is an author, podcast host, and activist committed to empowering women to recognize their own worth, be true to themselves, and be both brave and kind to others. Her New York Times best sellers include ; ; and . In addition to her writing and speaking, she is the founder of Together Rising, a woman-led nonprofit which supports those in crisis.
Read on for some of the most influential and uplifting words from Glennon Doyle's latest self-narrated audiobook, .
1. "Being human is not hard because you're doing it wrong, it's hard because you're doing it right."
2. "Be careful with the stories you tell about yourself."
3. "The braver I am, the luckier I get."
4. "We forgot how to know when we learned how to please."
5. "When a woman finally learns that pleasing the world is impossible, she becomes free to learn how to please herself."
6. "Every life is an unprecedented experiment."
7. "If you are uncomfortable—in deep pain, angry, yearning, confused—you don’t have a problem, you have a life."
8. "I looked hard at my faith, my friendships, my work, my sexuality, my entire life and asked: How much of this was my idea?…Who was I before I became who the world told me to be?"
9. "The truest, most beautiful life never promises to be an easy one. We need to let go of the lie that it’s supposed to be."
10. "We know we must decide whether to stay small, quiet, and uncomplicated or allow ourselves to grow as big, loud, and complex as we were made to be."
11. "This life is mine alone. So I have stopped asking people for directions to places they've never been. There is no map. We are all pioneers."
12. "We are all bilingual. We speak the language of indoctrination, but our native tongue is the language of imagination."
13. "I did not know that I was supposed to feel everything. I thought I was supposed to feel happy."
14. "It is a blessing to know a free woman. Sometimes she will stop by and hold up a mirror for you. She will help you remember who you are."
15. "Human qualities are not gendered. What is gendered is permission to express certain traits. Why? Why would our culture prescribe such strict gender roles? And why would it be so important for our culture to label all tenderness and mercy as feminine?"
16. "I do not adjust myself to please the world. I am myself wherever I am, and I let the world adjust."
17. "I will not let the fact that I cannot do everything keep me from doing what I can."
18. "To be brave is to forsake all others to be true to yourself."
19. "Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid."
