Quotes About Vulnerability

There's a brittleness to life for about 150 million Americans, with a constant risk that sickness, layoffs or a car accident will cause everything to collapse. One in seven Americans lives below the poverty line, a substantially higher rate than in Canada or other OECD countries, and scholars estimate that half of all Americans will at some point slip below the line.

Knowing is the easy part; saying it out loud is the hard part.

It was, she believed, a simple and unassailable fact of life that if a woman went to epic lengths to throw herself on the mercy of a man, the man would not, could not, refuse.

But I'll let you in on a secret, Nonius: it is important for women to break hearts. You men can destroy in so many ways. But for us—for those lucky enough to make men fall in love with us—it is how we make our mark on the world. It is proof we were ever here, the pain we leave behind. And the more worthy the lovers we break, the better." "Shall I take that as a warning?" "Only if you intend to fall in love.

No one really knows anyone. That's amazing, isn't it? We share everything, but we all have our secret gardens, too. We all have fantasies and fears and fetishes. We all have secrets about ourselves we don't want to share.

Later on, he would tell me that people often told him their problems, so perhaps he just had one of those faces. Actually, it wasn't his face, I don't think. It was his soul. He had one of those souls that makes you want to bare your own.

So it's a shame. They wasted precious time tiptoeing around each other when clearly all that was required was a good heart-to-heart.

But Minnie isn't tired. And she isn't sleeping either. She has simply run out of courage. It's not, as everyone keeps pretending, an unlimited resource. Because

I don't think I am scared of intimacy, but I am frightened of making a mistake. offering more than I have, or expecting more than you can give. - Matt Sedon

It's often the ones we love most who do us harm.

I think it's an essential fact for any performer or artist to fail as poignantly as they can succeed.

Vulnerability is essential to spiritual and creative growth. Finding enormous strength through vulnerability. You're being open to whatever happens, including failure and shame. The two are connected, maybe - vulnerability and freedom.

I was able to construct a world view based on intimacy, vulnerability, uncertainty and commonality.

I don't want to clip on the armour every morning. I've seen some politicians do this and they get a bit mangled and bitter. I just refuse to do that. I refuse to be angry or bitter or complain, and I remain open. I may sometimes be a bit too open but I'm not going to change that one bit.

And I am ashamed to write here that I felt more alive than ever, even though my heart was broken glass in my chest.

It's your crap that's endearing. It's the basis of any relationship, way beyond even the choice of who wins on to whom. It's crap that sustains things. The mutual vulnerability that comes from knowing each other's crap. How shallow would we be if you only felt things for people on account of their successes? How likely would that be to survive?

Perhaps everyone has a story that could break your heart...

By the time I'm nine I know the world is a dangerous place.  I've heard whispers about razorblades in apples, about Charlie Manson and his family.  But no one is offering any clear information.

Water can be a symbol of purification, to stand naked before someone a sign of truth, of nothing to hide. - Nick Flynn

I offer Emily half of my hit of acid- Love Saves the Day. It's my second or third time tripping, Emily's first, and she's understandably trepid. Awake all night, at one point I find her touching her reflection in a cruelly lit dorm bathroom, asking if she'll ever be the same. I kiss her then for the first time and whisper, No.

I mean, what the fook could Gaz, Bez or me be like without someone like Tony exploiting us? We wouldn't 'ave jobs 'cos we can't do fookin' jobs. That's just a fookin' fact, right!

You can find that in all art forms: the minute you inspire laughter you also make that person vulnerable, which means either you can shock them, make them laugh more, or, at that moment, you can be totally honest with them.

Nobody can be more cruel than a child.

All men have flaws, it's what makes them men. The ability to see and mitigate one's own flaws is a measure of a man's greatness.