“There's so much shame involved in not being like everyone else. But I learned that the things that made me unique were good. Dealing with problems can be awful. But in the end I got positive results. I don't think I would have been a writer if I didn't have anxiety.” IfsThinkingHas BeensMadeEndsProblemResultsInvolvedAnxietyUniqueShameAwfulPositive ResultsDealing With Problems Author:Jenny Lawson
“Most writers are lazy intellectuals, and it's a goddamn shame because a writer with an audience has a moral responsibility to make readers think about the world in a different way than what they're used to. Why else would you pick up a book if not to inhabit another realm of existence for a while?” IfsThinkingWorldWayBookDifferentUsedExistenceResponsibilityMoralAudienceReaderPicksShameDifferent WaysRealmsLazyMoral Responsibility Author:Kevin Keck
“We're talking about everybody's free right to have choice. And so what we're also getting are interesting messages like you really need to obey the command of Allah and put a scarf on your head. And what we caution well-intentioned Americans and others to think about is whether the scarf matches their own values related to issues of honor and shame.” ThinkingNeedsWellsValuesChoicesInterestingTalkingIssuesLike YouHonorMessagesShameCommandRelatedCautionScarves Author:Asra Nomani
“I think happy, companionate marriages between men and women who respect each other (as far as is consistent with being actual human beings) should be every bit as poetry-worthy as angst, bitterness, and shame.” ThinkingMenShouldHumansBitsHuman BeingsMen And WomenShameWorthyConsistentBitternessAngstRespect Each Other Author:Delia Sherman
“Though we don't have a cure for cancer we at least have stopped being too ashamed to even say the name of the disease - and the trajectory of the AIDS epidemic is edifying, isn't it? Shame shuts down productive thinking, and I'd like to open the doors. It's a first step.” ThinkingFirstsNamesStepsDoorsDiseaseShameCancerAidsCuresAshamedProductiveFirst StepsEpidemicsTrajectoryAids Epidemic Author:Laura Mullen
“My influences are jazz, blues, European classical music; they are rock music and pop music. So many kinds of music. World music from different countries like India and China. I think that would be a shame not to take advantage and do something... not unique, because I don't have this pretension.” ThinkingWorldKindDifferentCountryWould BeInfluenceRocksUniqueAdvantageIndiaShameJazzChinaPopsClassical MusicPop MusicRock MusicPretensionDifferent CountriesWorld Music Author:Rokia Traore
“When I was writing the book, I thought "Who wants to hear another story about some actor who lost his way?" But my story is a little unique in that I realized when I was 14 years old that I was different. I think a lot of gay people use drugs and alcohol to quell that fear and shame - especially people of my age.” PeopleThinkingWayWantWritingYearsLittlesBookDifferentStoriesUseAgeActorsLostGayDrugUniqueShameAlcoholI RealizedGay PeopleDrugs And Alcohol Author:Leslie Jordan
“I felt sorry for Senzo Meyiwa family and for the people of South Africa because it's a shame we lost such a huge talent. In all the games he had played I think he didn't concede any goal.” PeopleThinkingGamesLostFeltGoalTalentHugeShameSouthSorrySouth Africa Author:Stephen Keshi
“I think that shame is a universal, paralyzing, painful emotion.” ThinkingEmotionUniversalShamePainful Author:Brené Brown
“Imagine Americans who go to Paris. Why would you want to go where someone's going to disparage you? Why would you go anywhere where they treat you bad? Well, that's how it is for us to go to Mexico. You have to be on your guard, because I think the Mexicans are harder on the Mexicans, the Mexican-Americans. They don't see us as Mexican. I think part of it's a class issue and a color issue. We're more connected to their servants, so what are we doing staying at a nice hotel? There's a kind of shame.” ThinkingWantWellsKindClassIssuesNiceImagineColorTreatsHarderShameConnectedServantParisHotelStayingMexicoMexicanMexican American Author:Sandra Cisneros
“I think in its own small way, it did push people to be more accepting of different kinds of music. It definitely made music more egalitarian in terms of, it took away the shame of the goofy bands that you liked.” PeopleThinkingWayKindMadeDifferentTermAcceptingBandShameDifferent KindsGoofyDifferent Kinds Of Music Author:Jancee Dunn
