Vulnerability comes in pretending to be someone you are not.

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

We pretend to be strong because we are weak.

What we desire makes us vulnerable.

We often get caught up in our own reactions and forget the vulnerability of the person in front of us.

Many lives are almost scandal-proof. Vulnerability comes in pretending to be someone you are not.

We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others, that in the end, we become disguised to ourselves.

Sometimes I think everyone is just pretending to be brave, and none of us really are. Maybe pretending is how you get brave, I don't know.

We will often do anything to pretend that nothing is on our minds.

Whenever we seek to avoid the responsibility for our own behavior, we do so by attempting to give that responsibility to some other individual or organization or entity. But this means we then give away our power to that entity.

If we choose not to get involved or pretend it's not happening, we're going against the very sense of connection that makes us human.

So often, we pretend we’ve made a decision, when what we’ve really done is signed up to try until it gets too uncomfortable.

Shielding ourselves from the vulnerability of all living beings — which includes our own vulnerability — cuts us off from the full experience of life.

We insist on being Someone, with a capital S. We get security from defining ourselves as worthless or worthy, superior or inferior. We waste precious time exaggerating or romanticizing or belittling ourselves with a complacent surety that yes, that’s who we are. We mistake the openness of our being — the inherent wonder and surprise of each moment — for a solid, irrefutable self. Because of this misunderstanding, we suffer.