--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Strength means honoring your entire range…" description: "\"Strength means honoring your entire range of emotion, even your despair and heartbreak.\" — Brenda Shaughnessy" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5c/brenda-shaughnessy-31473_despair_strength-means-honoring-your-entire-rang_2264601.png" --- # Strength means honoring your entire range of emotion, even… ![“Strength means honoring your entire range of emotion, even your despair and heartbreak.” quote by Brenda Shaughnessy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5c/brenda-shaughnessy-31473_despair_strength-means-honoring-your-entire-rang_2264601.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5c/brenda-shaughnessy-31473_despair_strength-means-honoring-your-entire-rang_2264601.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5c/brenda-shaughnessy-31473_despair_strength-means-honoring-your-entire-rang_2264601.png) > “Strength means honoring your entire range of emotion, even your despair and heartbreak.” [Brenda Shaughnessy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True strength involves acknowledging all emotions, including pain, rather than denying them. **In simple terms:** Accept all feelings to be truly strong. Key Takeaway Embrace every emotion, even sorrow. Themes emotional honesty resilience self‑acceptance Mood empathetic thoughtful Type poetic motivational When to use this quote - therapy sessions - creative writing - conflict resolution - personal growth Key Concepts Vulnerability integrity psychological health Questions to Reflect On - Which emotion have you been avoiding? - How can you honor your sadness constructively? A Different Perspective Ignoring negative emotions can lead to repression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) [Range of emotions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/range-of-emotions/) [Strength](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strength/) ## Related quotes > [“And for me, it means honoring those who've loved me and sacrificed for me by choosing to be the kind of warrior who delivers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-redwine/and-for-me-it-means-honoring-those-who-ve-loved-me-and-sacrificed-for/) [C.J. Redwine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-redwine/) > [Strength means...acknowledging each of those feelings, your questions and ideas and faith and terror, and meeting what comes with the full force of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/strength-means-acknowledging-each-of-those-feelings-your-questions/) [Brenda Shaughnessy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/) > [I can't say anything other than the fact that I feel a range of emotions including guilt, shame, sadness, betrayal, freedom and appreciation for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jayson-blair/i-can-t-say-anything-other-than-the-fact-that-i-feel-a-range-of/) [Jayson Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jayson-blair/) > [You have to find actors who have the ability to display a wide range of emotion effectively. That's so much harder than it seems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/you-have-to-find-actors-who-have-the-ability-to-display-a-wide-range/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [And rather than hide that, I would rather put that out on the radio and let someone see the full range of emotions. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-stern/and-rather-than-hide-that-i-would-rather-put-that-out-on-the-radio/) [Howard Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-stern/) > [I perceive the world through the wide range of emotions that whirl all around in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-archuleta/i-perceive-the-world-through-the-wide-range-of-emotions-that-whirl/) [David Archuleta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-archuleta/) > [It looks like it’s wasting time, but literature is actually the ultimate time-saver - because it gives us access to a range of emotions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/it-looks-like-it-s-wasting-time-but-literature-is-actually-the/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Whether I was a character in WCW, WWE or The Longest Yard, you want to be able to - the best part about myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-goldberg/whether-i-was-a-character-in-wcw-wwe-or-the-longest-yard-you-want-to/) [Bill Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-goldberg/) > [It's fun playing two roles. The roles provide a wonderful range of emotions. Stuart is childlike and sensitive. Adam is ruthless, outrageous. He's flamboyant.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-canary/it-s-fun-playing-two-roles-the-roles-provide-a-wonderful-range-of/) [David Canary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-canary/) > [This whole notion that the robot has to declare nuclear war is one part of the discussion, but it may not be reality. Reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neill-blomkamp/this-whole-notion-that-the-robot-has-to-declare-nuclear-war-is-one/) [Neill Blomkamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neill-blomkamp/) > [I don't think we have all the words in a single vocabulary to explain what we are or why we are. I don't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-fuller/i-don-t-think-we-have-all-the-words-in-a-single-vocabulary-to-explain/) [Alexandra Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-fuller/) > [True self-reliance