concept

confidence Quotes

100+ of the best book quotes about confidence
01
Share
“On a bad day you also don’t need a lot of advice. You just need a little empathy and affirmation. You need to feel once again that other people have confidence in you.”
Anne Lamott
author
Bird By Bird
book
empathy
confidence
bad days
encouragement
affirmations
writer
concepts
02
Share
“In my immature brain, I didn’t understand the difference between intelligence and knowledge. So I assumed I was an idiot.”
03
Share
“Your challenge as a #GIRLBOSS is to dive headfirst into things without being too attached to the results. When your goal is to gain experience, perspective, and knowledge, failure is no longer a possibility. Failure is your invention. I believe that there is a silver lining in everything, and once you begin to see it, you’ll need sunglasses to combat the glare. It is she who listens to the rest of the world who fails, and it is she who has enough confidence to define success and failure for herself who succeeds.”
04
Share
“The farther I go the more confidence I feel. The order of these volcanic formations affords the strongest confirmation to the theories of Davy.”
Otto Lidenbrock
character
05
Share
“We were standing at the intersection of two roads, both dark and narrow. Which were we to take? This was a difficulty. Still my uncle refused to admit an appearance of hesitation, either before me or the guide...”
06
Share
“The five of us walking confidently in a row, I’d never felt cooler. The Great Perhaps was upon us, and we were invincible. The plan may have had faults, but we did not.”
07
Share
“Then it flashed on him the reason she was standing was to show her confidence in him”
08
Share
“Act as if! Act as if you’re a wealthy man, rich already, and then you’ll surely become rich. Act as if you have unmatched confidence and then people will surely have confidence in you. Act as if you have unmatched experience and then people will follow your advice. And act as if you are already a tremendous success, and as sure as I stand here today - you will become successful!”
09
Share
″‘Why, Sir,’ said Lucy. ‘I think – I don’t know – but I think I could be brave enough.‘”
10
Share
“The jealousy… it has to be eating at you. You can’t be as sure of yourself as you seem. Unless you have no emotions at all.”
11
Share
“Charlie, we accept the love we think we deserve.”
12
Share
“Guilt struck Little-Faith on the head with a great club that was in his hand and knocked him flat to the ground, where he lay bleeding profusely and in danger of dying. The thieves just stood by watching him bleed to death, but then heard someone coming on the road. They were afraid it might be Great-Grace who lives in the town of Good-Confidence. They quickly departed and left this good man to fend for himself.”
13
Share
“Life for both sexes—and I look at them, shouldering their way along the pavement—is arduous, difficult, a perpetual struggle. It calls for gigantic courage and strength. More than anything, perhaps, creatures of illusion that we are, it calls for confidence in oneself.”
14
Share
“I know what I want, I have a goal, an opinion, I have a religion and love. Let me be myself and then I am satisfied. I know that I’m a woman, a woman with inward strength and plenty of courage.”
15
Share
“Yet she appeared confident in innocence and did not tremble, although gazed on and execrated by thousands, for all the kindness which her beauty might otherwise have excited was obliterated in the minds of the spectators by the imagination of the enormity she was supposed to have committed.”
16
Share
“Ego needs honours in order to be validated. Confidence, on the other hand, is able to wait and focus on the task at hand regardless of external recognition.”
17
Share
“Don’t give in to your fears. If you do, you won’t be able to talk to your heart.”
18
Share
“Pausing, he set down his things and began throwing punches to warm himself up. Wow, he hadn’t realized how fast his right had gotten! His left was pretty good too. He was a machine!”
19
Share
“If the others heard me talking out loud they would think that I am crazy. But since I am not crazy, I do not care.”
20
Share
“They offer themselves so sweetly and confidently and willingly, even if it seems that there is no one to appreciate them. Just as though they sang a joyous little song to themselves, that it is so happy to love, even though one is not loved in return.”
21
Share
“Jurgis was confident of his ability to get work for himself, unassisted by any one. As we have said before, he was not mistaken in this. He had gone to Brown’s and stood there not more than half an hour before one of the bosses noticed his form towering above the rest, and signaled to him. The colloquy which followed was brief and to the point: ‘Speak English?’ ‘No; Lit-uanian.’ (Jurgis had studied this word carefully.) ‘Job?’ ‘Je.’ (A nod.)”
22
Share
“The reaction didn’t seem to bother her. She stood there in front, her eyes saying, ‘OK, friends, here I am,’ in answer to their open-mouthed stares while Mrs. Myers fluttered about trying to figure where to put the extra desk.”
23
Share
