--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You are terrifying, and strange, and…" description: "\"You are terrifying, and strange, and beautiful. Something not everyone knows how to love.\" — Warsan Shire" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d7/warsan-shire-7647_beautiful_you-are-terrifying-and-strange-and-beaut_13062.jpg" --- # You are terrifying, and strange, and beautiful. Something… ![“You are terrifying, and strange, and beautiful. Something not everyone knows how to love.” quote by Warsan Shire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d7/warsan-shire-7647_beautiful_you-are-terrifying-and-strange-and-beaut_13062.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d7/warsan-shire-7647_beautiful_you-are-terrifying-and-strange-and-beaut_13062.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d7/warsan-shire-7647_beautiful_you-are-terrifying-and-strange-and-beaut_13062.jpg) > “You are terrifying, and strange, and beautiful. Something not everyone knows how to love.” [Warsan Shire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warsan-shire/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. It captures the paradox of being both unsettling and alluring, suggesting that love requires embracing complexity beyond conventional comfort. **In simple terms:** Complexity can be beautiful. Key Takeaway Love thrives on embracing contradictions. Themes paradox beauty complexity acceptance vulnerability Mood melancholic hopeful Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - intimate relationships - artistic expression - personal growth - counseling - self‑acceptance Key Concepts human nature emotion identity Practical Applications - creative writing - therapy Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of yourself feel both frightening and beautiful? - How can you cultivate love for the parts of you that are hard to understand? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Being alone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-alone/) [Being single](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-single/) [How to love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/how-to-love/) [Know how](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-how/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-is/) [Shire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shire/) [Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange/) [Strange Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange-beautiful-373279/) [Terrifying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrifying/) [Terrifying Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrifying-strange-373278/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) ## Related quotes > [“You are terrifying and strange and beautiful, someone not everyone knows how to love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warsan-shire/you-are-terrifying-and-strange-and-beautiful-someone-not-everyone/) [Warsan Shire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warsan-shire/) > [You can't make homes out of human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warsan-shire/you-can-t-make-homes-out-of-human-beings/) [Warsan Shire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warsan-shire/) > [Warsan means "good news" and Shire means "to gather in one place". My parents named me after my father's mother, my grandmother. Growing up,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warsan-shire/warsan-means-good-news-and-shire-means-to-gather-in-one-place-my/) [Warsan Shire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warsan-shire/) > [With you, intimacy colors my voice. Even 'hello' sounds like 'come here'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warsan-shire/with-you-intimacy-colors-my-voice-even-hello-sounds-like-come-here/) [Warsan Shire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warsan-shire/) > [Light attracts light. But sometimes your light attracts moths and your warmth attracts parasites. Protect your space and energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warsan-shire/light-attracts-light-but-sometimes-your-light-attracts-moths-and-your/) [Warsan Shire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warsan-shire/) > [And you tried to change, didnt you? Closed your mouth more. Tried to be softer, prettier, less volatile, less awake¦ You cant make homes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warsan-shire/and-you-tried-to-change-didnt-you-closed-your-mouth-more-tried-to-be/) [Warsan Shire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warsan-shire/) > [“What is this power the dead have over the ones they leave behind? It's strange and beautiful and frightening, this deathless love that human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sangu-mandanna/what-is-this-power-the-dead-have-over-the-ones-they-leave-behind-it-s/) [Sangu Mandanna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sangu-mandanna/) > [“You are strange. A deep sea of mystery. Tangled mix of starlight and darkness. A beautiful mess, and I am devastatingly drawn to every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melody-lee/you-are-strange-a-deep-sea-of-mystery-tangled-mix-of-starlight-and/) [Melody Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melody-lee/) > [The mind of the people is like mud, from which arises strange and beautiful things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-j-turner/the-mind-of-the-people-is-like-mud-from-which-arises-strange-and/) [Walter J. Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-j-turner/) > [“Life is equal parts strange and beautiful and horrible, and we’re tossed into it without a map or an instruction guide. Poems and stories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-wendig/life-is-equal-parts-strange-and-beautiful-and-horrible-and-we-re/) [Chuck Wendig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-wendig/) > [Thinking of death--strange, beautiful, terrible and a long way off--made me feel happier than ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/thinking-of-death-strange-beautiful-terrible-and-a-long-way-off-made/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [My hope is that the music creates a strange, beautiful, overwhelming - sometimes even frightening - landscape, and invites you to get lost in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-luther-adams/my-hope-is-that-the-music-creates-a-strange-beautiful-overwhelming/) [John Luther Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-luther-adams/) > [I felt a curious thrill, as if something had stirred in me, half wakened from sleep. There was something very remote and strange and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien-2/i-felt-a-curious-thrill-as-if-something-had-stirred-in-me-half/) [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien-2/) > [The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-carson/the-edge-of-the-sea-is-a-strange-and-beautiful-place/) [Rachel Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-carson/) > [My chin is weak. I find it hard to make decisions. For years I had been caught between the two stools of security on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-kavanagh/my-chin-is-weak-i-find-it-hard-to-make-decisions-for-years-i-had-been/) [Patrick Kavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-kavanagh/) ## More by Warsan Shire > [“the year of letting go, of understanding loss. grace. of the word ‘no’ and also being able to say ‘you are not kind’. the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warsan-shire/the-year-of-letting-go-of-understanding-loss-grace-of-the-word-no-and/) [Warsan Shire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warsan-shire/) > [How far have you walked for men who've never held your feet in their laps?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warsan-shire/how-far-have-you-walked-for-men-who-ve-never-held-your-feet-in-their/) [Warsan Shire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warsan-shire/) > [And you tried to change, didnt you? Closed your mouth more. 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There is no shame in being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warsan-shire/essentially-if-our-secrets-are-secrets-because-we-are-told-to-be/) [Warsan Shire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warsan-shire/) > [Document the moments you feel most in love with yourself - what you're wearing, who you're around, what you're doing. Recreate and repeat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warsan-shire/document-the-moments-you-feel-most-in-love-with-yourself-what-you-re/) [Warsan Shire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warsan-shire/) > [“Loving you was like going to war; I never came back the same.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warsan-shire/loving-you-was-like-going-to-war-i-never-came-back-the-same/) [Warsan Shire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warsan-shire/) > [Every mouth you’ve ever kissed was just practice. All the bodies you’ve ever undressed and ploughed in to were preparing you for me. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warsan-shire/every-mouth-you-ve-ever-kissed-was-just-practice-all-the-bodies-you/) [Warsan Shire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warsan-shire/) > [My alone feels so good, I'll only have you if you're sweeter than my solitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warsan-shire/my-alone-feels-so-good-i-ll-only-have-you-if-you-re-sweeter-than-my/) [Warsan Shire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warsan-shire/) > [“i give myself five days to forget you. on the first day i rust. on the second i wilt. on the third day i…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warsan-shire/i-give-myself-five-days-to-forget-you-on-the-first-day-i-rust-on-the/) [Warsan Shire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warsan-shire/) > [Mother says there are locked rooms inside all women, kitchen of love, bedroom of grief, bathroom of apathy. 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Call her ugly once, and she will never forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tumblr/call-her-beautiful-a-million-times-and-she-won-t-believe-you-call-her/) [Tumblr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tumblr/) > [You will never know just how beautiful you are to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-will-never-know-just-how-beautiful-you-are-to-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/you-felt-a-deep-sorrow-the-kind-of-melancholy-you-feel-when-you-re-in/) [Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. 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