Brene Brown Quotes

Powerful Brene Brown for Daily Growth

About Brene Brown

Brené Brown is an acclaimed research professor at the University of Houston, where she holds the Huffington Foundation's Brené Brown Endowed Chair at The Graduate College of Social Work. Born on October 17, 1965, in San Antonio, Texas, Brown grew up in a family that encouraged her to be curious and ask questions. This innate curiosity led her to explore subjects such as shame, vulnerability, courage, and wholehearted living, which would later become the focus of her groundbreaking works. Brown earned her Ph.D. in social work from The University of Texas at Austin in 1995. In 2004, she founded The Research Lab at The University of Houston, where she and her team have spent over a decade studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy. Her TED talk on the Power of Vulnerability is one of the top five most-viewed talks in TED history. Brown's major works include "The Gifts of Imperfection" (2010), "Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead" (2012), "Rising Strong: The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution." (2015), and "Brave Enough: Finding the Courage to Be Myself" (2016). These books have resonated with millions of readers worldwide, offering insights into the human condition and helping people cultivate courage, empathy, and resilience. Brown's work has been translated into more than 30 languages, and her books have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list numerous times. Her research and ideas have had a profound impact on education, business, and various industries, as she continues to challenge us all to dare greatly, embrace vulnerability, and cultivate wholehearted living.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it's having the courage to show up and be seen."

This quote by Brene Brown emphasizes that vulnerability is not about achieving a specific outcome, like winning or losing, but rather, it's about having the courage to reveal our true selves to others. Being vulnerable means we are willing to expose our emotions, fears, and insecurities, which can be challenging. However, by showing up and being seen, we open ourselves up for authentic connections, empathy, understanding, and growth. Essentially, it's about embracing the human experience and not being afraid to share it with others.

"If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can't survive."

This quote emphasizes the power of empathetic connections in overcoming feelings of shame or vulnerability. When we open up about our experiences and feelings to someone who truly understands and empathizes with us, it creates a safe environment where shame cannot thrive. Shame is often sustained by isolation and the belief that one's experiences are unique or unworthy. However, when another person responds with empathy and understanding, they validate our emotions, making us feel seen, understood, and less alone. This shared experience helps to disarm the power of shame and fosters healing and growth.

"The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change."

This quote emphasizes a crucial aspect of personal growth and self-improvement. By accepting oneself fully, without judgment or criticism, one creates a strong foundation for transformation. Acceptance fosters self-awareness and understanding, which are essential steps towards change. It allows individuals to identify areas they wish to improve while simultaneously valuing their inherent worth, reducing feelings of shame and inadequacy that can hinder growth. Essentially, the quote suggests that true acceptance paves the way for meaningful personal change.

"Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen."

Brene Brown's quote suggests that true courage is not about grandiose actions, but rather about vulnerability in our everyday lives. By "showing up" she means being present, participating, and engaging authentically with others, while "letting ourselves be seen" refers to allowing others to see the real, vulnerable side of us. This quote emphasizes that in order to connect deeply with others, we must have the courage to reveal our true selves, embracing vulnerability as a strength instead of a weakness.

"Emotional courage is the most rare, in my opinion. It's particularly associated with vulnerability, which has a negative connotation in our culture. But without that courage, we cannot connect, and if we can't connect, we have no real cultural leg to stand on."

Brene Brown's quote emphasizes the importance of emotional courage, a trait she considers rare. She links this quality to vulnerability, which is often viewed negatively in society. However, she argues that without vulnerability (and thus, emotional courage), we cannot connect effectively with others. This connection, she suggests, is essential for building a strong and meaningful culture or community, as without it, our cultural foundation lacks stability. In other words, emotional courage allows us to build connections, fostering empathy, understanding, and ultimately, a solid social structure.

For me, the opposite of scarcity is not abundance. It's enough. I'm enough. My kids are enough.

- Brene Brown

Me, Abundance, Opposite, Scarcity

I don't have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness - it's right in front of me if I'm paying attention and practicing gratitude.

- Brene Brown

Extraordinary, Right, Chase, Practicing

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.