“My generation is one of the first generations of "choiceful" women - women who have actually had the choice of how they architect their lives - and I don't think shame should have any place in that. But as that generation, you get cuts and bruises.” ThinkingShouldFirstsChoicesCuttingGenerationsShould HaveShameArchitectMy GenerationBruisesCuts And Bruises Author:Tracee Ellis Ross
“It hasn't always easy to combine these two competing ambitions and, in retrospect, it's a shame no one steered me towards science communications, which I think would have suited me down to the ground. But careers advice has largely been absent from my life, so I have pretty much made it up as I've gone along!” ThinkingMadeTwoEasyCareersGoneAdviceCommunicationAmbitionShameMade ItCompetingAbsentRetrospectCareer Advice Author:Suw Charman-Anderson
“I think that's the real shame: We spent the last 48 hours talking about these disgusting, disgusting comments and disgusting behavior instead of talking about hurricane relief or what's going on in Flint, Michigan. It's just appalling to have to be dealing with such nonsense and such disgusting, you know, criminal speech.” ThinkingKnowsRealLastsHoursTalkingSpeechBehaviorShameCriminalsReliefNonsenseCommentDisgustingHurricanesMichigan48 Hours Author:Natalie Portman
“I think what happens is that we're so busy as pastors that we never get around to trying to turn that material into a book. It's a shame because there is so much good material out there that needs to be published.” ThinkingNeedsTryingBookHappensTurnsMaterialsShameBusyPastor Author:Max Lucado
“Part of that is ordinary African-Americans, you come out of your house and you see the conditions in your neighborhood and you see, folks in your neighborhood doing certain things that, are irresponsible. You know, the thing I always think about, you get up early in the morning to go to work and there's some dude outside drinking and you come home and the same dude is outside drinking hanging on the corner. And then this engenders a level of anger I think and a level of shame.” ThinkingKnowsHomeCertainHouseLevelsMorningConditionsOrdinaryShameDrinkingFolksCornersGet UpAfrican AmericanNeighborhoodComing HomeIrresponsibleUp EarlyHanging On Author:Ta-Nehisi Coates
“I think it's a real shame so many schools have taken out the hands-on classes. Art, music, auto mechanics, cooking, sewing, these are all things that can turn into jobs. You know, wood shop, steel shop, welding. These are all things that can turn into great careers, get kids interested. Things they can do with other students. Other things for our word thinkers: journalism clubs, drama clubs.” ThinkingKnowsArtRealHandsKidsSchoolJobsTurnsCan DoClassCareersTakenStudentsDramaAll ThingsShameCookingClubsWoodsJournalismShopsThinkerSteelMechanicOur WordsSewingArt MusicWeldingAuto MechanicDrama Club Author:Temple Grandin
“As for uniqueness, this is virtually nonexistent! And it's a shame that people think they're unique because they have a face ring, retro clothing, colorful hair, drive a certain kind of automobile or listen to some obscure musician.” PeopleThinkingKindFacesCertainHairMusicianUniqueShameRingsClothingsUniquenessObscureAutomobileColorfulRetro Author:Gary Yourofsky
“I have made you - along with Fox News has made you - think Obama is something that he isn't. And it's such a shame. I have so distorted who the real Obama is in your mind, that it is paralyzing our government. It is paralyzing the Speaker of the House, who really, really, really, really wants to go in there and really, really work with Obama, but he just can't. It's hard for people like Boehner to move too far in my direction because of the misperception of me, Obama says, created by Fox News and Rush Limbaugh.” PeopleThinkingWantMindMadeRealHardGovernmentMovingHouseNewsShameSpeakersFoxesFox NewsMisperception Author:Rush Limbaugh
“I think it's important to encourage young people to tell their own stories and to speak openly about their own experiences with the criminal justice system and the experiences of their family. We need to ensure that the classroom environment is a supportive one so that the shame and stigma can be dispelled.” PeopleThinkingNeedsImportantStoriesYoungSpeakJusticeEnvironmentShameCriminalsClassroomSupportiveStigmaJustice SystemCriminal JusticeCriminal Justice System Author:Michelle Alexander
