“It is not the critic who counts not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. Get it here and check out Brené’s site for more goodness: Brown combines stories from her personal journey with years of research which reveals the benefits of swapping feelings of not being good enough, shame, and the need for armour with having the courage to be vulnerable which will lead to a more purposeful life. If you’d like to embrace your vulnerability and live with more courage, compassion and connection, I think you’ll love the book. But that discomfort is worth it as we, to use her words, take off our masks, drop our armor and learn to be vulnerable while daring greatly more consistently. It’s the kinda book that deliberately makes you feel (more than) a little uncomfortable (especially if you’re a recovering perfectionist like me! :0)as we don’t tend to shine a lot of light on the less than pleasant stuff in our lives and psyche. She’s a funny, down-to-earth and brilliant writer. īrené is one of the world’s leading researchers on shame and vulnerability and this book is a powerful manifesto on the importance of being willing to embrace our vulnerability and, as the title suggests, dare greatly. And the second: The Power of Vulnerability. Here’s her first one: Listening to shame. Have you watched her TED talks yet? If not, get on that. Vulnerability is not knowing victory or defeat, it’s understanding the necessity of both it’s engaging. Everything I’ve learned from over a decade of research on vulnerability has taught me this exact lesson. The first time I read this quote, I thought, This is vulnerability. Who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly…” The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood who strives valiantly who errs, who comes up short again and again,īecause there is no effort without error and shortcoming but who does actually strive to do the deeds who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions who spends himself in a worthy cause

This is the passage that made the speech famous:

“The phrase Daring Greatly is from Theodore Roosevelt’s speech “Citizenship in a Republic.” The speech, sometimes referred to as “The Man in the Arena,” was delivered at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, on April 23, 1910.

Daring greatly by brené brown