It was how the face was acting—also studying the crowd. Fixed in concentration. Liesel felt herself pausing as she found the only face looking directly into the German spectators. It examined them with such purpose that people on either side of the book thief noticed and pointed him out.
24
Share
“I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun.”
25
Share
“The mirror in my room in the Windsor Hotel in Paris reflected my favorite image of me- a darkly handsome young airline pilot, smooth-skinned, bull-shouldered, and immaculately groomed.”
26
Share
“But confidence was cash. You had to have some to get some. And people were loath to give it to you.”
27
Share
“This hour I tell things in confidence, I might not tell everybody, but I will tell you.”
28
Share
“There is nothing more beautiful than a confident women who knows what she wants. There is nothing like a woman driven by passion, selfish in that she takes good care of herself, and believes she is worth it.”
29
Share
“There is no substitute for the confidence that today - in this time and place - I am obeying the will of my Father.”
30
Share
“She had a lot of confidence, and, as long as it wasn’t me forcing it on her, she loved a challenge.”
31
Share
“When the critical moment in a close race was upon you, you had to know something he did not - that down in your core you still had something in reserve, something you had not yet shown, something that once revealed would make him doubt himself, make him falter just when it counted the most. Like so much in life, crew was partly about confidence, partly about knowing your own heart.”
32
Share
“Every man in the boat had absolute confidence in every one of his mates... Why they won cannot be attributed to individuals, not even to stroke Dun Hume. Heartfelt cooperation all spring was responsible for the victory.”
33
Share
“The moment you stop viewing your opponent as a threat is the moment you leave yourself open to getting beat.”
34
Share
“People want to project their own insecurities on others, but I refuse to allow them to put that on me. Just because you don’t think that you could be the best in the world doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t have the confidence to believe I can do anything.”
35
Share
“Discipline must come from trust and confidence.”
36
Share
“Apollo succeeded at critical moments like this because the bosses had no hesitation about assigning crucial tasks to one individual, trusting his judgment, and then getting out of his way.”
37
Share
You have plenty of courage, I am sure. All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger.
38
Share
“There’s for thy labor, Montjoy. (Gives money) Go bid thy master well advise himself: If we may pass, we will; if we be hindered, We shall your tawny ground with your red blood Discolor. And so, Montjoy, fare you well. The sum of all our answer is but this: We would not seek a battle as we are, Nor, as we are, we say we will not shun it. So tell your master.”
39
Share
“The father’s job is to teach his children how to be warriors, to give them the confidence to get on the horse to ride into battle when it’s necessary to do so. If you don’t get that from your father, you have to teach yourself.”
40
Share
“‘Confidence. The secret to a man’s success.’”
41
Share
“Rome, be as just and gracious unto me As I am confident and kind to thee.”
42
Share
“God is saying to you what He said to Sarai, ‘I want you to change your name to Princess’ - not literally, but in your attitude. You have to shake off the negative things people have said about you. Shake off the low self-esteem and the inferiority and start carrying yourself like a princess. Start walking like a princess. Start talking like a princess. Start thinking like a princess. Start waving like a princess!”
43
Share
“Anyone who ever gave you confidence, you owe them a lot.”
44
Share
“How you feel about your abilities - your academic ‘self-concept’- in the context of your classroom shapes your willingness to tackle challenges and finish difficult tasks. It’s a crucial element in your motivation and confidence.”
45
Share
“Hoping does not mean doing nothing. It is not fatalistic resignation. It means going about our assigned tasks, confident that God will provide the meaning and the conclusions.”
46
Share
“With sound self-confidence you can succeed.”
47
Share
“Most of us become more conscientious, confident, caring, and calm with life experience.”
48
Share
“That is just what is wrong with the colored woman in this world … Don’t understand about building their men up and making ‘em feel like they somebody. Like they can do something.”
49
Share
“’I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all.’”
50
Share
“There are three things which inspire confidence in the orator’s own character-the three, namely, that induce us to believe a thing apart from any proof of it: good sense, good moral character, and goodwill.”
51
Share
“The foolish children of men do miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in their confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow.”
52
Share
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
53
Share
“Jo’s eyes sparkled, for it’s always pleasant to be believed in, and a friend’s praise is always sweeter than a dozen newspaper puffs.”
54
Share
“When a girl feels that she’s perfectly groomed and dressed she can forget that part of her. That’s charm”
