--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In my head there's a broken balcony I…" description: "\"In my head there's a broken balcony I fall off of when I speak.\" — Amy Hempel" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76b/amy-hempel-6636_balconies_in-my-head-there-s-a-broken-balcony-i-fa_1176434.png" --- # In my head there's a broken balcony I fall off of when I… ![“In my head there's a broken balcony I fall off of when I speak.” quote by Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76b/amy-hempel-6636_balconies_in-my-head-there-s-a-broken-balcony-i-fa_1176434.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76b/amy-hempel-6636_balconies_in-my-head-there-s-a-broken-balcony-i-fa_1176434.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76b/amy-hempel-6636_balconies_in-my-head-there-s-a-broken-balcony-i-fa_1176434.png) > “In my head there's a broken balcony I fall off of when I speak.” [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Speaking feels like falling from a broken balcony, symbolizing vulnerability and fear of expression. **In simple terms:** Speaking feels like falling. Key Takeaway Embrace vulnerability in speech. Themes vulnerability speech fear expression Mood anxious introspective Type personal When to use this quote - public speaking - writing - conversations - therapy Key Concepts psychology communication self-awareness Questions to Reflect On - How does fear affect your communication? - What steps can you take to speak more freely? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [The eyes were hollow and the carven head was broken, but about the high, stern forehead there was a coronal of silver and gold.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-eyes-were-hollow-and-the-carven-head-was-broken-but-about-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I climbed down the outside of a Holiday Inn once just to surprise one of my crew by getting on his balcony and knocking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lemmy-kilmister/i-climbed-down-the-outside-of-a-holiday-inn-once-just-to-surprise-one/) [Lemmy Kilmister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lemmy-kilmister/) > [Let not the author eat up the man, so that he shall be all balcony and no house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/let-not-the-author-eat-up-the-man-so-that-he-shall-be-all-balcony-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Alexandra was tall and blond, with a balcony you could do Shakespeare from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-r-green/alexandra-was-tall-and-blond-with-a-balcony-you-could-do-shakespeare/) [Simon R. Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-r-green/) > [I urge you to be bold. Life isn't changed from the balcony. Get onto the floor and dance, dance, dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-granholm/i-urge-you-to-be-bold-life-isn-t-changed-from-the-balcony-get-onto/) [Jennifer Granholm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-granholm/) > [“She misses her balcony more than anything. 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The balcony ache with longings.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iqra-iqbal/lonely-balcony-the-deterioration-brought-by-weariness-was-visible-its/) [iqra iqbal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iqra-iqbal/) > [This was when I was on the balcony of my house when it was summer time...!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaniaacannon/this-was-when-i-was-on-the-balcony-of-my-house-when-it-was-summer-time/) Shaniaacannon ## More by Amy Hempel > [Good leaders being scarce, following yourself is allowed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/good-leaders-being-scarce-following-yourself-is-allowed/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [Since his mother died I have seen him steam a cucumber thinking it was zucchini. That's the kind of thing that turns my heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/since-his-mother-died-i-have-seen-him-steam-a-cucumber-thinking-it/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [“A story happens when two equally appealing forces, or characters, or ideas try to occupy the same place at the same time, and they're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/a-story-happens-when-two-equally-appealing-forces-or-characters-or/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [“It is such a pretty story, told to me by a Cuban woman I met in a bar at the beach. She left the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/it-is-such-a-pretty-story-told-to-me-by-a-cuban-woman-i-met-in-a-bar/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [Journalism taught me how to write a sentence that would make someone want to read the next one. You are trained to get rid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/journalism-taught-me-how-to-write-a-sentence-that-would-make-someone/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [I had a mother I could only seem to please with verbal accomplishments of some sort or another. She read constantly, so I read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/i-had-a-mother-i-could-only-seem-to-please-with-verbal/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [“Mrs. Linden was beautiful in spirit and in fact. Her wish, she told her daughter, was to be a beautiful woman and surprise people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/mrs-linden-was-beautiful-in-spirit-and-in-fact-her-wish-she-told-her/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [Then the children went to bed, or at least went upstairs, and the men joined the women for a cigarette on the porch, absently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/then-the-children-went-to-bed-or-at-least-went-upstairs-and-the-men/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [“It comes back to the question, whom are you writing for? Who are the readers you want? Who are the people you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/it-comes-back-to-the-question-whom-are-you-writing-for-who-are-the/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [An idea might spark an essay, but never a story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/an-idea-might-spark-an-essay-but-never-a-story/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [There’s so much I can’t read because I get so exasperated. Someone starts describing the character boarding the plane and pulling the seat back.