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Not with a Club, the Heart is broken Nor with a Stone - A Whip so small you could not see it I've known To lash the Magic Creature Till it fell, Yet that Whip's Name Too noble then to tell. Magnanimous as Bird By Boy descried - Singing unto the Stone Of which it died - Shame need not crouch In such an Earth as Ours - Shame - stand erect - The Universe is yours.

Emily Dickinson#26

HeartPowerResilienceShameStrength

About this quote

What does it mean?
The heart breaks not by force but by subtle shame, which can be elevated into something noble.
In plain terms
Shame breaks the heart, but you can rise above it.
What can you take from it?
Shame is powerful, but resilience is possible.

Where it applies

  • personal failure
  • emotional recovery
  • self-worth

Putting it to work

  • reframe shame
  • reclaim self-worth

Questions to consider

  • How can you transform shame into strength?

Another view

It may overlook systemic sources of shame.

More from Emily Dickinson

  1. Could Hope inspect her Basis Her Craft were done - Has a fictitious Charter Or it has none - Balked in the vastest instance But to renew - Felled but by one as…

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  2. More than the Grave is closed to me - The Grave and that Eternity To which the Grave adheres - I cling to nowhere till I fall - The Crash of nothing, yet of al…

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  3. Tell all the Truth but tell it slant - Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth's superb surprise As Lightning to the Children eased…

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