does not mean reliance on one's physical strength; it means reliance on something mightier, something which is less perishable... It means trusting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-paramananda/true-self-reliance-does-not-mean-reliance-on-one-s-physical-strength/) [Swami Paramananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-paramananda/) > [“Depression is a sign of strength – because it means no matter how weak your mind might be to you, your heart is still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-hart/depression-is-a-sign-of-strength-because-it-means-no-matter-how-weak/) [Emma Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-hart/) > [What you hold in your hand is proof of man's power - against which our strength means nothing. It has the force of 100…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/what-you-hold-in-your-hand-is-proof-of-man-s-power-against-which-our/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) > [Strength times strength times strength times strength times strength times strength means power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oprah-winfrey/strength-times-strength-times-strength-times-strength-times-strength/) [Oprah Winfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oprah-winfrey/) ## More by Brenda Shaughnessy > [What if all possible pain was only the grief of truth?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/what-if-all-possible-pain-was-only-the-grief-of-truth/) [Brenda Shaughnessy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/) > [I've been melted into something too easy to spill. I make more and more of myself in order to make more and more of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/i-ve-been-melted-into-something-too-easy-to-spill-i-make-more-and/) [Brenda Shaughnessy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/) > [How anyone becomes herself/is a mystery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/how-anyone-becomes-herself-is-a-mystery/) [Brenda Shaughnessy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/) > [“Where can we go if not to each other, resenting every step?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/where-can-we-go-if-not-to-each-other-resenting-every-step/) [Brenda Shaughnessy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/) > [Death and life are, for most of us, too complex to comprehend, but Alex Lemon can pretty casually, accurately, and marvelously correlate them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/death-and-life-are-for-most-of-us-too-complex-to-comprehend-but-alex/) [Brenda Shaughnessy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/) > [“All gifts are riddles, all lives/are in the middle of mother-lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/all-gifts-are-riddles-all-lives-are-in-the-middle-of-mother-lives/) [Brenda Shaughnessy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/) > [“Secret, smug believers! God never gives you more than you can bear, they like to say, as if the strong should be punished for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/secret-smug-believers-god-never-gives-you-more-than-you-can-bear-they/) [Brenda Shaughnessy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/) > [“Would I dance with you? Both forever and rather die. / It would be like dying, yes. Yes I would.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/would-i-dance-with-you-both-forever-and-rather-die-it-would-be-like/) [Brenda Shaughnessy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/) > [You are not broken. You break again and again because that's what breaking means. To be whole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/you-are-not-broken-you-break-again-and-again-because-that-s-what/) [Brenda Shaughnessy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/) > [“I'm Perfect at Feelings, so I have no problem telling you why you cried over the third lost metal or the mousetrap. I knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/i-m-perfect-at-feelings-so-i-have-no-problem-telling-you-why-you/) [Brenda Shaughnessy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/) > [I came to see that what constitutes strength is not just a muscle or will. It can also include the most desperate vulnerability, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/i-came-to-see-that-what-constitutes-strength-is-not-just-a-muscle-or/) [Brenda Shaughnessy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/) > [“It seems unlikely that so much literature could be made from twenty-six letters. Doesn't it seem it could all be boiled down to one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/it-seems-unlikely-that-so-much-literature-could-be-made-from-twenty/) [Brenda Shaughnessy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/) > [“(from A Love Story, Eight Takes) 8 As it turns out, there is a wrong way to tell this story. I was wrong to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/from-a-love-story-eight-takes-8-as-it-turns-out-there-is-a-wrong-way/) [Brenda Shaughnessy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/) > [“If the two meanings of 'heart' are 'center' and 'part,' then the word 'art' also forms a perplexing doubleness: it is something human-made with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/if-the-two-meanings-of-heart-are-center-and-part-then-the-word-art/) [Brenda Shaughnessy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/) > [Strength means...acknowledging each of those feelings, your questions and ideas and faith and terror, and meeting what comes with the full force of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/strength-means-acknowledging-each-of-those-feelings-your-questions/) [Brenda Shaughnessy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/) [Explore all 16 Brenda Shaughnessy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/) ## More Despair quotes > [“As ofttimes as it rains on my little spot of earth, you'd think I'd grow accustomed to the gloom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/as-ofttimes-as-it-rains-on-my-little-spot-of-earth-you-d-think-i-d/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [“She searched her mind for a single day when it had felt good to be alive. There must have been one, surely?