You need to read these Brené Brown quotes. They’re courage when you’ve forgotten your own and light when you’ve lost hope. Dr. Brené Brown’s work on courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy has inspired millions of people to embrace their worth and love with their whole heart, even when it’s risky. Her words will tell you: you belong, you’re important, you’ll make it.

25 Brené Brown Quotes to Help You Live with Courage & Compassion

1. “When we work from a place, I believe, that says ‘I’m enough,’ then we stop screaming and start listening, we’re kinder and gentler to the people around us, and we’re kinder and gentler to ourselves.” – Brené Brown

2. “Those who have a strong sense of love and belonging have the courage to be imperfect.” – Brené Brown

3. “Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves even when we risk disappointing others.” – Brené Brown

4. “Imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we’re all in this together.” – Brené Brown

5. “Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are.” – Brené Brown

6. “We don’t have to do all of it alone. We were never meant to.” – Brené Brown

7. “If you can’t ask for help without self-judgment, you cannot offer help without judging others.” – Brené Brown

8. “Our job is not to deny the story, but to defy the ending—to rise strong, recognize our story, and rumble with the truth until we get to a place where we think, Yes. This is what happened. And I will choose how the story ends.” – Brené Brown

9. “I believe that what we regret most are our failures of courage, whether it’s the courage to be kinder, to show up, to say how we feel, to set boundaries, to be good to ourselves. For that reason, regret can be the birthplace of empathy.” – Brené Brown

10. “Empathy has no script. There is no right way or wrong way to do it. It’s simply listening, holding space, withholding judgment, emotionally connecting, and communicating that incredibly healing message of ‘You’re not alone.’” – Brené Brown

11. “In order for connection to happen, we have to allow ourselves to be seen.” – Brené Brown

12. “Courage is contagious. A critical mass of brave leaders is the foundation of an intentionally courageous culture. Every time we are brave with our lives, we make the people around us a little braver and our organizations bolder and stronger.” – Brené Brown

13. “We run from grief because loss scares us, yet our hearts reach toward grief because the broken parts want to mend.” – Brené Brown

14. “I thought faith would say, ‘I’ll take away the pain and discomfort,’ but what it ended up saying was, ‘I’ll sit with you in it.’” – Brené Brown

15. “Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.” – Brené Brown

16. “What we know matters but who we are matters more.” – Brené Brown

17. “Joy comes to us in ordinary moments. We risk missing out when we get too busy chasing down the extraordinary.” – Brené Brown

18. “Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It’s about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen.” – Brené Brown

19. “Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.” – Brené Brown

20. “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.” – Brené Brown

21. “What we don’t need in the midst of struggle is shame for being human.” – Brené Brown

22. “As it turns out, we can’t practice compassion with other people if we can’t treat ourselves kindly.” – Brené Brown

23. “The irony is that we attempt to disown our difficult stories to appear more whole or more acceptable, but our wholeness—even our whole-heartedness—actually depends on the integration of all of our experiences, including the falls.” – Brené Brown

24. “Shame hates it when we reach out and tell our story. It hates having words wrapped around it—it can’t survive being shared. Shame loves secrecy. When we bury our story, the shame metastasizes.” – Brené Brown

25. “Joy is as thorny and sharp as any of the dark emotions. To love someone fiercely, to believe in something with your whole heart, to celebrate a fleeting moment in time, to fully engage in a life that doesn’t come with guarantees—these are the risks that involve vulnerability and often pain.” – Brené Brown

If you haven’t listened to her infamous TED talk, The Power of Vulnerability, do that. Thirty-million other people love it too.

Tell me:

Which of these quotes is your favorite?

Tell me in the comments. I read every single one, and I’d love to know!

With love,

Jen

P.S. Wake up to the wisdom that you’re enough with my book Morning Affirmations: 200 Phrases for an Intentional and Openhearted Start to Your Day. If you want to fall asleep like that too, get my book Sleep Affirmations. You belong here.

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