Searching for the best Muriel Rukeyser quotes to spark your feminist imagination? You’re in the right place. Muriel Rukeyser, a trailblazing poet and activist, offered fearless insights on justice, equality, and the creative power of women. Her words continue to inspire readers to question, envision, and create a more just world. In this collection, we gather the best Muriel Rukeyser quotes that celebrate strength, vulnerability, and the spirit of change. Whether you’re new to her work or already a devoted fan, these lines invite you to reflect on your own voice and possibilities—for yourself and for society at large.
🌿 On Voice and Speaking Out
“What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“I lived in the first century of world wars.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“To be against war is not enough. It is hardly a beginning.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
‘The universe is made of stories, not atoms.’
— Muriel Rukeyser
“I speak to you, you speak to me. Is that not the world?”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“My lifetime listens to yours.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“We have bodies like our dreams and bodies like our enactments.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“I will try to tell the truth, but it may be a truth made out of language.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“Let each woman speak, speak for herself; let us promise to listen.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“I learned you have to live with your voice and that your voice is yourself.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
🔥 On Power, Change, and Struggle
“The courage that comes only from struggle, and the struggle that is love.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“You run your hand over it and you believe that hope is suffering, and change is possible.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“Strength comes from our togetherness, our making connections.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“Our poetry is living, because we are living.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“The history of our strength is the history of ourselves.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“Change is not only possible, it is inevitable.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
‘In order to survive, we must realize that power is not brute force but an energy available to all.’
— Muriel Rukeyser
“We are free to go. Free to change. Free to begin again.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“Resistance is the secret of joy.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“Every act of becoming is an act of courage.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
🌸 On Creativity and Poetry
“The sources of poetry are in the spirit seeking completion.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“Art is action, art is witness, art is discovery.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
‘Poetry is, above all, an approach to the truth of feeling.’
— Muriel Rukeyser
“The fastest way of losing sight of who you are is to begin comparing yourself to others.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“Creativity means to push open the heavy, groaning doorway of life itself.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“Poetry can extend the document.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“Breathe-in experience, breathe-out poetry.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“The journey is always toward the other voice.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“A poem invites you to bring your life along, as well as your body.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“There is no poetry where there are no mistakes.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
🌈 On Identity and Belonging
“I am in the world to change the world.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“The world is made of the stories we choose to tell — and live.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“Our country is ourselves. It is our selfness, hard to define.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“If we are free in one sense, we are free in all.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“I come to you as a stranger; but only for once.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“The fear of poetry is the fear of being changed.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“I am made of faces encountered, words exchanged.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
‘I will not be only a visitor in this world.’
— Muriel Rukeyser
“Our roots are in the lives lived before us.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“Whoever I am, I come to you in friendship.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
🌻 On Feminism, Hope, and Imagination
“The world is full of stories that need the courage of women’s voices.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“Hope is not tentative; hope is a declaration.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
‘The most important thing one woman can do for another is to illuminate and expand her sense of actual possibilities.’
— Muriel Rukeyser
“We are more connected than we feel, more powerful than we know.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“To imagine is to resist, to hope is to create.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“Art and activism walk side by side in the imagination of change.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“Imagination is an act of survival.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“Remember that we are makers of what is possible.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“Feminism is seeing the invisible and naming it.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
“Every poem is an act of faith.”
— Muriel Rukeyser
We hope this collection of the best Muriel Rukeyser quotes has energized your feminist imagination and inspired meaningful reflection. Rukeyser’s fearless voice continues to resonate, encouraging each of us to embrace compassion, justice, and creativity in our own lives. If her words spoke to you, consider sharing your favorite quote or insight with others who strive for equity and artful living. Let Muriel Rukeyser’s legacy spark new conversations and kindle the hope for a more inclusive world.
About Muriel Rukeyser
Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980) was an influential American poet and activist whose work bridged the worlds of literature, social justice, and feminism. Known for her passionate commitment to human rights, Rukeyser’s poetry often tackled issues ranging from political strife and inequality to personal transformation and empathy. She believed deeply in the power of individual voices and imaginative storytelling as tools for societal change. Rukeyser’s contributions extend beyond her published poetry; she taught, translated, and tirelessly advocated for marginalized communities. Her legacy endures as a source of inspiration for writers, activists, and anyone who believes in art’s potential to foster understanding and progress.
