Shame works like the zoom lens on a camera. When we are feeling shame, the camera is zoomed in tight and all we see is our flawed selves, alone and struggling.(page 68)

Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we're supposed to be and embracing who we are.

Don't try to win over the haters; you are not a jackass whisperer.

Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.

Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren't always comfortable, but they're never weakness.

Daring greatly means the courage to be vulnerable. It means to show up and be seen. To ask for what you need. To talk about how you're feeling. To have the hard conversations.

What makes you vulnerable makes you beautiful.

Believing that you're enough is what gives you the courage to be authentic.

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.

When we deny our stories, They define us. When we own our stories, we get to write the ending.

Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it.

Our thoughts, imaginations, and actions are what make us into who we are.

A child sees possibilities

Yeah, over my scattered panties, I asked him to dinner and told him to bring a friend.” - Laney

John the Baptist pretending to be Karl Marx.

That experience is the parent of wisdom is an adage the truth of which is recognized by the wisest as well as the simplest of mankind.

Never trash-talk yourself or others. Stay curious. Speak your truth.

We have the EURO as a currency, which means a lot. It has not just stabilized the situation in Kosovo politically and economically, but also facilitated the direct contact that we have with Europe.

The word is a bouncing ball The ruler throws from his balcony. The word has been a shot of morphine. Rulers calm their people with speeches.

[Barack Obama and Susan Rice] simply do not want any hearings on Benghazi, and they wouldn't be able to avoid it if she's up there as secretary of state.

Why should I be honored? Don't I have enough attention, comfort and power already?