Looking for some powerful quotes by motivational speaker Brené Brown? We have rounded up the best collection of Brené Brown quotes, sayings, writings, (with images and pictures) to motivate you about life, love, vulnerability, courage, and leadership.
Brené Brown is an American research professor, lecturer, author, and podcast host. She is an amazing public speaker whose TED Talk is one of the top 10 most viewed TED talks in the world with over 50 million views online.
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She is the author of six #1 New York Times best sellers, hosts two podcasts Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead, and has also filmed a series about her latest book, Atlas of the Heart on HBO Max.
She is well known for her powerful and uplifting words and has spent almost two decades studying empathy, shame, vulnerability, and courage.
Time and again in her speeches, interviews, and TED talks she has mentioned that “I believe that you have to walk through vulnerability to get to courage, therefore…embrace the suck. I try to be grateful every day, and my motto right now is “Courage over comfort.”
These inspirational Brené Brown quotes are the best for self-motivation and will inspire you to embrace the imperfect, and be your bold, authentic self.
Read on these uplifting quotes by Brené Brown that also cover confidence quotes and inspiring life-changing quotes to give you the motivation to overcome your struggles and be a winner.
Top 10 Brené Brown Quotes To Inspire You
- “The opposite of belonging is fitting in.” – Brené Brown
- “Worthiness doesn’t have prerequisites.” – Brené Brown
- “Want to be happy? Stop trying to be perfect.” – Brené Brown
- “What we know matters but who we are matters more.” – Brené Brown
- “Let go of who you think you’re supposed to be; embrace who you are.” – Brené Brown
- “Staying vulnerable is a risk we have to take if we want to experience connection.” – Brené Brown
- “Imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we’re all in this together.” – Brené Brown
- “We are born makers. We move what we’re learning from our heads to our hearts through our hands.” – Brené Brown
- “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” – Brené Brown
- “Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves even when we risk disappointing others.” – Brené Brown
Best Quotes By Brené Brown For Motivation
Brené Brown as a motivational speaker has motivated so many people through her books, interviews, and speeches.
She has written many books including The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, Rising Strong, Braving the Wilderness, Dare to Lead, and Atlas of the Heart.
Her book Dare To Lead is a accumulation of her study on courage and leadership in which she reminds us to embrace our vulnerabilities and never to give up on ourselves.
Here are some of her words of wisdom, encouragement, and comfort that will inspire you to live life to the fullest and will motivate you to accept and love yourself.
- “Talk about your failures without apologizing.” – Brené Brown
- “Dig deep—get deliberate, inspired, and going.” – Brené Brown
- “We don’t have to do all of it alone. We were never meant to.” – Brené Brown
- “The middle is messy, but it is also where the magic happens.” – Brené Brown
- “There is no innovation and creativity without failure. Period.” – Brené Brown
- “Don’t try to win over the haters; you are not a jackass whisperer.” – Brené Brown
- “You cannot shame or belittle people into changing their behaviors.” – Brené Brown
- “What we don’t need in the midst of struggle is shame for being human.” – Brené Brown
- “Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change.” – Brené Brown
- “In a society that says, ‘Put yourself last,’ self-love and self-acceptance are revolutionary.” – Brené Brown
- “You are imperfect, you are wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.” – Brené Brown
- “The truth is that falling hurts. The dare is to keep being brave and feel your way back up.” – Brené Brown (Rising Strong Book)
- “True belonging never asks us to change who we are. True belonging requires us to be who we are.” – Brené Brown
- “Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.” – Brené Brown
- “I now see that owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.” – Brené Brown
- “I now see how owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.” – Brené Brown
- “We cannot selectively numb emotions, when we numb the painful emotions, we also numb the positive emotions.” – Brené Brown
- “To me, a leader is someone who holds her- or himself accountable for finding potential in people and processes.” – Brené Brown
- “Connecting the dots of our lives, especially the ones we would rather erase or skip over, requires equal parts self-love and curiosity.” – Brené Brown
- “I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness—it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.” – Brené Brown
- “But true belonging is not something we negotiate or accomplish with others.… It’s a personal commitment that we carry in our hearts.” – Brené Brown
- “We can be our worst selves when we’re afraid, or our best, bravest selves.” – Brené Brown
- “Nostalgia is also a dangerous form of comparison. Think about how often we compare our lives to a memory that nostalgia has so completely edited that it never really existed.” – Brené Brown
- “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 minimise the painful feelings of shame, judgment, and blame.” – Brené Brown
- “I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.” – Brené Brown
- “There will be times when standing alone feels too hard, too scary, and we’ll doubt our ability to make our way through the uncertainty. Someone, somewhere, will say, ‘Don’t do it. You don’t have what it takes to survive the wilderness.’ This is when you reach deep into your wild heart and remind yourself, ‘I am the wilderness.’” – Brené Brown
- “You may not have signed up for a hero’s journey, but the second you fell down, got your butt kicked, suffered a disappointment, screwed up, or felt your heart break, it started. It doesn’t matter whether we are ready for an emotional adventure—hurt happens. And it happens to every single one of us. Without exception. The only decision we get to make is what role we’ll play in our own lives: Do we want to write the story, or do we want to hand that power over to someone else? Choosing to write our own story means getting uncomfortable; it’s choosing courage over comfort.” – Brené Brown
Brené Brown Quotes From Book Daring Greatly
Brené Brown’s Daring Greatly is a 2012 self-help book that covers topics of vulnerability and shame.