- Brene Brown

Think, Approval, Striving

Perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be our best. Perfectionism is not about healthy achievement and growth; it's a shield.

- Brene Brown

Same Thing, Shield, Striving

You're imperfect, and you're wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.

- Brene Brown

Love, Belonging, Wired, Worthy

I think our capacity for wholeheartedness can never be greater than our willingness to be broken-hearted. It means engaging with the world from a place of vulnerability and worthiness.

- Brene Brown

Think, I Think, Means, Engaging

First and foremost, we need to be the adults we want our children to be. We should watch our own gossiping and anger. We should model the kindness we want to see.

- Brene Brown

Want, Own, Need, Foremost

I spent a lot of years trying to outrun or outsmart vulnerability by making things certain and definite, black and white, good and bad. My inability to lean into the discomfort of vulnerability limited the fullness of those important experiences that are wrought with uncertainty: Love, belonging, trust, joy, and creativity to name a few.

- Brene Brown

Love, Trust, Bad, Lean

If you think dealing with issues like worthiness and authenticity and vulnerability are not worthwhile because there are more pressing issues, like the bottom line or attendance or standardized test scores, you are sadly, sadly mistaken. It underpins everything.

- Brene Brown

Line, Mistaken, Scores, Authenticity

If I feel good about my parenting, I have no interest in judging other people's choices. If I feel good about my body, I don't go around making fun of other people's weight or appearance. We're hard on each other because we're using each other as a launching pad out of our own perceived deficiency.

- Brene Brown

Own, Other, About, Perceived

I can encourage my daughter to love her body, but what really matters are the observations she makes about my relationship with my own body.

- Brene Brown

Love, Own, My Own, Observations

Social media has given us this idea that we should all have a posse of friends when in reality, if we have one or two really good friends, we are lucky.

- Brene Brown

Lucky, Social, Given, One Or Two

I hesitate to use a pathologizing label, but underneath the so-called narcissistic personality is definitely shame and the paralyzing fear of being ordinary.

- Brene Brown

Shame, Ordinary, Use, Label

Guilt is just as powerful, but its influence is positive, while shame's is destructive. Shame erodes our courage and fuels disengagement.

- Brene Brown

Guilt, Shame, Fuels, Destructive

Normally, when someone we love is turning away from a struggle, we self-protect by also turning away. That's definitely my first response. I think change is more likely to happen if both partners have common language and a shared lens to see problems.

- Brene Brown

Love, I Think, Shared, Response

A deep sense of love and belonging is an irreducible need of all people. We are biologically, cognitively, physically, and spiritually wired to love, to be loved, and to belong. When those needs are not met, we don't function as we were meant to. We break. We fall apart. We numb. We ache. We hurt others. We get sick.

- Brene Brown

Love, Deep, Wired, Hurt

The intention and outcome of vulnerability is trust, intimacy and connection. The outcome of oversharing is distrust, disconnection - and usually a little judgment.

- Brene Brown

Trust, Intimacy, Distrust, Intention

When the people we love stop paying attention, trust begins to slip away and hurt starts seeping in.

- Brene Brown

Love, Trust, Away, Slip

Vulnerability is the birthplace of connection and the path to the feeling of worthiness. If it doesn't feel vulnerable, the sharing is probably not constructive.

- Brene Brown

Feel, Constructive, Worthiness

When you get to a place where you understand that love and belonging, your worthiness, is a birthright and not something you have to earn, anything is possible.

- Brene Brown

Love, Understand, Birthright, Worthiness

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

- Brene Brown

Practice, Own, Authenticity, Worthiness

I'm not a parenting expert. In fact, I'm not sure that I even believe in the idea of 'parenting experts.' I'm an engaged, imperfect parent and a passionate researcher. I'm an experienced mapmaker and a stumbling traveler. Like many of you, parenting is by far my boldest and most daring adventure.

- Brene Brown

Parent, Expert, Engaged, Imperfect

The truth is: Belonging starts with self-acceptance. Your level of belonging, in fact, can never be greater than your level of self-acceptance, because believing that you're enough is what gives you the courage to be authentic, vulnerable and imperfect.

