The collection / 116 fragments

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Passages, proverbs, and questions carried across the ages.

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01c. 1965 AD

When you look away from a homeless person, you diminish their humanity and your own.

Brené Brown / quote

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02c. 1965 AD

Maybe looking away is about privilege. I need to think harder and longer about my choices and recognize that choosing whom I see and whom I don't see is one of the most hurtful functions of privilege.

Brené Brown / quote

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03c. 1965 AD

Too much twee emotional expression--too many claims like, "Everything is awesome," or "I just never really feel angry or upset," or "If you're just positive, you can turn that frown upside down,"--often masks real pain and hurt. These behaviors are as much red flags as brooding and anger are....Being all light is as dangerous as being all dark, simply because denial of emotion is what feeds the dark.

Brené Brown / quote

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04c. 1965 AD

Denying emotion is not avoiding the high curbs, it's never taking your car out of the garage. It's safe in there, but you'll never go anywhere.

Brené Brown / quote

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05c. 1965 AD

I think we can all agree that feeling shame is an incredibly painful experience. What we often don't realize is that perpetrating shame is equally as painful, and no one does that with the precision of a partner or a parent. These are the people who know us the best and who bear witness to our vulnerabilities and fears. Thankfully, we can apologize for shaming someone we love, but the truth is that those shaming comments leave marks. And shaming someone we love around vulnerability is the most serious of all security breaches. Even if we apologize, we've done serious damage because we've demonstrated our willingness to use sacred information as a weapon.

Brené Brown / quote

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06c. 1965 AD

Compassionate people are boundaried people.

Brené Brown / quote

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07c. 1965 AD

Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.

Brené Brown / quote

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08c. 1965 AD

What we know matters but who we are matters more.

Brené Brown / quote

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09c. 1965 AD

Courage is a heart word. The root of the word courage is cor - the Latin word for heart. In one of its earliest forms, the word courage meant "To speak one's mind by telling all one's heart." Over time, this definition has changed, and today, we typically associate courage with heroic and brave deeds. But in my opinion, this definition fails to recognize the inner strength and level of commitment required for us to actually speak honestly and openly about who we are and about our experiences -- good and bad. Speaking from our hearts is what I think of as "ordinary courage.

Brené Brown / quote

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10c. 1965 AD

Courage originally meant "To speak one's mind by telling all one's heart.

Brené Brown / quote

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11c. 1965 AD

Ordinary courage is about putting our vulnerability on the line. In today’s world, that’s pretty extraordinary.

Brené Brown / quote

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12c. 1965 AD

People often silence themselves, or "agree to disagree" without fully exploring the actual nature of the disagreement, for the sake of protecting a relationship and maintaining connection. But when we avoid certain conversations, and never fully learn how the other person feels about all of the issues, we sometimes end up making assumptions that not only perpetuate but deepen misunderstandings, and that can generate resentment.

Brené Brown / quote

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13c. 1965 AD

When shame becomes a management style, engagement dies. When failure is not an option we can forget about learning, creativity, and innovation .

Brené Brown / quote

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14c. 1965 AD

Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves, even when we risk disappointing others.

Brené Brown / quote

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15c. 1965 AD

We're wired for story. In a culture of scarcity and perfectionism, there's a surprisingly simple reason we want to own, integrate, and share our stories of struggle. We do this because we feel the most alive when we're connecting with others and being brave with our stories - it's in our biology.

Brené Brown / quote

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16c. 1965 AD

Courage has a ripple effect. 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.

Brené Brown / quote

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17c. 1965 AD

If you're thinking, 'Great! I just need to be a superhero to fight perfectionism,' I understand. Courage, compassion, and connection seem like big, lofty ideals. But in reality, they are daily practices that, when exercised enough, become these incredible gifts in our lives. And the good news is that our vulnerabilities are what force us to call upon these amazing tools. Because we're human and so beautifully imperfect, we get to practice using our tools on a daily basis. In this way, courage, compassion, and connection become gifts - the gifts of imperfection.

Brené Brown / quote

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18c. 1965 AD

Who we are and how we engage with the world are much stronger predictors of how our children will do than what we know about parenting. In terms of teaching our children to dare greatly in the "never enough" culture, the question isn't so much "Are you parenting the right way?" as it is: "Are you the adult that you want your child to grow up to be?

Brené Brown / quote

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19c. 1965 AD

You can't claim to care about the welfare of children if you're shaming other parents for the choices they're making.

Brené Brown / quote

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20c. 1965 AD

Worrying about scarcity is our culture's version of post-traumatic stress. It happens when we've been through too much, and rather than coming together to heal (which requires vulnerability) we're angry and scared and at each other's throats.

Brené Brown / quote

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21c. 1965 AD

It's in our biology to trust what we see with our eyes. This makes living in a carefully edited, overproduced and photoshopped world very dangerous.

Brené Brown / quote

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22c. 1965 AD

Vulnerability is not knowing victory or defeat, it’s understanding the necessity of both; it’s engaging. It’s being all in.

Brené Brown / quote

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23c. 1965 AD

If you trade your authenticity for safety, you may experience the following: anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction, rage, blame, resentment, and inexplicable grief.

Brené Brown / quote

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24c. 1965 AD

If we are going to find our way out of shame and back to each other, vulnerability is the path and courage is the light. To set down those lists of *what we're supposed to be* is brave. To love ourselves and support each other in the process of becoming real is perhaps the greatest single act of daring greatly.

Brené Brown / quote

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