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Self-Confidence Quotes and Quotations
 Conceit spoils the finest genius. There is not much danger that real talent or goodness will be overlooked long; even if it is, the consciousness of possessing and using it well should satisfy one.  People in big empty places are likely to behave very much as the gods did on Olympus. What makes humility so desirable is the marvelous thing it does to us; it creates in us a capacity for the closest possible intimacy with God. Calm self-confidence is as far from conceit as the desire to earn a decent living is remote from greed. Big egos are big shields for lots of empty space. Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin as self-neglecting. The nice thing about egotists is that they don't talk about other people. There is nothing so skillful in its own defense as imperious pride. Wounded vanity knows when it is mortally hurt; and limps off the field, piteous, all disguises thrown away. But pride carries its banner to the last; and fast as it is driven from one field unfurls it in another. In our society those who are in reality superior in intelligence can be accepted by their fellows only if they pretend they are not. It is as proper to have pride in oneself as it is ridiculous to show it to others. If a man doesn't delight in himself and the force in him and feel that he and it are wonders, how is all life to become important to him? Your father used to say, "Never give away your work. People don't value what they don't have to pay for." Pride ... is the direct appreciation of oneself. Proud people breed sad sorrows for themselves. Beware of over-great pleasure in being popular or even beloved. Soften my hard self-opinionatedness, which time has hardened so exceedingly! Self-esteem isn't everything; it's just that there's nothing without it. As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live. It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help. Humility is like underwear, essential but indecent if it shows. The more important the title, the more self-important the person, the greater the amount of time spent on the Eastern shuttle, the more suspicious the man and the less vitality in the organization. I'm glad I never feel important, it does complicate life. More people are ruined by victory, I imagine, than by defeat. Vanity is the quicksand of reason. I was somewhat drunk with what I had done. And I am always one to prefer being sober. Our vanity is the constant enemy of our dignity. To have that sense of one's intrinsic worth which constitutes self-respect is potentially to have everything. It is best to act with confidence, no matter how little right you have to it. I've always seen myself as a winner, even as a kid. If I hadn't, I just might have gone down the drain a couple of times. I've got something inside of me, peasantlike and stubborn, and I'm in it 'til the end of the race. Success doesn't necessarily make you a happy person ... but without the confidence and security that comes from being totally happy, I believe you cannot achieve your true potential and ultimate success. Self-respect will keep a man from being abject when he is in the power of enemies, and will enable him to feel that he may be in the right when the world is against him. Tis the ignorant who boast. Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't. There's one blessing only, the source and cornerstone of beatitude: confidence in self. If arrogance is the heady wine of youth, then humility must be its eternal hangover. Conquer but never triumph. Only so far as a man believes strongly, mightily, can he act cheerfully, or do anything worth doing. Experience tells you what to do; confidence allows you to do it. Your success depends mainly upon what you think of yourself and whether you believe in yourself. Success can make you go one of two ways. It can make you a prima donna, or it can smooth the edges, take away the insecurities, let the nice things come out. Humility is attentive patience. The man who cannot believe in himself cannot believe in anything else. A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval. Believe that you can whip the enemy, and you have won half the battle. As is our confidence, so is our capacity. Such to me is the new image of aging; growth in self, and service for all mankind. The older I get, the greater power I seem to have to help the world; I am like a snowball-the further I am rolled, the more I gain. The real evidence of growing older is that things level off in importance. It is sad to grow old but nice to ripen. Oh, yes. I'd do it all again; the spirit is willing yet; I feel the same desire to do the work but the flesh is weak. It's too bad that our bodies wear out while our interests are just as strong as ever. I'm not interested in age. People who tell me their age are silly. You're as old as you feel. It is sad to grow old, but nice to ripen. Maturity is coming to terms with that other part of yourself. I believe the true function of age is memory. I'm recording as fast as I can. A woman's always younger than a man of equal years. It is often the case with finer natures, that when the fire of the spirit dies out with increasing age, the power of the intellect is unaltered or increased. I'm like old wine. They don't bring me out very often, but I'm well preserved. The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been. Perhaps middle age is, or should be, a period of shedding shells; the shell of ambition, the shell of material accumulations and possessions, the shell of the ego. Age is totally unimportant. The years are really irrelevant. It's how you cope with them. We are always the same age inside. There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age. I am much younger now than I was at twelve or anyway, less burdened. There are no old people nowadays; they are either "wonderful for their age" or dead. For inside all the weakness of old age, the spirit, God knows, is as mercurial as it ever was. Age puzzles me. I thought it was a quiet time. My seventies were interesting and fairly serene, but my eighties are passionate. I grow more intense as I age. We who are old know that age is more than a disability. It is an intense and varied experience, almost beyond our capacity at times, but something to be carried high. Character contributes to beauty. It fortifies a woman as her youth fades. A mode of conduct, a standard of courage, discipline, fortitude and integrity can do a great deal to make a woman beautiful. Be on the alert to recognize your prime at whatever time of your life it may occur. Women may be the one group that grows more radical with age. So much has been said and sung of beautiful young girls, why doesn't somebody wake up to the beauty of old women? Old age is that night of life, as night is the old age of day. Still night is full of magnificence and, for many, it is more brilliant than the day. In youth we learn; in age we understand. Change excites me. I am fifty years old. It's when the mind catches up with the body. Don't buy the garbage that you're over the hill at fifty. This country makes such a big thing about age, particularly if you're a woman. What I think is relevant is your experience, what you have to offer. I hope people will recognize that and keep going. I refuse to admit that I am more than fifty-two, even if that does make my sons illegitimate. I used to dread getting older because I thought I would not be able to do all the things I wanted to do, but now that I am older I find that I don't want to do them. I am immortal! I know it! I feel it! Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise. I think your whole life shows in your face and you should be proud of that. Youth is not a time of life, it is a state of mind. You are as old as your doubt, your fear, your despair. The way to keep young is to keep your faith young. Keep your self-confidence young. Keep your hope young. We Can't Afford to Doubt Ourselves I have become my own version of an optimist. If I can't make it through one door, I'll go through another door-or I'll make a door. Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present. Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt. Doubt indulged soon becomes doubt realized. Kill the snake of doubt in your soul, crush the worms of fear in your heart, and mountains will move out of your way. A man's doubts and fears are his worst enemies. Doubt whom you will, but never yourself. I have never been nervous in all my life and I have no patience with people who are. If you know what you are going to do, you have no reason to be nervous. And I knew what I was going to do. Our self-conceit sustains, and always must sustain us. Self-distrust is the cause of most of our failures ... they are the weakest, however strong, who have no faith in themselves or their own powers. Faith in oneself ... is the best and safest course. Strong people don't need strong leaders. Might, could, would-they are contemptible auxiliaries. You've got to take the initiative and play your game ... confidence makes the difference. Shyness is just egotism out of its depth. Self-trust is the first secret of success. Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings. I felt a comedy ego beginning to grow, which gave me the courage to begin tentatively looking into myself for material. My mother taught me very early to believe I could achieve any accomplishment I wanted to. The first was to walk without braces. If there be a faith that can move mountains, it is faith in one's own power. They are able because they think they are able. - Virgil Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstances. Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks on great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself. - Cicero One's self-image is very important because if that's in good shape, then you can do anything, or practically anything. I've never had a humble opinion in my life. If you're going to have one, why bother to be humble about it? They conquer who believe they can. The big gap between the ability of actors is confidence. Women who are confident of their abilities are more likely to succeed than those who lack confidence, even though the latter may be much more competent and talented and industrious. Search and you will find that at the base and birth of every great business organization was an enthusiast, a man consumed with earnestness of purpose, with confidence in his powers, with faith in the worthwhileness of his endeavors. Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control. These three alone lead to sovereign power. Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. Confidence imparts a wonderful inspiration to its possessor. Great poetry is always written by somebody straining to go beyond what he can do. Immense power is acquired by assuring yourself in your secret reveries that you were born to control affairs. If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. The confidence which we have in ourselves gives birth to much of that which we have in others. The way in which we think of ourselves has everything to do with how our world sees us. Once you get rid of the idea that you must please other people before you please yourself, and you begin to follow your own instincts-only then can you be successful. You become more satisfied, and when you are other people tend to be satisfied by what you do. Ideal conversation must be an exchange of thought, and not, as many of those who worry about their shortcomings believe, an eloquent exhibition of wit or oratory. There is overwhelming evidence that the higher the level of self-esteem, the more likely one will treat others with respect, kindness, and generosity. People who do not experience self-love have little or no capacity to love others. Nobody holds a good opinion of a man who has a low opinion of himself. Only the person who has faith in himself is able to be faithful to others. He can inspire a group only if he himself is filled with confidence and hope of success. A good sweat, with the blood pounding through my body, makes me feel alive, revitalized. I gain a sense of mastery and assurance. I feel good about myself. Then I can feel good about others. Nothing is a greater impediment to being on good terms with others than being ill at ease with yourself. Measure yourself by your best moments, not by your worst. We are too prone to judge ourselves by our moments of despondency and depression. Oftentimes nothing profits more than self-esteem, grounded on what is just and right and well-managed. Confidence ... is directness and courage in meeting the facts of life. The gain in self-confidence of having accomplished a tiresome labour is immense. The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you. Believe that with your feelings and your work you are taking part in the greatest; the more strongly you cultivate this belief, the more will reality and the world go forth from it. Class is an aura of confidence that is being sure without being cocky. Class has nothing to do with money. Class never runs scared. It is self-discipline and self-knowledge. It's the sure-footedness that comes with having proved you can meet life. In forty hours I shall be in battle, with little information, and on the spur of the moment will have to make the most momentous decisions, but I believe that one's spirit enlarges with responsibility and that, with God's help, I shall make them and make them right. Be always sure you're right, then go ahead. I always thought I should be treated like a star. - Madonna Perhaps I am stronger than I think. The ability to take pride in your own work is one of the hallmarks of sanity. Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence. "Glamour" is assurance. It is a kind of knowing that you are all right in every way, mentally and physically and in appearance, and that, whatever the occasion or the situation, you are equal to it. Never bend your head. Hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye. To be confident is to act in faith. Skill and confidence are an uncon-quered army. 
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