Vulnerability

Explore 28 quotes about Vulnerability

Love you will find only where you may show yourself weak without provoking strength.

Theodor Adorno

Minima Moralia

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Topic

Vulnerability Love

Author

Theodor Adorno

Source

Minima Moralia

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

German

Time

1951 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Adorno, Theodor. Minima Moralia: Reflexionen aus dem beschädigten Leben [Minima Moralia: Reflections from Damaged Life]. Suhrkamp Verlag, 1951.

Current Citation

Adorno, Theodor. Minima Moralia: Reflections from Damaged Life, translated by E. F. N. Jephcott. Verso, 2020.

Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could.

Louise Erdrich

The Painted Drum

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Topic

Vulnerability Taking risks

Author

Louise Erdrich

Source

The Painted Drum

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

2005 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Erdrich, Louise. The Painted Drum. Harper, 2005.

We have to live without sympathy, don't we? That's impossible of course. We act it to one another, this hardness; but we aren't like that really. I mean... One can't be out in the cold all the time; one has to come in from the cold... Do you see what I mean?

John le Carré

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

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Topic

Vulnerability

Speaker

Control

Author

John le Carré

Source

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

Medium

Novel

Genre

Spy novel Spy

Language

English

Time

1963 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Carré, John le. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Victor Gollancz & Pan, 1963, ch. 2.

The inward gates of a bird are always open.
It does not know how to shut them.
That is the secret of its song,
But whether any man's are ajar is doubtful.

Hugh MacDiarmid

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Topic

Vulnerability

Author

Hugh MacDiarmid

Source

On a Raised Beach

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1934 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

MacDiarmid, Hugh. "On a Raised Beach." Stony Limits and Other Poems. Victor Gollancz, 1934.

I have been missing the point. The point is not knowing another person, or learning to love another person. The point is simply this: how tender can we bear to be? What good manners can we show as we welcome ourselves and others into our hearts?

Rebecca Wells

The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

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Topic

Vulnerability

Author

Rebecca Wells

Source

The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1996 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Wells, Rebecca. The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. HarperCollins, 1996, ch. 31.

If you expect a physician to help you, you must lay bare your wound.

Boethius

The Consolation of Philosophy

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Topic

Vulnerability

Author

Boethius

Source

The Consolation of Philosophy

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Latin

Time

523 520s 6th century

Era

Middle Ages

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Boethius. De Consolatione Philosophiae [On the Consolation of Philosophy]. 524, bk. 1, poem 4.

Current Citation

Boethius. The Consolation of Philosophy, translated by Victor Watts. Penguin Classics, 1999, bk. 1, poem 4.

I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.

J.R.R. Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

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Topic

Crying Vulnerability

Speaker

Gandalf

Author

J.R.R. Tolkien

Source

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Medium

Novel

Genre

Fantasy

Language

English

Time

1955 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. George Allen & Unwin, 1955, bk. 6, ch. 9.

Love her, love her, love her! If she favours you, love her. If she wounds you, love her. If she tears your heart to pieces,—and as it gets older and stronger it will tear deeper,—love her, love her, love her!

Charles Dickens

Great Expectations

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Topic

Vulnerability Commitment Love

Speaker

Miss Havisham

Author

Charles Dickens

Source

Great Expectations

Medium

Novel

Genre

Coming of age story

Statement Type

Orders and commands

Language

English

Time

1861 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Dickens, Charles. "Great Expectations." All the Year Round. London: Chapman and Hall, 30 Mar. 1861, issue 17, ch. 29.

Current Citation

Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. Penguin Classics, 2002, ch. 29.

He folded his fear into a perfect rose. He held it out in the palm of his hand. She took it from him and put it in her hair.

Arundhati Roy

The God of Small Things

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Topic

Vulnerability Fear

Author

Arundhati Roy

Source

The God of Small Things

Medium

Novel

Genre

Post-colonial literature

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1997 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Roy, Arundhati. The God of Small Things. Random House, 1997, ch. 21.

It is through weakness and vulnerability that most of us learn empathy and compassion and discover our soul.

Desmond Tutu

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Topic

Vulnerability Empathy Personal growth

Author

Desmond Tutu

Language

English

Time

2004 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Tutu, Desmond. God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time. Doubleday, 2004.

She talks just like a woman, yes, she does
She makes love just like a woman, yes, she does
And she aches just like a woman
But she breaks just like a little girl.