“When people give up sex and give up love or they only have love in the context of tradition then I think we're missing the opportunity of saying to each other building community, building desire in community gives all of us the possibility of learning how to be who we always were terrified we'd find out we were, and then not be ashamed of it and to not have our desire and our love embedded in shame is a profound thing and it's part of what drives the movement.” PeopleThinkingGivingDesireOpportunitySexCommunityMissingMovementPossibilityBuildingGiving UpTraditionShameProfoundAshamedTerrifiedOur LoveEmbeddedCommunity BuildingBuilding Community Author:Amber Hollibaugh
“I think young people are recognizing the power of institutions, and we have to really dismantle a lot of the stigma and shame, culturally, but we also have to change things in terms of how government and institutions deal with this.” PeopleThinkingGovernmentYoungTermDealsShameInstitutionsRecognizingStigma Author:Cecile Richards
“I think as a gay person, there was no way in my generation to not grow up with shame and a sense of being wrong. It was impossible to avoid. Externally, you might make choices that are very public and very open but internally that was a struggle.” ThinkingWayPersonsMightChoicesGrowsStruggleGrowing UpImpossibleGenerationsGayShameMy GenerationBeing Wrong Author:Ira Sachs
“I think challenges are what any decent writer would be all about. If you actually do find your slide and grease it, shame on you. Me, I get bored very easily. As a writer I get bored even faster than I do in real life. I mean, I like fast cars; I've driven a lot of racecars. You need some stimulation. If I find something that seems too difficult to do, too difficult to research, or beyond your writing abilities, it's a perfect invitation to try it.” ThinkingWritingTryingMeanRealDifficultChallengesAbilityPerfectCarShameDrivenReal LifeBoredDecentInvitationsGreaseFast Car Author:Dan Simmons
“It makes me a bit sad that, if anything, that people seem to want to go back to an old model of normality, and sitcoms seem to want to be about ordinary families and things that aren't very interesting. I just think it's a bit sad. It's a shame that life is still depicted in a very straight way.” PeopleThinkingInterestingShameVery InterestingSitcom Author:Jennifer Saunders
“One of the glories of doing the book So You Want to Be President? was the shifts in tone, where I was able to be humorous and then very serious. And the impeachment page is certainly the best example of that. I didn't have to think too much about how to present this one. I got the idea right away that a good way of showing the shame of President Nixon would be to put him down in the shadows under the Lincoln Monument, with Lincoln sort of glaring down at him from an elevated, better-lit position.” ThinkingBookPresidentSeriousGloryHumorousShadowShameMonumentPresident Nixon Author:David Small
“I think that, in our culture, we find older people to be almost invisible, and it's such a shame. The one thing, the one condition that we all suffer from, and that we all benefit from, is ageing. It starts at zero and we're all going in the same direction, and I always try to see the young person underneath the older person and that's all of us. We all feel the same way inside, and I think that there are so many ways for us to age well and to help our senior population get to the golden years with more dignity more independent and more enjoyment.” PeopleThinkingTryingHelpingAgeSufferingCultureDignityShameIndependentInvisibleEnjoymentSenior Author:Leeza Gibbons
“Advertisers have become scared of talking about certain issues because they don't want to upset an American family. I think it's a shame because there are things we want to talk to our kids about. So to be able to talk about LGBT issues on our shows. To be able to to talk about sex on our shows. Now if you're like, "I'm going to do an episode talking to kids about sex," on a network that's hard to do!” ThinkingKidsShameScaredUpsetLgbt Author:Gloria Calderon Kellett
