Don't tell me that [broken heartstrings] hurt less than a broken bone, that an ingrown life is something surgeons can cut away, that there's no way for it to metastasize — it does.

Source: "To This Day ... for the Bullied and the Beautiful." TED2013. Feb. 2013. Conference Presentation. Additional Information: This quote is from Canadian poet Shane Koyczan's spoken-word poem "To This Day," which he recited in a 2013 TED Talk. The poem is a reflection on bullying and how being a victim of bullying affects one's sense of self. In this line of the poem, Koyczan is saying that emotional pain -- such as that caused by bullying -- results in just as much suffering as physical pain and disease, despite the fact that people often trivialize it. Watch Shane recite his poem at TED2013: Shane Koyczan - To This Day ... for the Bullied and the Beautiful

“To This Day … for the Bullied and the Beautiful.” TED2013. Feb. 2013. Conference Presentation.