55
Share
“Charlie. Please don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not trying to make you feel uncomfortable. I just want you to know that you’re special...and the only reason I’m telling you is that I don’t know if anyone else ever has.”
56
Share
“And you’re worried, not because you’re headed to meet a houseful of vampires, but because you think those vampires won’t approve of you, correct?” “That’s right,” I answered immediately, hiding my surprise at his casual use of the word. He shook his head. “You’re incredible.”
57
Share
“She seemed to know, to accept, to welcome her position, the citadel of the family, the strong place that could not be taken.”
58
Share
“And from her great and humble position in the family she had taken dignity and a clean calm beauty. From her position as healer, her hands had grown sure and cool and quiet; from her position as arbiter she had become as remote and faultless in judgment as a goddess. She seemed to know that if she swayed the family shook, and if she ever really deeply wavered or despaired the family would fall, the family will to function would be gone.”
59
Share
“If you’re going to wear a dress like that you need to wear it with confidence. You need to fill it mentally as well as physically.”
60
Share
“Western parents try to respect their children’s individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions, supporting their choices, and providing positive reinforcement and a nurturing environment. By contrast, the Chinese believe that the best way to protect their children is by preparing them for the future, letting them see what they’re capable of, and arming them with skills, work habits, and inner confidence that no one can ever take away.”
61
Share
“Western parents worry a lot about their children’s self-esteem. But as a parent, one of the worst things you can do for your child’s self-esteem is to let them give up. On the flip side, there’s nothing better for building confidence than learning you can do something you thought you couldn’t.”
62
Share
“Once a child starts to excel at something—whether it’s math, piano, pitching or ballet—he or she gets praise, admiration and satisfaction. This builds confidence and makes the once not-fun activity fun.”
63
Share
“KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!”
64
Share
“You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.”
65
Share
“I’ve always been very confident in my immaturity.”
66
Share
“So, attend carefully to your posture. Quit drooping and hunching around. Speak your mind. Put your desires forward, as if you had a right to them — at least the same right as others. Walk tall and gaze forthrightly ahead. Dare to be dangerous. Encourage the serotonin to flow plentifully through neural pathways desperate for its calming influence.”
67
Share
“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.”
68
Share
“One of the most powerful concepts, one which is a sure cure for lack of confidence, is the thought that God is actually with you and helping you.”
69
Share
“I’ve always said to myself that if a little pocket calculator can do it why shouldn’t I?”
70
Share
“On the train the next day, Joe didn’t make many speeches with rhymes to her, but he bought her the best things the butcher had, like apples and a glass lantern full of candies. Mostly he talked about plans for the town when he got there…Janie took a lot of looks at him and she was proud of what she saw. Kind of portly like rich white folks. Strange trains, and people and places didn’t scare him neither. Where they got off the train at Maitland he found a buggy to carry them over to the colored town right away.”
71
Share
“This process in turn helps us identify our values and reduces doubt and confusion in making life decisions. If we can have confidence in our decisions and launch enthusiastically into action without any doubts holding us back, we will be able to achieve much more. In other words, the sooner we confront our possessions the better. If you are going to put your house in order, do it now.”
72
Share
That’s how you know when you have thought too much-- when you become a dialogue between “You’ll probably lose” and “You’re sure to lose.”
73
Share
“Reduce until you reach the point where something clicks. Sort by category, in the correct order, and keep only those things that inspire joy. Do this thoroughly and quickly, all in one go. If you follow this advice, you will dramatically reduce the volume of the things you own, experience an exhilaration you have never known before, and gain confidence in your life . . . the click point differs from one person to another.”
74
Share
“He became possessed of a great pride in himself, which communicated itself like a contagion to his physical being. It advertised itself in all his movements, was apparent in the play of every muscle, spoke plainly as speech in the way he carried himself.”
75
Share
″‘You’re Enna,’ said Ani. ‘That’s somebody.’ Enna smiled. ‘So’s Isi.’ Is she? thought Ani. Then I’d like to be her. I’d like to be somebody. ‘She is, you are,’ said Enna, as though she had heard Ani’s doubt.”
76
Share
“Be patient and live with the knowledge that all you are searching for is certain to come if you prepare for it and expect it.”