- Brene Brown

Fact, Level, Your, Imperfect

I think if you follow anyone home, whether they live in Houston or London, and you sit at their dinner table and talk to them about their mother who has cancer or their child who is struggling in school, and their fears about watching their lives go by, I think we're all the same.

- Brene Brown

London, I Think, About, Houston

I love to take, process and share photos - it fills me up.

- Brene Brown

Love, Process, Take, Fills

Vulnerability is about showing up and being seen. It's tough to do that when we're terrified about what people might see or think.

- Brene Brown

Think, Might, Terrified, Showing Up

Live-tweeting your bikini wax is not vulnerability. Nor is posting a blow-by-blow of your divorce . That's an attempt to hot-wire connection. But you can't cheat real connection. It's built up slowly. It's about trust and time.

- Brene Brown

Trust, About, Built, Bikini

I was raised in a family where vulnerability was barely tolerated: no training wheels on our bicycles, no goggles in the pool, just get it done. And so I grew up not only with discomfort about my own vulnerability, I didn't care for it in other people either.

- Brene Brown

Wheels, Other, Tolerated, Discomfort

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.

- Brene Brown

Love, Die, Every Day, Betray

When you stop caring what people think, you lose your capacity for connection. When you're defined by it, you lose our capacity for vulnerability.

- Brene Brown

Lose, Think, Your, Defined

I've learned a lot since I was a new mother. My approach to struggle and shame now is to talk to yourself like you'd talk to someone you love and reach out to tell your story.

- Brene Brown

Love, New, Shame, Struggle

Anonymous comments? You're not in the arena, man. If you can't say it to me in person in front of my kids, don't say it.

- Brene Brown

Say, Comments, Arena, Anonymous

To me, constructive criticism is when people take ownership of their ideas. That's why I don't listen to anything that's anonymous. But it's hard; when there's something hurtful out there, I still want to read it over and over and memorize it and explain my point of view to the person.

- Brene Brown

Point Of View, Why, Explain, Anonymous

Our need for certainty in an endeavor as uncertain as raising children makes explicit 'how-to-parent' strategies both seductive and dangerous.

- Brene Brown

Need, Raising, Strategies, Uncertain

You cannot talk about race without talking about privilege. And when people start talking about privilege, they get paralyzed by shame.

- Brene Brown

Shame, Race, About, Paralyzed

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

- Brene Brown

Love, Set, Having, Disappointing

The uncertainty of parenting can bring up feelings in us that range from frustration to terror.

- Brene Brown

Frustration, Bring, Terror, Feelings

Kids who have an understanding of how and why their feelings are what they are are much more likely to talk to us about what's happening, and they have better skills to work it out.

- Brene Brown

Work, More, Likely, Feelings

As a vulnerability researcher, the greatest barrier I see is our low tolerance for vulnerability. We're almost afraid to be happy. We feel like it's inviting disaster.

- Brene Brown

Inviting, Researcher, Almost, Tolerance

We use work to numb out. We can't turn off our machines because we're afraid we're going to miss something.

- Brene Brown

Work, Going, Use, Machines

I'm like a recovering perfectionist. For me it's one day at a time.

- Brene Brown

One Day, Like, Recovering, One Day At A Time

What's the greater risk? Letting go of what people think - or letting go of how I feel, what I believe, and who I am?

- Brene Brown

Think, Go, Feel, I Believe

My husband's a pediatrician, so he and I talk about parenting all the time. You can't raise children who have more shame resilience than you do.

- Brene Brown

Shame, More, About, Pediatrician

Ironically, parenting is a shame and judgment minefield precisely because most of us are wading through uncertainty and self-doubt when it comes to raising our children.

- Brene Brown

Shame, Through, Raising, Ironically

Through my research, I found that vulnerability is the glue that holds relationships together. It's the magic sauce.

- Brene Brown

Magic, Through, Glue, Together

As unique as we all are, an awful lot of us want the same things. We want to shake up our current less-than-fulfilling lives. We want to be happier, more loving, forgiving and connected with the people around us.

