Quotes About Vulnerability

That crazy kind of laughing that feels almost the same as crying.

You are beautiful, Lucy. Inside and out. And that hurts, too. It hurts more specifically. More personally.

Her door is cracked only a tiny bit, and her room is dark. Through the crack I can see her legs on the bed and hear her crying. Not like the big sobbing you do when something tragic and unexpected happens. It's the quiet kind of crying that can go for hours, when over and over again you try to stop, try to tell yourself it's going to be okay, but another part of yourself can't stop thinking about the thing that's breaking your heart.

I wondered which was harder, in the end. The act of telling, or who you told it to. Or maybe if, when you finally got it out, the story was really all that mattered.

I was beginning to see, though, that the unknown wasn't always the greatest thing to fear. The people who know you best can be risker, because the words they say and things they think have the potential to be not only scary but true, as well.

Friends are honest with each other. Even if the truth hurts. -Maggie

You can't just turn your heart off like a faucet; you have to go to the source and dry it out, drop by drop.

This is exactly what i wanted, as commitments had never really been my thing. And it wasn't like it was hard, either. The only trick was never giving more than you were willing to lose.

It's so, so stupid what we do to ourselves because we're afraid. It's so stupid.

I'd been convinced I was on the outside, but really, I'd always been within arm's reach. All I had to do was ask, and I, too, would be easily brought back, surrounded and immersed, finding myself safe, somewhere in between.

You only really fall apart in front of the people you know can piece you back together.

You want to take me to a movie? I asked. Well, not really, he said. What I really want is for you to be my girlfriend. But I thought saying that might scare you off.

When you can't save yourself or your heart, it helps to be able to save face.

I had stepped into his arms, showing him my raw, broken heart.

I mean, it's impossible to fake anything if you've already seen the other person in a way they'd never choose for you to. You can't go back from that.

Grieving doesn't make you imperfect. It makes you human.

There's a kind of radar that you get, after years of being talked about and made fun of by other people. You can almost smell it when it's about to happen, can recognize instantly the sound of a hushed voice, lowered just enough to make whatever is said okay. I had only been in Colby for a few weeks. But I had not forgotten.

Like I, of all people, didn't know better than to lead a total stranger to the point where they could hurt me most, knowing how easily they'd be able to find their way back to it.

I paused, only just now realizing that the subject was hitting a little close to home. You know, getting hurt. Putting herself out there, opening up to someone. Yeah, he said adding some cheese straws to the cart, but risk is just part of relationships. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. I picked up a box of cheese straws, examining it. Yeah, I said. But it's not all about chance, either.

But I think, personally, that it would be worse to have been alone all that time. Sure, maybe I would have protected my heart from some things, but would that really have been better? To hold myself apart because I was too scared that something might no be forever?

Everything hurt. I closed my eyes, pressing my cheek to the street, and waited. What for, I didn't know. To be rescued. Or found. But no one came. All I'd ever thought I wanted was to be left alone. Until I was.

Oh for God's sake,' Heather said, 'I wish you two would just go out, fail miserably as a couple, and get it over with.

The only trick was never giving more that you were willing to lose.

My mother was strong, in all the ways I was weak. She fell, she hurt, she felt. She lived. And for all the tumble of her experiences, she still had hope. Maybe this next time would do the trick. Or maybe not. But unless you stepped into the game, you will never know.