“I love secrets. Here's a bunch of people who think they know each other over a long period of time. And they do. And they don't. Secrets aren't the same thing as shame, but they can fall in that category. I'm very interested in the ways that people are open and honest with one another and simultaneously in hiding. What we know about those we love is only part of the story. Who do we protect with our secrets? Others? Ourselves? These are questions that interest me in fiction. The public and the private self.” PeopleThinkingLongFallInterestLove IsSecretHonestProtectShameHiding Author:Victoria Redel
“"OK, well everyone makes a mistake, right?" But then when you think it probably happened again that's when you think: "Shame on you once and shame on me twice, or however that saying goes." But everyone's been down that road. It's not about the little things anymore, but the major things that tell you if you don't move on at that point then I'm a fool.” ThinkingMovingMistakeFoolShameLittle Things Author:Michelle Monaghan
“I think about some of the novels I love - The Stranger, Disgrace, Quicksand and Passing, Giovanni's Room, The Talented Mr. Ripley. I think I'm more intrigued by characters who don't do the right thing and where we are allowed to identify with their shame/dishonesty/envy... whatever.” ThinkingCharacterNovelShameStrangerEnvyRight ThingDisgraceDishonestyIntriguedQuicksand Author:Danzy Senna
“I think it's a shame when pop culture forgets that theatricality is a big part of it. When Neil Young is fumbling around in his pocket looking for the right harmonica, it doesn't matter that he's a dude in the hat who is a man of the people - there's a theatricality there. You don't have to be David Bowie or the Kabuki theater to have that theatricality going on.” PeopleThinkingMenCultureForgetShamePop Culture Author:Johnny Marr
“People grow up learning to be silent about their sexuality, so where are they going to learn to talk about it when they are in a relationship? Shame, guilt, ignorance, reservation, prudishness, all kinds of different cultural systems and social stereotypes shroud sexuality in secrecy and in silence. And there's the romantic notion. "If I say in the beginning, that I am missing something, you are instantly going to think that means you are not enough."” PeopleThinkingKindMeanDifferentEnoughSilenceGrowing UpMissingIgnoranceShameGuiltSilentSexualityAll KindsStereotypeSecrecy Author:Esther Perel
“I think China is laughing about the results of the presidential elections. China, Russia, they all laugh about it. They see how dramatic U.S. has to be put this kind of shame on its own - cannot handle the situation. Or show such a difficulty with this liberal ideas. Men or women created equal. And to defend those very essential ideas.” ThinkingMenKindSituationLaughingEqualDifficultyShameElectionPresidentialDramaticPresidential Election Author:Ai Weiwei
“I think there's over-telling sometimes, in fiction. For instance, I'm a big fan of horror movies, but I could always lose the last third of them. There's the brilliant exciting scary thing that's going on, and then they have to show you the monster, and the monster turns out to be a giant spider from space and then you push it over and it's dead. It becomes mortal and it has human needs and it always sort of feels like a shame. Maybe because of all the cop shows and such, we're a generation that needs to have problems solved for us in fiction.” ThinkingSometimesProblemHorrorExcitingShameScaryBrilliantCop Author:Evie Wyld
“You look worldwide for the great leaders, and they're pretty thin on the ground, and of course the problem is unless you're squeaky, squeaky clean, something is going to come out of the cupboard. Most people aren't squeaky clean. Most people have fallen by the wayside once or twice in their lives, and because the world is so transparent now, I think they're very fearful of running for office. It's a huge shame, because often people who have really lived and are amazing people can be brought down by a past indiscretion.” PeopleThinkingWorldProblemRunningPastLeaderOfficeShameFallenFearfulGreat LeaderAmazing People Author:Jeremy Irons
“As a singer, I've always said, "Yes, I smoke weed," when I'm asked. Of course I say yes, because why wouldn't I smoke weed? There are many reasons not to, though not that many compared to the reasons to do it. I've always been open about it ... but people go, "Hippie! No, not listening to you," and I think that's a bloody shame.” PeopleThinkingReasonListeningShameWeedBloodyHippie Author:Joss Stone
