New Delhi, June 5 -- Audre Lorde's quote, "I am who I am, doing what I came to do," is a powerful declaration of self-acceptance and purpose. The fuller line appears in Sister Outsider, in the essay "Eye to Eye: Black Women, Hatred, and Anger," where Lorde writes about accepting one's own history, pain and power so that they cannot be used as weapons against the self. For modern readers, the quote is a lesson in living without apology, speaking from one's truth and doing the work one came into the world to do.

"I am who I am, doing what I came to do."- Audre Lorde

The fuller version reads: "I am who I am, doing what I came to do, acting upon you like a drug or a chisel to remind you of your me-ness, as I discover you in myself." It is c...