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-abbott/she-searched-her-mind-for-a-single-day-when-it-had-felt-good-to-be/) [Rachel Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-abbott/) > [“Men circle like bees around honey, buzzing to communicate their sexual despair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-h-krueger/men-circle-like-bees-around-honey-buzzing-to-communicate-their-sexual/) [Carla H Krueger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-h-krueger/) > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [Your spirit is the part of you that seeks meaning and purpose. It's the part drawn to hope, that will not give in to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-myss/your-spirit-is-the-part-of-you-that-seeks-meaning-and-purpose-it-s/) [Caroline Myss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-myss/) > [My God, whose son, as on this night, took on Him the form of man, and for man vouchsafed to suffer and bleed, controls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/my-god-whose-son-as-on-this-night-took-on-him-the-form-of-man-and-for/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [The modernist writers found despair inspirational.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-modernist-writers-found-despair-inspirational/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The skin and shell of things Though fair are not Thy wish nor prayer but got My meer despair of wings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-vaughan/the-skin-and-shell-of-things-though-fair-are-not-thy-wish-nor-prayer/) [Henry Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-vaughan/) > [“A fine setting for a fit of despair,” it occurred to him, “if I were only standing here by accident instead of design.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/a-fine-setting-for-a-fit-of-despair-it-occurred-to-him-if-i-were-only/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [Enough for this bow & arrow. It caused me nothing but sorrow. No need for another tomorrow. In your heart, I will never be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louaiq8/enough-for-this-bow-arrow-it-caused-me-nothing-but-sorrow-no-need-for/) Louaiq8 > [True repentance never leads to despair. Its leads home. It leads to grace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ortberg/true-repentance-never-leads-to-despair-its-leads-home-it-leads-to/) [John Ortberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ortberg/) > [Do not consider despair as a thick and high wall standing on your way; it is just a darkness and you can still walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/do-not-consider-despair-as-a-thick-and-high-wall-standing-on-your-way/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [A speculative despair is unpardonable where it our duty to act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/a-speculative-despair-is-unpardonable-where-it-our-duty-to-act/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I have noticed that there is no dissatisfaction like that of the rich. Feed a man, clothe him, put him in a good house,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-have-noticed-that-there-is-no-dissatisfaction-like-that-of-the-rich/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) [Browse all 3,181 Despair quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Strength means honoring your entire range of emotion, even your despair and heartbreak.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brenda Shaughnessy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/strength-means-honoring-your-entire-range-of-emotion-even-your/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Despair" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/strength-means-honoring-your-entire-range-of-emotion-even-your/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5c/brenda-shaughnessy-31473_despair_strength-means-honoring-your-entire-rang_2264601.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5c/brenda-shaughnessy-31473_despair_strength-means-honoring-your-entire-rang_2264601.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5c/brenda-shaughnessy-31473_despair_strength-means-honoring-your-entire-rang_2264601.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Strength means honoring your entire range of emotion, even your despair and heartbreak.” — Brenda Shaughnessy", "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": "Brenda Shaughnessy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Strength means honoring your entire range...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/strength-means-honoring-your-entire-range-of-emotion-even-your/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/strength-means-honoring-your-entire-range-of-emotion-even-your/#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 } } ] } ```