Quotes About Vulnerability

Two hungry people should never make friends. If they do, they eat each other up. It is the same with one person who is hungry and another who is full: they cannot be real, real friends because the hungry one will eat the full one. You understand?

Honoring delicacy over full disclosure only comes back to haunt you in the end.

Juju is not enough to protect you. Everything you have I will turn against you. I'll turn sugar bitter for you. I'll take your very shield and crack it on your head.

She was only fifteen. At that age embarassment is something you can actually die of.

Consent is a downward motion, I think - a leap or a fall - and whether they'll admit it or not, even the most decisive people can find themselves unable to tell whether or not their consent was freely given. That inability to discover whether you jumped or were pushed brings about a deadened gaze and a downfall all its own

Do you think that maybe we're able to love someone best when that person doesn't know how we feel?

I hate that my life is teaching me that I can only be loved if I put my love out of reach and just drift above people until they love my remoteness.

Sometimes I say terrible things to him because I don't want him to know I'm sad; sometimes I fly off the handle to hide the fact that I don't know what I'm talking about. And other times--too often, maybe--I don't dare have an opinion in case it upsets anyone.

So her missing person's poster features a girl with long hair and dreamy eyes that don't see the fracture coming.

My head got so heavy, it sank down into my chest. So say whatever it is you think you've got to say, St. John. That you're not in love with me. That you need to be alone. Say it. I'm not going to like it, no, I won't like it at all. But I'll be all right.

Once you let people know anything about what you think, that's it, you're dead. Then they'll be jumping about in your mind, taking things out, holding them up to the light and killing them, yes, killing them, because thoughts are supposed to stay and grow in quiet, dark places, like butterflies in cocoons.

Her superpower was picking emotionally unavailable partners and she doubted she'd get a better offer

I've been so afraid of getting closeness wrong, because I don't know how to do it, because I don't know what my mistakes reveal --maybe they reveal very good reasons for my having been unloved as a child, I just don't know.

I was always a little disturbed by him because I'd never heard him tell a lie. That was horrifying to me, like living in a house with every door and window wide open all day long.

I think they must have recognized something in each other, some poorly concealed intensity that other people find nerve-racking.

What nobody knew about the docile girl from Osogbo was that her heart was too heavy, and that almost from birth she had felt its weight, a gravitational pull that invited her to her grave. Her heart was heavy because it was open, and so things filled it, and so things rushed out of it, but still the heart kept beating, tough and frighteningly powerful and meaning to shrug off the rest of her and continue on its own.

I hate that my life is teaching me that I can only be loved if I put my love out of reach and just drift about people until they love my remoteness. I'm not just talking about romances but about friendships too. Whoa, Mia, you're too intense. I get a lot of that. So I know that I won't be loved the way I need to be.

wondering how on earth hospital staff have seen fit to allow us custody of an actual human being. (Me: 'I can't even keep our houseplants alive!' Lego Man: 'We have houseplants?')

Because your attack thoughts will be projected, you will fear attack. And if you fear attack, you must believe that you are not invulnerable.

When you have become willing to hide nothing, you will not only be willing to enter into communion but will also understand peace and joy.

Changing the conversation in the room was more important than playing it safe.

Confidence spark If public speaking is a great fear of yours, try practicing first with a few people you are comfortable with, people who you know will be an encouraging audience. Allow for nervousness, but focus on your listeners and their supportive presence. Take a few deep breaths and share something personal that's meaningful for you. Authenticity and vulnerability help create a connection with your audience. A few sessions with a coach might be helpful if you feel the need.

chapter 1. There is a stigma attached to being anything less than perfect, and we feel exposed when we find out through critiques that we aren't.

Confidence is about showing up and moving forward as we are, not having it all together and never making mistakes. When we allow for mistakes, we are growing. The question then becomes, how do we deal with the discomfort of hearing constructive feedback so we can process it and move forward?