- Brene Brown

Shake, Awful Lot, Lives, Same Things

In my research, I've interviewed a lot of people who never fit in, who are what you might call 'different': scientists, artists, thinkers. And if you drop down deep into their work and who they are, there is a tremendous amount of self-acceptance.

- Brene Brown

Deep, Drop, Thinkers, Tremendous Amount

When we're looking for compassion, we need someone who is deeply rooted, is able to bend and, most of all, embraces us for our strengths and struggles.

- Brene Brown

Compassion, Need, Embraces, Struggles

I carry a small sheet of paper in my wallet that has written on it the names of people whose opinions of me matter. To be on that list, you have to love me for my strengths and struggles.

- Brene Brown

Love, Small, Wallet, Struggles

I'm just going to say it: I'm pro-guilt. Guilt is good. Guilt helps us stay on track because it's about our behavior. It occurs when we compare something we've done - or failed to do - with our personal values.

- Brene Brown

Values, Compare, About, Helps

In many ways, September feels like the busiest time of the year: The kids go back to school, work piles up after the summer's dog days, and Thanksgiving is suddenly upon us.

- Brene Brown

Year, Like, Feels, Busiest

'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.

- Brene Brown

Numbing, Great Way, Our, Front

The difficult thing is that vulnerability is the first thing I look for in you and the last thing I'm willing to show you. In you, it's courage and daring. In me, it's weakness.

- Brene Brown

Show, Last, Willing, The First Thing

One of the things I did when I discovered this huge importance of being vulnerable is very happily moved away from the shame research, because that's such a downer, and people hate that topic. It's not that vulnerability is the upside, but it's better than shame, I guess.

- Brene Brown

Shame, Discovered, Very, Topic

We judge people in areas where we're vulnerable to shame, especially picking folks who are doing worse than we're doing.

- Brene Brown

People, Doing, Shame, Picking

To me, a leader is someone who holds her- or himself accountable for finding potential in people and processes. And so what I think is really important is sustainability.

- Brene Brown

Leader, Think, Accountable, Potential

We're hardwired for connection. There's no arguing with the bioscience. But we can want it so badly we're trying to hot-wire it.

- Brene Brown

Trying, Arguing, Badly, Connection

As a shame researcher, I know that the very best thing to do in the midst of a shame attack is totally counterintuitive: Practice courage and reach out!

- Brene Brown

Practice, Shame, Very, Attack

Vulnerability is basically uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.

- Brene Brown

Emotional, Exposure, Risk

Faith minus vulnerability and mystery equals extremism. If you've got all the answers, then don't call what you do 'faith.'

- Brene Brown

Answers, Extremism, Minus, Equals

Men walk this tightrope where any sign of weakness illicits shame, and so they're afraid to make themselves vulnerable for fear of looking weak.

- Brene Brown

Shame, Sign, Any, Vulnerable

Shame is the most powerful, master emotion. It's the fear that we're not good enough.

- Brene Brown

Not Good Enough, Shame, Most, Master

Vulnerability is not weakness. And that myth is profoundly dangerous.

- Brene Brown

Weakness, Profoundly, Myth

The moment someone asks you to do something you don't have the time or inclination to do is fraught with vulnerability.

- Brene Brown

Time, Someone, Fraught, Inclination

The best marriages are the ones where we can go out in the world and really put ourselves out there. A lot of times we'll fail, and sometimes we'll pull it off. But good marriages are when you can go home and know that your vulnerability will be honored as courage, and that you'll find support.

- Brene Brown

Best, Sometimes, Your, Honored

I've learned that men and women who are living wholehearted lives really allow themselves to soften into joy and happiness. They allow themselves to experience it.

- Brene Brown

Living, Allow, Lives, Men And Women

One thing that I tell people all the time is, 'I'm not going to answer a call from you after nine o'clock at night or before nine o'clock in the morning unless it's an emergency.'

- Brene Brown

Going, Nine, Before, Answer

There is no innovation and creativity without failure. Period.

- Brene Brown

Failure, Innovation, Period, Creativity

Maybe stories are just data with a soul.

- Brene Brown

Soul, Data, Stories, Maybe

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