Inspiring quotes from Brené Brown: Netflix star and New York Times bestseller author
Brené Brown's inspiring quotes are some of the most shared in the world.
And, for good reason.
Her ability to rip open the human outer shell to reveal our needy, flawed and soggy inner workings makes her motivational quotes all the more powerful.
Here, a selection of the best quotes, including some funny ones, from 3 of her most popular bestsellers Dare to Lead, Daring Greatly, and Rising Strong.
Plus, scroll down for new and original quotes from Brené Brown's sold-out LIVE events in Australia 2019 run by The Growth Faculty.
Quotes around facing critics, including yourself
“Cynicism and sarcasm are first cousins who hang out in the cheap seats.” – Dare to Lead
“We love seeing raw truth and openness in other people, but we’re afraid to let them see it in us.” – Daring Greatly
“It is human nature to want to feel worthy of love and belonging.” – Daring Greatly
“If you’re going to dare greatly, you’re going to get your ass kicked at some point.” – Dare to Lead
“Studying leadership is way easier than leading.” – Dare to Lead
Quotes around being courageous in actions and words
“I want to live in a world with braver, bolder leaders.” – Dare to Lead
“Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.” – Dare to Lead
““Integrity is choosing courage over comfort.” – Rising Strong
“The courage to be vulnerable is not about winning or losing, it’s about the courage to show up when you can’t predict or control the outcome.” – Dare to Lead
“Courage and fear are not mutually exclusive.” – Dare to Lead
Quotes on fighting comparison with others
“‘Lame’ (is) a word we’ve banned in our house, along with ‘loser’ and ‘stupid’.” – Daring Greatly
“Self-awareness and self-love matter. Who we are is how we lead.” – Dare to Lead
“The true underlying obstacle to brave leadership is how we respond to our fear.” – Dare to Lead
“I understand how grandiosity, entitlement, and admiration-seeking feel like just the right balm to soothe the ache of being too ordinary and inadequate.” – Daring Greatly
“Stay in your own lane. Comparison kills creativity and joy.” – Rising Strong
See also: Brené Brown Top Tip: Assume Others are Doing the Best They Can
Quotes to help you grow as a leader
“I know how seductive it is to use the celebrity culture yardstick to measure the smallness of our lives.”- Daring Greatly
“You can’t fully grow and contribute behind armour.” – Dare to Lead
“If you are not in the arena getting your ass kicked on occasion, I’m not interested in or open to your feedback.” – Dare to Lead
“Trust is earned in the smallest moments.” – Dare to Lead
“There is absolutely no innovation without failure.” – Dare to Lead
Quotes about being authentic, doing the right thing
“Just because someone isn’t willing or able to love us, it doesn’t mean that we are unlovable.” - Rising Strong
“I’m a cusser (likes swearing) from a long line of matriarchal cussers. I’m super comfortable with that.” – Dare to Lead
“Self-compassion is an easy list to write, and a hard list to live.” – Dare to Lead
“I wish doing the right thing was the easy thing, but it rarely is.” – Dare to Lead
“I know my life is better when I work from the assumption that everyone is doing the best they can.” – Dare to Lead
Quotes that help us step back and breathe
“Anger, blame and avoidance are the ego’s bouncers.” – Dare to Lead
“When we find ourselves zigzagging – hiding out, pretending, avoiding, procrastinating, rationalising, blaming, lying – we need to remind ourselves that running is a huge energy suck and probably way outside our values.” – Dare to Lead
“We love the truth because it’s increasingly rare.”- Dare to Lead
“...sometimes when we are beating ourselves up, we need to stop and say to that harassing voice inside, ‘Man, I'm doing the very best I can right now.’ ” – Rising Strong
“Cynicism and sarcasm are bad in person, and even worse when they travel through email and text.” – Dare to Lead
Below, the bonus quotes from Brené Brown's sold-out LIVE events in Australia 2019 run by The Growth Faculty.
“Brave leaders are not quiet around hard things.”
"We are a meaning making species. In the absence of data, we make up stories."
"When something hard happens, it doesn’t matter what it is...the brain has one job above all else...survive.""If you walk through your organisation and see shame, you have a crisis on your hands."
“We cannot teach people to reset effectively when they’re on the ground. You cannot teach someone to reset when they’ve already fallen.” “The reason we blame, is a real need for control.”
"When you’re able to be brave and afraid, it’s when you know you’re alive."
“If I thought there was a way around being vulnerable I would’ve found it by now.”
"We have to attend to fears and feelings, otherwise we can’t attend to unproductive behaviour.”
“Courage is not staying quiet about things that make us uncomfortable.”
“Courage over comfort.”
"We believe in feedback being shared 30 minutes after the behaviour."
"The antidote to shame is empathy."
"The biggest shame trigger at work, is the fear of irrelevance."
“When people don’t know their value they’re hustling for their worth.”
“We’re not having tough conversations.”
"The story I’m telling myself is…"
"When you’re able to be brave and afraid, it’s when you know you’re alive."
"What if I would’ve shown up? What if I would’ve been brave?"
“To wake up every morning and love someone. It doesn’t get more vulnerable than that.”
“It’s not fear that gets in the way of us being brave, it’s armour.”
“We’re brave and afraid all day long...it’s the choice we make while we’re holding the tension of those things.”
The Growth Faculty July 2019 event with Dr Brené Brown, author of five No. 1 New York Times best-selling books; Rising Strong, Daring Greatly, Braving the Wilderness, The Gifts of Imperfection and Dare to Lead was a sellout, and Brené had people singing, and even dancing. She received a huge, spontaneous standing ovation. Brené's TED Talk, The Power of Vulnerability is one of the top five most viewed TED talks in the world, and she is a Netflix star with her own special.
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