and that a small group of determined people can change the course of history.”

“We don't need someone to show us the ropes. We are the ones we've been waiting for. Deep inside us we know the feelings we need to guide us. Our task is to learn to trust our inner knowing.”

Knows Needs Shows Feelings Spirit Spirituality Waiting Knowing Tasks Guides Rope Deep Inside

Author:Sonia Johnson

“What we resist persists.”

Persistence Persist

Book:Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

Source: Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

“Women cannot serve two masters at once who are urgently beaming antithetical orders.... Either we believe in patriarchy the rule of men over women - or we believe in equality.”

Men Believe Two Order Masters Patriarchy Two Masters

Author:Sonia Johnson

“All bonafide revolutions are of necessity revolutions of the spirit.”

Spirit Revolution

Book:Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

Source: Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

“Language, as symbol, determines much of the nature and quality of our experience.”

Language Quality Determine Symbols

Book:The ship that sailed into the living room: sex and intimacy reconsidered

Source: The ship that sailed into the living room: sex and intimacy reconsidered

“How desperately we wish to maintain our trust in those we love! In the face of everything, we try to find reasons to trust. Because losing faith is worse than falling out of love.”

Inspirational Trying Reason Faces Fall Wish Losing Falling In Love Those We Love Losing Faith

Author:Sonia Johnson

“One of the basic tenets of radical feminism is that any woman in the world has more in common with any other woman regardless of class, race, age, ethnic group, nationality - than any woman has with any man.”

Men World Age Common Race Class Groups Feminism Radical Nationality Radical Feminism Ethnic Groups

Book:Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

Source: Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

“In our patriarchal world, we are all taught - whether we like to think we are or not - that God, being male, values maleness much more than he values femaleness... that in order to propitiate God, women must propitiate men.”

Thinking Men World Values Order Taught Males Maleness

Author:Sonia Johnson

“There has been only one war fought literally worldwide, affecting every living thing, and that has been men's all-out, non-stop, millennia-long war against women, a war that not only continues to this moment without the slightest abatement but intensifies hourly.”

Men Long Has Beens War Moments Living Things Non Stop

Book:The ship that sailed into the living room: sex and intimacy reconsidered

Source: The ship that sailed into the living room: sex and intimacy reconsidered

“It's only when we have nothing else to hold onto that we're willing to try something very audacious and scary.”

Trying Willing Scary Audacious Willing To Try

Book:Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

Source: Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

“What we have most to fear is failure of the heart.”

Book:Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

Source: Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberation

“One of my favorite fantasies is that next Sunday not one single woman, in any country of the world, will go to church. If women simply stop giving our time and energy to the institutions that oppress, they would have to cease to do so.”

Ifs World Giving Country Next Energy Church Fantasy Institutions My Favorite Cease Our Time Sunday Time And Energy Single Women Countries Of The World

Author:Sonia Johnson

“Freedom is necessary for honesty, honesty for integrity, integrity for power, power for creativity, and all of them for intimacy.”

Inspirational Creativity Honesty Integrity Intimacy

Book:The ship that sailed into the living room: sex and intimacy reconsidered

Source: The ship that sailed into the living room: sex and intimacy reconsidered

“A friend said to me, 'Be glad for your troubles - they strengthen you.' Well, if that's the truth, I'm going to be so strong they'll have to beat me to death!”

Ifs Wells Said Strong Trouble Beats Glad

Author:Sonia Johnson

“I came from the most orthodox background you could ask for.”

Asks Backgrounds Orthodox

Author:Sonia Johnson

“I'm one of the few people in this world who can do anything I choose. I can't tell you how good I'm feeling.”

People World I Can Feelings Can Do This World

Author:Sonia Johnson

“In our home we grew up thinking we were Mormons first and human beings second.”

Thinking Firsts Humans Home Human Beings Grew Grew Up

Author:Sonia Johnson

“The mid-life crisis hits men harder than women.”

Men Harder Crisis Life Crisis Mid Life Crisis

Author:Sonia Johnson

“Women have to risk civil disobedience for their rights.”

Rights Risk Disobedience Civil Disobedience

Author:Sonia Johnson

“Obviously, the anti-ERA people are tickled about my ordeal because it proves that the ERA breaks up families. When they point out that feminism is a dangerous thing, I just say marriage is pretty precarious too.”

People Break Feminism Dangerous Prove Eras Dangerous Things Precarious Ordeals

Author:Sonia Johnson

About the Author

Born: February 27, 1936
Known for: Writer
Quotes: 38

Related Topics

Men People Feminism Thinking World Ifs Feelings Spirit Access Asks

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

Going out of our minds: the metaphysics of liberationRelated source material

The ship that sailed into the living room: sex and intimacy reconsideredRelated source material

Wildfire: Igniting the She/VolutionRelated source material

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