Brene Brown Shame Quotations

As a shame researcher, I know that the very best thing to do in the midst of a shame attack is totally counterintuitive: Practice courage and reach out!

My husband's a pediatrician, so he and I talk about parenting all the time. You can't raise children who have more shame resilience than you do.

I've learned a lot since I was a new mother. My approach to struggle and shame now is to talk to yourself like you'd talk to someone you love and reach out to tell your story.

I think that shame is a universal, paralyzing, painful emotion.

Guilt says: I made a mistake. Shame says: I AM a mistake.

Shame cannot survive being spoken. It cannot survive empathy.

You cannot shame or belittle people into changing their behaviors.

We cannot grow when we are in shame, and we can't use shame to change ourselves or others.

Empathy is the antidote to shame,

Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change.

Shame derives its power from being unspeakable.

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.