Djuna Barnes Quotes

I always thought I could be brave and charge at things and smash 'em and walk away, but it takes courage to sit and look at things and say, 'This is what I am. How do I fix it? How do I live with it?'

The truth was that I could not manage my soul, and I was becoming aware of old age because of my weakness in the face of love.

The toughest thing is facing yourself. Being honest with yourself, that's much tougher than beating someone up. That's what I call tough.

Such honesty comes with a price, but when you get past the hurt and shock of realizing that you're faulted and frequently wrong, you also realize that you are really loved and respected for who you are, and you become a better person.

When writing of oneself one should show no mercy. Yet why at the first attempt to discover one's own truth does all inner strength seem to melt away in floods of self-pity and tenderness and rising tears?

In fact, I'm softer than I've ever been, including that unfortunate semester in high school when I simultaneously discovered Krispy Kreme and pot.

Self-awareness is value-free. It isn't scary. It doesn't imply that you will subject yourself to needless pain.

Be humble, be gracious, and make peace with inner fears before stepping out into the limelight and allowing yourself to be subjected to all of humanity.

It's not a gift of mine, but one given to me, to be able to criticise myself and not be crushed, by myself or by others.

Cancer softened me up. I like the old me better. I liked being angry. It made me feel strong.

I used to believe that hurting would make you more alive to the hurting of others. I used to believe in feeling bad because somebody else did. Now I'm not so sure of either.

I find it takes a lot of strength to endure myself.

The way I look at it, I'm more of a man because I'm in touch with my emotions. I think people that deny their emotions are pretty weak individuals, if you want my honest opinion.

Know yourself and go in swinging, if it hurts when you hit, it might be real, too.

For which of my bad parts didst thou first fall in love with me?

I can’t hate people for making judgment on me, or making a decision of liking me or not liking me. All I can do is try to better as a person. And I’m good with knowing everything isn’t always going to be perfect.

Greece is like a mirror. It makes you suffer. Then you learn.' To live alone?' To live. With what you are.

There is no need to sally forth, for it remains true that those things which make us human are, curiously enough, always close at hand. Resolve, then, that on this very ground, with small flags waving and tiny blasts on tiny trumpets, we shall meet the enemy, and not only may he be ours, he may be us.

As a therapist, I know that when you're vulnerable, the best way to move on is to admit your vulnerability, don't beat yourself up for it, and try to find a way to analyze your vulnerability. Pull up your socks and try to do better for you and your family.

Now you see how you are, the wisdom mixed in with all the scars.

To live with fear and not be afraid is the final test of maturity.

To endure oneself may be the hardest task in the universe. You cannot hire a wise man or any other intellect to solve it for you. There's no writ of inquest or calling of witness to provide answers.

As a young man, I yearned for the day when, rooted in the experience that comes only with age, I could do my work fearlessly. But today, in my mid-sixties, I realize that I will feel fear from time to time for the rest of my life. I may never get rid of my fear. But . . . I can learn to walk into it and through it whenever it rises up . . . naming the inner force that triggers . . . fear . . . Naming our fears aloud . . . is the first step toward transcending them.

There comes a time when the bubble of ego is popped and you can’t get the ground back for an extended period of time. Those times, when you absolutely cannot get it back together, are the most rich and powerful times in our lives.

By being vulnerable, either with yourself or in the presence of another person, that’s where all growth and ultimate well-being comes from.