Bob Dylan

Just Like a Woman

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Topic

Women Vulnerability

Speaker

Bob Dylan

Source

Just Like a Woman Blonde on Blonde

Medium

Song

Genre

Folk rock

Language

English

Time

1966 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Dylan, Bob. "Just Like a Woman." Blonde on Blonde. Columbia Records, 1966.

Who has not sat nervously before the stage curtain of his heart?

Rainer Maria Rilke

More information about this quote

Topic

Introspection Vulnerability Fear

Author

Rainer Maria Rilke

Medium

Poem

Language

German

Time

1923 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Rilke, Rainer Maria. "Die vierte Elegie [Fourth Elegy]." Duineser Elegien [Duino Elegies]. Insel-Verlag, 1923.

Current Citation

Rilke, Rainer Maria. Duino Elegies, translated by David Young. W. W. Norton & Company, 2006.

No matter how honestly you open up to someone, there are still some things you can’t reveal.

Haruki Murakami

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

More information about this quote

Topic

Vulnerability Intimacy Connecting with others

Author

Haruki Murakami

Source

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Medium

Novel

Language

Japanese

Time

2013 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Murakami, Haruki. 色彩を持たない多崎つくると、彼の巡礼の年 [Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage]. Bungeishunju, 2013.

You don't know about real loss 'cause that only occurs when you love something more than you love yourself. I doubt you've ever dared to love anybody that much.

Good Will Hunting

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Topic

Vulnerability Taking risks Courage Relationships

Speaker

Sean

Actor

Robin Williams

Source

Good Will Hunting

Medium

Film

Genre

Psychological drama (film) Drama (film) Psychological drama Drama

Language

English

Time

1997 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Good Will Hunting. Directed by Gus Van Sant, Be Gentlemen, 1997.

Let's get the shit kicked out of us by love!

Love Actually

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Topic

Vulnerability Dangers of love Love

Speaker

Sam

Actor

Thomas Brodie-Sangster

Source

Love Actually

Medium

Film

Genre

Christmas (film) Romantic comedy (film) Christmas Romantic comedy

Language

English

Time

2003 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Love Actually. Directed by Richard Curtis, Working Title Films/StudioCanal/DNA Films, 2003.

Are all men in disguise except those crying?

Dannie Abse

More information about this quote

Topic

Crying Masculinity Vulnerability Authenticity

Author

Dannie Abse

Source

Encounter at a Greyhound Bus Station

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Question

Language

English

Time

1986 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Abse, Dannie. "Encounter at a Greyhound Bus Station." Ask the Moon. Hutchinson, 2014.

As for you, my galvanized friend, you want a heart. You don't know how lucky you are not to have one. Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable.

The Wizard of Oz

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More information about this quote

Topic

Vulnerability Toughness Broken heart

Speaker

The Wizard of Oz

Actor

Frank Morgan

Source

The Wizard of Oz

Medium

Film

Genre

Fantasy (film) Musical (film) Fantasy Musical

Language

English

Time

1939 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Wizard of Oz. Directed by Victor Fleming. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1939.

I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at.

William Shakespeare

Othello

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Topic

Vulnerability

Speaker

Iago

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Othello

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1604 1600s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Othello. King's Men, 1 Nov. 1604, Palace of Whitehall, Westminster, London, England, UK, act 1, sc. 1.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Othello." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 1, sc. 1.

You're fast with that gun, Matt. Awful fast. But your heart's soft. Too soft. Might get you hurt some day.

Red River

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More information about this quote

Topic

Vulnerability Weakness

Speaker

Cherry Valance

Actor

John Ireland

Source

Red River

Medium

Film

Genre

Western (film) Western

Language

English

Time

1948 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Red River. Directed by Howard Hawks, Monterey Productions, 1948.

Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.

Charles Dickens

Our Mutual Friend

More information about this quote

Topic

Vulnerability Patience Gentleness

Speaker

Jenny Wren aka Fanny Cleaver

Author

Charles Dickens

Source

Our Mutual Friend

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1865 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Dickens, Charles. "Our Mutual Friend." All the Year Round. London: Chapman and Hall, Mar. 1865, pt. 11, bk. 3, ch. 2.

Current Citation

Dickens, Charles. Our Mutual Friend, edited by Adrian Poole. Penguin, 1998, bk. 3, ch. 2.