The title of the book comes from a 1910 Theodore Roosevelt speech “Citizenship in a Republic” given at Sorbonne.
The book describes vulnerability being something hard to deal with and that we need to “dare greatly” to overcome it.
The book highlights the feelings of shame and unworthiness and how difficult it is for people to admit certain things. The main message of the book is to understand the difference between guilt and shame. It was a New York Times bestseller and was commercially well-received.
- “Numb the dark and you numb the light.” – Brené Brown, Daring Greatly
- “Shame derives its power from being unspeakable.” – Brené Brown, Daring Greatly
- “Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.” – Brené Brown, Daring Greatly
- “The willingness to show up changes us, It makes us a little braver each time.” – Brené Brown, Daring Greatly
- “Sometimes the bravest and most important thing you can do is just show up.” – Brené Brown, Daring Greatly
- “Connection is why we’re here; it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.” – Brené Brown, Daring Greatly
- “Only when we’re brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.” – Brené Brown, Daring Greatly
- “If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can’t survive.” – Brené Brown, Daring Greatly
- “When two people relate to each other authentically and humanly, God is the electricity that surges between them.” – Brené Brown, Daring Greatly
- “To love ourselves and support each other in the process of becoming real is perhaps the greatest single act of daring greatly.” – Brené Brown, Daring Greatly
- “Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.” – Brené Brown, Daring Greatly
- “Everyone wants to know why customer service has gone to hell in a handbasket. I want to know why customer behavior has gone to hell in a handbasket.” – Brené Brown, Daring Greatly
- “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, Daring Greatly
- “Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.” – Brené Brown, Daring Greatly
- “Fitting in is about assessing a situation and becoming who you need to be in order to be accepted. Belonging, on the other hand, doesn’t require us to change who we are; it requires us to be who we are.” – Brené Brown, Daring Greatly
- “It takes courage to say yes to rest and play in a culture where exhaustion is seen as a status symbol.” — Brené Brown
Brené Brown Quotes On Embracing Vulnerability
Here is a list of motivational quotes by Brené Brown that will motivate you to embrace vulnerability and be brave, daring, and most importantly be yourself.
Don’t forget to check our collection of you are worthy quotes and self care quotes to inspire you to put yourself first and take care of yourself too.
