October 19th: Daring Greatly

I first read Daring Greatly last summer (along with The Gift of Imperfection), and I think Brene' Brown is one of the best encouragers out there.

The opening of the book attributes her title to President Teddy Roosevelt from a speech he gave in 1910:

"...who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst. if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly..."

Here are a few quotes from the book:

"Vulnerability is the core, the heart, the center, of meaningful human experiences."  (p. 12)

"I know the yearning to believe that what I'm doing matters and how easy it is to confuse that with the drive to be extraordinary." (p. 23)

"To feel is to be vulnerable." (p. 33)


"We love seeing raw truth and openness in other people, but we're afraid to let them see it in us. We're afraid that our truth isn't enough." (p. 41)

"Joy comes to us in moments--ordinary moments. We risk missing out on joy when we get too busy chasing down the extraordinary." (p. 125)

"Living a connected life ultimately is about setting boundaries, spending less time and energy hustling and winning over people who don't matter, and seeing the value of working on cultivating connection with family and close friends." (p. 146)

I could go on and on--I took 11 pages of notes in my book journal! Good stuff.

To read more of this #31DaysofBooks series, visit the introduction post.