When, in 1702, British, Dutch, and Austrian troops beat the French at the Battle of Blenheim during the War of the Spanish Succession, English poet, essayist, and playwright Joseph Addison was asked to commemorate the occasion with a poem. The finished work was a wild success, and eventually led Addison to a career in politics. He wrote essays and plays throughout his later life, even as he moved through various government positions. He retired just a year before his death in 1719, but his prose lives on in lines like this one, cementing his position as one of the most influential writers of his time. 

In her now-famous TED Talk, “The Power of Vulnerability,” professor and author Brené Brown posits that the only way to make true connections is to let our full selves be seen by others. Often, the things we hold back or feel shame around, Brown explains, are the ones that make us human. Brown reassures us that vulnerability is a strength rather than a weakness: In acknowledging every part of who we are, even the difficult ones, we can fortify our relationship with both ourselves and others.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker has been lauded for her compassionate perspectives on culture and society, as well as on the Black experience — particularly the Black woman’s experience — as it pertains to both. She’s contributed significant works to the American literary canon, including “The Color Purple” and “The Way Forward Is With a Broken Heart,” the latter of which is excerpted here. In context, Walker is specifically speaking about her call to activism in the face of challenges that appear insurmountable. She argues that finding a way forward requires us to face this inequity and pain head-on, whether it’s through social activism or, on an individual level, mustering up the emotional vulnerability and strength to acknowledge the hurt in order to heal it. Both methods enable us to bear conscious witness to hardship and suffering in the world so that we may find meaningful ways to alleviate it for others and within ourselves.