“I'll never, never understand why people think it's their business to comment on other people's bodies. I go to a spa in LA sometimes, a Korean day spa, and all the women there are nude. And I've never felt so in love with the human form as when I'm walking around and seeing all those bodies, thinking, Oh my god, we're all just built so differently. And every single body is beautiful. I will never understand that shame, and the reinforcement of that shame. It's crazy.” PeopleThinkingSometimesBeautifulCrazyWalkingShameCommentKorean Author:Tatiana Maslany
“Sexuality is so much more complex than our boobs. My sexuality isn't me as an object to be looked at. It's the way I say "hello" to somebody, the way I sit with somebody. A body is just a body. But we're really afraid of bodies. They hold a lot of power - I think that's why people can try to shame them so easily, because they are so powerful.” PeopleThinkingTryingPowerfulShameSexualityHello Author:Tatiana Maslany
“I think it's a shame when you come across young actors and musicians who haven't had the time to learn their craft. It doesn't matter if it's acting or music, you really have to learn how to do it from the bottom up because unless you have a great work ethic... fame is a terrible thing to have.” IfsThinkingMatterYoungActorsActingHavensTerribleFameMusicianEthicsShameBottomCraftsWork EthicGreat WorkTerrible ThingsYoung ActorsGreat Work Ethic Author:Denis Leary
“I would hate to think I'm promoting sadness as an aesthetic. But I grew up in not just a family but a town and a culture where sadness is something you're taught to feel shame about. You end up chronically desiring what can be a very sentimental idea of love and connection. A lot of my work has been about trying to make a space for sadness.” ThinkingFeelsTryingHas BeensIdeasEndsHateCultureSpaceSadnessTaughtGrewGrew UpConnectionsTownsShameAestheticSentimentalPromoting Author:Mike Mills
“Let us not be ashamed to speak what we shame not to think.” ThinkingSpeakShameAshamedCandor Author:Michel de Montaigne
“I think it's a terrible shame that politics has become show business.” ThinkingShowsPoliticsTerribleShameShow BusinessNerd Author:Sydney Pollack
“Shame is the feeling you have when you agree with the woman who loves you that you are the man she thinks you are.” ThinkingMenFeelingsLove YouShameAgree Author:Carl Sandburg
“Graphic novels are not traditional literature, but that does not mean they are second-rate. Images are a way of writing. When you have the talent to be able to write and to draw, it seems a shame to choose one. I think it's better to do both.” ThinkingWayWritingMeanDoeSeemsAbleLiteratureNovelTalentDrawsShameRateTraditionalGraphicGraphic NovelsSecond Rate Author:Marjane Satrapi
“I'd love to be in another film, but they haven't asked me. I think it's a shame but the prospects of me doing another one now are remote. Please do campaign on my behalf.” ThinkingFilmHavensPleaseShameCampaignsBehalfProspectsDoing Me Author:Julie Walters
“You know, I once read an interesting book which said that, uh, most people lost in the wilds, they, they die of shame. Yeah, see, they die of shame. 'What did I do wrong? How could I have gotten myself into this?' And so they sit there and they... die. Because they didn't do the one thing that would save their lives. Thinking.” PeopleThinkingKnowsSaidBookDiesLostInterestingOne ThingShameYeahInteresting BookWhat Did I Do Wrong Author:David Mamet
“Think of all the women you know who will not allow themselves to be seen without makeup. I often wonder how they feel about themselves at night when they are climbing into bed with intimate partners. Are they overwhelmed with secret shame that someone sees them as they really are? Or do they sleep with rage that who they really are can be celebrated or cared for only in secret?” ThinkingKnowsFeelsNightSleepSecretWonderBedShameRagePartnersIntimateMakeupClimbingOverwhelmedWithout Makeup Author:Bell Hooks
“It's the endlessly thinking about yourself that causes such heart shame.” ThinkingHeartCausesShameAbout YourselfThinking About Yourself Author:Gregory Maguire