Rupi Kaur is a Canadian feminist, poet, writer, and spoken word poet. In 2015, she published her most acclaimed piece of work, Milk and Honey, which incorporates themes like love, loss, violence, abuse and femininity. Milk and Honey is one of the most empowering and liberating books I’ve ever read.

Rupi Kaur

Here are some of my favorite quotes, or the most empowering ones, from Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur:

1. “When you are broken and he has left you do not question whether you were enough the problem was you were so enough he was not able to carry it.”
2. “I don’t know what living a balanced life feels like. When I am sad, i don’t cry i pour. When i am happy, i don’t smile i glow. when i am angry, i don’t yell i burn. The good thing about feeling in extremes is when i love i give them wings, but perhaps that isn’t such a good thing cause they always tend to leave and you should see me when my heart is broken. I don’t grieve. I shatter.”
3. “Love is not cruel. We are cruel. Love is not a game. We have made a game out of love.”
4. “Loneliness is a sign you are in desperate need of yourself.”
5. “I thank the universe for taking everything it has taken and giving to me everything it is giving” -balance
6. “We are all born so beautiful. The greatest tragedy is being convinced we are not.”
7. “If you are not enough for yourself. You will never be enough for someone else.”
8. “Give to those who have nothing to give to you.”
9. “If the hurt comes, so will the happiness” - be patient
10. “My heart aches for sisters more than anything it aches for women helping women like flowers ache for spring.”
11. “Another person’s actions are never really about you”
12. “How is it so easy for you to be kind to people, he asked. Milk and Honey dripped from my lips as i answered, ‘cause people have not been kind to me.”