Brené Brown Quotes

I'm an academic. I'm hardwired for a good debate.

I think that shame is a universal, paralyzing, painful emotion.

I think a lot of us are looking for the same thing.

If we can’t stand up to the never good enough and who do you think you are? we can’t move forward.

The only unique contribution that we will ever make in this world will be born of our creativity.

Connection gives purpose and meaning to our lives.

Ads sell a great deal more than products. They sell values, images, and concepts of success and worth.

Connection, the ability to feel connected, is neurobiologically wired, that’s why we’re here!

Our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self acceptance.

Lean into the discomfort of the work.

When we deny our stories, They define us. When we own our stories, we get to write the ending.

Unused creativity is not benign.

Vulnerability is not weakness. And that myth is profoundly dangerous... I define vulnerability as emotional risk, exposure, uncertainty. It fuels our daily lives.

If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path.

Don't do anything that you're already not great at doing.

I now see how gifts like courage, compassion, and connection only work when they are exercised. Every day.

Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change.

Empathy is the antidote to shame.

Every time we choose courage, we make everyone around us a little better and the world a little braver. And our world could stand to be a little kinder and braver.

Authenticity is also about the courage and the vulnerability to say, "Yeah, I'll try it. I feel pretty uncomfortable and I feel a little vulnerable, but I'll try it!"

Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.

Many people think of perfectionism as striving to be your best, but it is not about self-improvement; it's about earning approval and acceptance.

Courage is like—it’s a habitus, a habit, a virtue: You get it by courageous acts. It’s like you learn to swim by swimming. You learn courage by couraging.

We can’t practice compassion with other people if we can’t treat ourselves kindly.

When we spend our lives waiting until we're perfect or bulletproof before we walk into the arena, we ultimately sacrifice relationships and opportunities that may not be recoverable, we squander our precious time, and we turn our backs on our gifts, those unique contributions that only we can make.

All the stuff that keeps you safe from feeling scary emotions? They also keep you from feeling the good emotions. You have to shake those off. You have to become vulnerable.

I've found what makes children happy doesn't always prepare them to be courageous, engaged adults.

A good life happens when you stop and are grateful for the ordinary moments that so many of us just steamroll over to try to find those extraordinary moments.

Spirituality emerged as a fundamental guidepost in Wholeheartedness. Not religiosity but the deeply held belief that we are inextricably connected to one another by a force greater than ourselves--a force grounded in love and compassion. For some of us that's God, for others it's nature, art, or even human soulfulness. I believe that owning our worthiness is the act of acknowledging that we are sacred. Perhaps embracing vulnerability and overcoming numbing is ultimately about the care and feeding of our spirits.

Worthiness doesn't have prerequisites.

Sufficiency isn't two steps up from poverty or one step short of abundance. It isn't a measure of barely enough or more than enough. Sufficiency isn't an amount at all. It is an experience, a context we generate, a declaration, a knowing that there is enough, and that we are enough.

Compassion is not a virtue -- it is a commitment. It's not something we have or don't have -- it's something we choose to practice.

Let ourselves be seen, deeply seen, vulnerably seen, to love with our whole hearts, even though there's no guarantee... to practice gratitude and joy in those moments of terror, to be this vulnerable means that we’re alive.

What's worth doing even if you fail?

Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.

Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy.

Vulnerability is our most accurate measurement of courage.

The two most powerful words when we're in struggle: me too.

How can we embrace rest and play if we've tied our self-worth to what we produce?

Knowledge is only rumor until it lives in the bones.

On the flip side, I've also had to struggle with saying "yes." Before I did this research and before I had my own breakdown and spiritual awakening around this work, my motto was, "Don't do anything that you're already not great at doing." Which I think is the way the majority of adults in our culture live. Authenticity is also about the courage and the vulnerability to say, "Yeah, I'll try it. I feel pretty uncomfortable and I feel a little vulnerable, but I'll try it!"

'Crazy-busy' is a great armor, it's a great way for numbing. What a lot of us do is that we stay so busy, and so out in front of our life, that the truth of how we're feeling and what we really need can't catch up with us.

I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.

I am a storyteller and a researcher, and I'm sorry the world has a hard time straddling the tension of those two things, but that's who I am.

That's really part of being a grounded theory researcher - putting names to concepts and experiences that people have.

It's hard to practice compassion when we're struggling with our authenticity or when our own worthiness is off-balance.

I define vulnerability as uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure. With that definition in mind, let’s think about love. Waking up every day and loving someone who may or may not love us back, whose safety we can’t ensure, who may stay in our lives or may leave without a moment’s notice, who may be loyal to the day they die or betray us tomorrow—that’s vulnerability.

There really is "no effort without error and shortcoming" and there really is no triumph without vulnerability.