“It’s always helpful to remember that when perfectionism is driving, shame is riding shotgun.”— Brené Brown, amazon.com
“Just because someone isn’t willing or able to love us, it doesn’t mean that we are unlovable.”— Brené Brown, amazon.com
“Nothing has transformed my life more than realizing that it’s a waste of time to evaluate my worthiness by weighing the reaction of the people in the stands.”— Brené Brown, amazon.com
“We live in a world where most people still subscribe to the belief that shame is a good tool for keeping people in line. Not only is this wrong, but it’s dangerous. Shame is highly correlated with addiction, violence, aggression, depression, eating disorders, and bullying.”— Brené Brown, amazon.com
“We cannot grow when we are in shame, and we can't use shame to change ourselves or others.”— Brené Brown, amazon.com
“Shame works like the zoom lens on a camera. When we are feeling shame, the camera is zoomed in tight and all we see is our flawed selves, alone and struggling.”— Brené Brown, amazon.com
“Perfectionism is a self destructive and addictive belief system that fuels this primary thought: If I look perfect, and do everything perfectly, I can avoid or minimize the painful feelings of shame, judgment, and blame.”— Brené Brown, amazon.com
“When I look at narcissism through the vulnerability lens, I see the shame-based fear of being ordinary. I see the fear of never feeling extraordinary enough to be noticed, to be lovable, to belong, or to cultivate a sense of purpose.”— Brené Brown, amazon.com
“Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity. If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path.”— Brené Brown, amazon.com
“Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change.”— Brené Brown, amazon.com
“If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can't survive.”— Brené Brown, amazon.com
“You’re going to betray your convictions. You’re going to feel shame. You’re going to continue to put yourself in situations that aren’t good for you. And then, slowly but surely, it will become less frequent. It might not ever go away completely but it won’t be as bad. In the meantime, stop shame sp…”— Ryan O'Connell, thoughtcatalog.com
“The sense of shame I feel about an incident is proportionate not just to the gravity of the situation, but also to the number of people who witnessed it.”— Paula Hawkins, amazon.com
“I’d never realized, not until the last year or two of my life, how shaming it is to be pitied.”— Paula Hawkins, amazon.com
“Failure?/ I'm not ashamed to tell you it,/ I never learned to spell it./ Not failure.”— Maya Angelou, amazon.com
“When I think back to my high-school sex ed classes, the message was always very clear: 'Don't have sex, but if you are going to do it, make sure you love the person and are in a relationship.' While that's decent advice, it's not necessarily realistic. Sex in a relationship is great, but life doesn'…”— Simone Katerine, huffingtonpost.ca
“We may not be able to change others’ sex-negative judgments immediately, but we can change how we react when we are sexually shamed. I once had a lover tell me a certain sexual position felt too ‘pornlike.’ My first instinct was to feel like I’d done something taboo, when I should have acknowledged…”— Rachel Kramer Bussel, damemagazine.com
“It shouldn’t matter. She knew it shouldn’t matter. But the fact was that some people were so unacceptably, hurtfully beautiful, it made you feel ashamed. Your inferiority was right there on display for the world to see.”— Liane Moriarty, amazon.com
“I mean a fat, ugly man can still be funny and lovable and successful. But it’s like it’s the most shameful thing for a woman to be.”— Liane Moriarty, amazon.com