- “Brave leaders are never silent around hard things.” – Brené Brown
- “Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.” – Brené Brown
- “To see and to be seen. That is the truest nature of love.” – Brené Brown
- “When you shut down vulnerability, you shut down opportunity.” – Brené Brown
- “Vulnerability is not weakness. And that myth is profoundly dangerous.” – Brené Brown
- “Vulnerability is our most accurate measurement of courage.”- Brené Brown
- “Grace means that all of your mistakes now serve a purpose instead of serving shame.” – Brené Brown
- “Shame is the most powerful, master emotion. It’s the fear that we’re not good enough.” – Brené Brown
- “If we are brave enough often enough, we will fall. These are the physics of vulnerability.” – Brené Brown
- “We can choose courage, or we can choose comfort, but we can’t have both. Not at the same time.” – Brené Brown
- “You either walk inside your story and own it or you stand outside your story and hustle for your worthiness.” – Brené Brown
- “The dark does not destroy the light; it defines it. It’s our fear of the dark that casts our joy into the shadows.” – Brené Brown
- “Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are.” – Brené Brown
- “What’s the greater risk? Letting go of what people think – or letting go of how I feel, what I believe, and who I am?” – Brené Brown
- “Vulnerability is not knowing victory or defeat, it’s understanding the necessity of both; it’s engaging. It’s being all in.” – Brené Brown
- “Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome.” – Brené Brown
- “If we share our shame story with the wrong person, they can easily become one more piece of flying debris in an already dangerous storm.” – Brené Brown
- “Here’s what is truly at the heart of wholeheartedness: worthy now. Not if. Not when. We’re worthy of love and belonging now. Right this minute. As is.” – Brené Brown
- “Joy, collected over time, fuels resilience – ensuring we’ll have reservoirs of emotional strength when hard things do happen.” — Brené Brown
- “Everyone has a story or a struggle that will break your heart. And if we’re really paying attention, most people have a story that will bring us to our knees.” – Brené Brown
- “Courage is like—it’s a habitus, a habit, a virtue: You get it by courageous acts. It’s like you learn to swim by swimming. You learn courage by couraging.” – Brené Brown
- “When we combine the courage to make clear what works for us and what doesn’t with the compassion to assume people are doing their best, our lives change.” – Brené Brown
- “Integrity is choosing courage over comfort; choosing what is right over what is fun, fast, or easy; and choosing to practice our values rather than simply professing them.” – Brené Brown
- “True belonging is not passive.… It’s a practice that requires us to be vulnerable, get uncomfortable, and learn how to be present with people without sacrificing who we are.” – Brené Brown
- “When we are willing to risk venturing into the wilderness, and even becoming our own wilderness, we feel the deepest connection to our true self and to what matters the most.” – Brené Brown
- “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
- “Even to me the issue of ‘stay small, sweet, quiet, and modest’ sounds like an outdated problem, but the truth is that women still run into those demands whenever we find and use our voices.” – Brené Brown
- “A crisis highlights all of our fault lines. We can pretend that we have nothing to learn, or we can take this opportunity to own the truth and make a better future for ourselves and others.” – Brené Brown
- “Until we can receive with an open heart, we are never really giving with an open heart. When we attach judgment to receiving help, we knowingly, or unknowingly, attach judgment to giving help.” – Brené Brown
- “We desperately need more leaders who are committed to courageous, wholehearted leadership and who are self-aware enough to lead from their hearts, rather than unevolved leaders who lead from hurt and fear.” – Brené Brown
- “When I see people stand fully in their truth, or when I see someone fall down, get back up, and say, ‘Damn. That really hurt, but this is important to me and I’m going in again’—my gut reaction is, ‘What a badass.’” – Brené Brown
- “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 minimise the painful feelings of shame, judgment, and blame.” – Brené Brown
- “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
- “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
- “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
- “Somehow we’ve come to equate success with not needing anyone. Many of us are willing to extend a helping hand, but we’re very reluctant to reach out for help when we need it ourselves. It’s as if we’ve divided the world into “those who offer help” and “those who need help.” The truth is that we are both.” – Brené Brown
Brené Brown’s Personal Life, Education, And Career
Brené Brown was born on November 18, 1965, in San Antonio, Texas, then moved to New Orleans.
She is the eldest of four children to her parents Charles Arthur Brown and Casandra Deanne Rogers. She is married to Dr. Steve Alley and has two children.
She completed her Bachelor of Social Work degree at the University of Texas at Austin in 1995, and a Master of Social Work degree, followed by a Doctor of Philosophy degree in social work at the University of Houston.
She is a research professor at the University of Houston, where she holds the Huffington Foundation Endowed Chair. She is also a visiting professor at the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business.
More About Brené Brown’s Life
Brown has become one of the most influential public speaking figure After her TEDx talk from Houston in 2010, “The Power of Vulnerability”, her popularity got her to the mainstream spotlight. The New York Times said that this talk show gave the world “a new star of social psychology.”
Following this popular TED talk she came with her second talk “Listening to Shame” in 2012, in which she talks about the connection between shame and vulnerability, carrying forward the he thesis of her first TED talk.
She is a the CEO of “The Daring Way“, a professional training program on the topics of courage, shame, vulnerability, and empathy.
She featured in the movie Wine Country and her five-part documentary series Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart, was released on HBO Max in 2022
These powerful Brené Brown Quotes will inspire you to be your bold, authentic, fearless self.
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