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/there-s-so-much-i-can-t-read-because-i-get-so-exasperated-someone/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [The year I began to say vahz instead of vase, a man I barely knew nearly accidentally killed me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/the-year-i-began-to-say-vahz-instead-of-vase-a-man-i-barely-knew/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [I often feel the effects of people only after they leave me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/i-often-feel-the-effects-of-people-only-after-they-leave-me/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [“The psychic said I would have two children. This makes me shake my head. I know you are not supposed to leave a baby…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/the-psychic-said-i-would-have-two-children-this-makes-me-shake-my/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [“I read about a famous mystery writer who worked for one week in a department store. One day she saw a woman come in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/i-read-about-a-famous-mystery-writer-who-worked-for-one-week-in-a/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) [Explore all 93 Amy Hempel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) ## More Balconies quotes > [I climbed down the outside of a Holiday Inn once just to surprise one of my crew by getting on his balcony and knocking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lemmy-kilmister/i-climbed-down-the-outside-of-a-holiday-inn-once-just-to-surprise-one/) [Lemmy Kilmister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lemmy-kilmister/) > [It's an enormous amount of work: there are 28 separate buildings, and I work on the choice of the colors for everything. Outside colors,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hench/it-s-an-enormous-amount-of-work-there-are-28-separate-buildings-and-i/) [John Hench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hench/) > [I’ll be back tomorrow,” he said, “at nine o’clock. Don’t open your door to anyone else.” “Not even my balcony door?” “Especially not your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-fortier/i-ll-be-back-tomorrow-he-said-at-nine-o-clock-don-t-open-your-door-to/) [Anne Fortier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-fortier/) > [It was the kind of town that made you feel like Humphrey Bogart: you came in on a bumpy little plane, and, for some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/it-was-the-kind-of-town-that-made-you-feel-like-humphrey-bogart-you/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [I love to walk through the streets of Jesus Maria and Pueblo Libre. The Spanish colonial buildings are in bright colors, two stories high,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-alarcon/i-love-to-walk-through-the-streets-of-jesus-maria-and-pueblo-libre/) [Daniel Alarcon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-alarcon/) > [...you must play for the little fellow in the last row of the balcony who only has fifty cents to pay for a ticket.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-tabuteau/you-must-play-for-the-little-fellow-in-the-last-row-of-the-balcony/) Marcel Tabuteau > [I do an opening in 'The Glory of the World' play at BAM, and then I go up to the high balcony in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/i-do-an-opening-in-the-glory-of-the-world-play-at-bam-and-then-i-go/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) > [The switch had two settings. You could either turn it to AUTO, in which case the awning lowered itself whenever the sun came out,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/the-switch-had-two-settings-you-could-either-turn-it-to-auto-in-which/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [I watched the Trade Center buildings go down from my balcony, and it was a terrifying moment. I couldn't get my mind around it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-brothers/i-watched-the-trade-center-buildings-go-down-from-my-balcony-and-it/) [Joyce Brothers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-brothers/) > [Here is something that Peach, one of the Casserole Queens, says about men and women and love. You know that scene in Romeo and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/here-is-something-that-peach-one-of-the-casserole-queens-says-about/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [Here I came to the very edge where nothing at all needs saying, everything is absorbed through weather and the sea, and the moon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/here-i-came-to-the-very-edge-where-nothing-at-all-needs-saying/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [Consider the situation. There you are, forehead like a set of balconies, worrying about the long-term effects of all this new 'fire' stuff on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/consider-the-situation-there-you-are-forehead-like-a-set-of-balconies/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Didn't love, like a plant from India, require a prepared soil, a particular temperature? Sighs in the moonlight, long embraces, tears flowing over hands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/didn-t-love-like-a-plant-from-india-require-a-prepared-soil-a/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [ I was on set \[Romeo + Juliet\] maybe an hour for two days. It was in this big cathedral in Mexico City. I just… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quindon-tarver/i-was-on-set-romeo-juliet-maybe-an-hour-for-two-days-it-was-in-this/) [Quindon Tarver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quindon-tarver/) > [I grew up in Houston, and I remember we had separate drinking fountains, and black people sat in the balcony of the theater... We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-quaid/i-grew-up-in-houston-and-i-remember-we-had-separate-drinking/) [Dennis Quaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-quaid/) Browse all 85 Balconies quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In my head there's a broken balcony I fall off of when I speak.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Amy Hempel" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/in-my-head-there-s-a-broken-balcony-i-fall-off-of-when-i-speak/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Balconies" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/in-my-head-there-s-a-broken-balcony-i-fall-off-of-when-i-speak/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76b/amy-hempel-6636_balconies_in-my-head-there-s-a-broken-balcony-i-fa_1176434.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76b/amy-hempel-6636_balconies_in-my-head-there-s-a-broken-balcony-i-fa_1176434.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76b/amy-hempel-6636_balconies_in-my-head-there-s-a-broken-balcony-i-fa_1176434.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In my head there's a broken balcony I fall off of when I speak.” — Amy Hempel", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Amy Hempel", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In my head there's a broken...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/in-my-head-there-s-a-broken-balcony-i-fall-off-of-when-i-speak/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/in-my-head-there-s-a-broken-balcony-i-fall-off-of-when-i-speak/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```