77
Share
“She sits on the bed to put them on. It is like a knight shoving his hands into a pair of steel gauntlets. As she wiggles the toe for fit, she lets her eyes stray across the slag heap of old LPs.”
78
Share
“It is beyond belief what Bojangles does, which is why Elisa is ashamed to feel a burst of ego: She could have kept pace with him better than Shirley Temple, if only the world into which she’d been born had been wholly different.”
79
Share
″‘The most intelligent of creatures,’ he offers softly, ‘often make the fewest sounds.‘”
80
Share
“I have still never met anyone as neatly or severely bifurcated as he: someone who could be so utterly confident in some realms and so utterly despondent in others.”
81
Share
“What comforted him was…that Jude seemed so confident, so competent, so certain that he, too, had something to offer. It reminded Willem that their relationship wasn’t a rescue mission after all, but an extension of their friendship, in which he had saved Jude and, just as often, Jude had saved him.”
82
Share
“perhaps we could all fly if we were as dead-confident-sure of our capacity to do it as was bold Peter Pan that evening.”
83
Share
“True ownership can come only from within. It comes from a disdain for anything or anybody that impinges upon your mobility, from a confidence in your own decisions, and from the use of your time in constant pursuit of education and improvement.”
84
Share
“He expresses confidence that whenever he dies his great-grandson will bring him immortality and preserve ”“my small amount of wisdom”″ by never again praising false heroes.”
85
Share
Mrs. Olinski, returning to teaching after having been injured in an automobile accident, found that her Academic Bowl team became her answer to finding confidence and success. What she did not know, at least at first, was that her team knew more than she did the answer to why they had been chosen.
86
Share
“There’s nothing I can’t do.”
87
Share
“confidence is a nightmare to insecure men.”
88
Share
“Beauty is in being who God made you to be with confidence.”
89
Share
“But when you say, “I am beautiful,” not only does beauty, youth, and freshness start coming your way, but on the inside your spirit also comes alive. Your self-image begins to improve, and you’ll start carrying yourself like you’re someone special. You won’t drag through the day feeling less than or inferior. You’ll have that spring in your step, that “You go, girl!” attitude. Beauty is not in how thin or tall you are, how perfect you look. Beauty is in being who God made you to be with confidence. If you’re a size 4, great. If you’re a size 24, great. Take what you have and make the most of it.”
90
Share
“Don’t walk into a place like you wanna buy it, walk in like you own it.”
91
Share
“I am Inigo Montoya and I do not accept defeat.”
92
Share
“There’s this expression in French. Être bien dans sa peau. To feel good in your own skin.”
93
Share
“No one stops me!”
94
Share
″...she let go of the tree and dropped into the deep blue sky.”
95
Share
“If you know what you want, ask for it. And be specific you just might get it.”
96
Share
“Now he was on his feet and about to fly. William, although nervous, felt his confidence flooding back. This was a chance, and up to now he had never been given even that.”
97
Share
“In sorrow and suffering, go straight to God with confidence, and you will be strengthened, enlightened and instructed.”
98
Share
“A bold act requires a high degree of confidence. People who are the targets of an audacious act, or who witness it, cannot help but believe that such confidence is real and justified. They respond instinctively by backing up, by getting out of the way, or by following the confident person. A bold act can put people on their heels and eliminate obstacles. In this way, it creates its own favorable circumstances. ”
99
Share
“We are all permeable to the influence of the group. What makes us more permeable is our insecurities. The less we are certain about our self-worth as individuals, the more we are unconsciously drawn toward fitting in and blending ourselves into the group spirit. Gaining the superficial approval of group members by displaying our conformity, we cover up our insecurities to ourselves and to others. But this approval is fleeting; our insecurities gnaw at us, and we must continually get people’s attention to feel validated. Your goal must be to lower your permeability by raising your self-esteem. If you feel strong and confident about what makes you unique—your tastes, your values, your own experience—you can more easily resist the group effect. Furthermore, by relying upon your work and accomplishments to anchor your self-opinion, you won’t be so tied to constantly seeking approval and attention.”
100
Share
“Because confidence is really trust in yourself, right? It has nothing to do with what someone else thinks of you; it’s what you think of you.”
101
Share
“Positive self-talk, and visualization or mental rehearsal, trained to a level of confidence and competence, may be critical to both improved performance under stress and increased resilience after a traumatic incident.”

Recommended quote pages

View All Quotes

Bookroo

Book Clubs

Follow Bookroo