101 Uplifting Confidence Quotes To Boost Self Esteem

Whether you’re feeling down on yourself because you don’t make enough money, are struggling with a negative body image at the moment or something else entirely, finding the right tools to reshape your mindset can help you break the vicious cycle of low self-confidence, regardless of where it stems from. So whenever you need a little boost, read these 101 confidence quotes for an instant pick-me-up. Not only will they help you stop negative feelings in their tracks, they’ll remind you just how great you are, too—even as a self-proclaimed “work-in-progress”—and we could all use a little more of that!

101 Confidence Quotes

1. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” - Eleanor Roosevelt
2. “I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.” ­­-­ Maya Angelou
3. “Because one believes in oneself, one doesn’t try to convince. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn’t need others’ approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.” - Laozi
4. “With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.” - The Dalai Lama
5. “If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence, you have won even before you have started.” - Cicero
6. “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” - John Wooden
7. “People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within.” - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
8. “We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face … we must do that which we think we cannot.” - Eleanor Roosevelt
9. “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” ­- Marie Curie
10. “You’re never as good as everyone tells you when you win, and you’re never as bad as they say when you lose.” - Lou Holtz
11. “Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what? Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident, and more and more successful.” ­- Mark Victor Hansen
12. “Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.” ­- George Washington
13. “If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” - Vincent Van Gogh
14. “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” - Mark Twain
15. “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” ­­- Bernard Baruch
16. “It is best to act with confidence, no matter how little right you have to it.” ­­-Lillian Hellman
17. “Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can.” ­- Paul Tournier
18. “Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.” -Paulo Coelho
19. “Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.” - Mahatama Gandhi
20. “Trust yourself–you know more than you think you do.” - Benjamin Spock
21. “Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
22. “Accept who you are; and revel in it.” - Mitch Albom
23. “You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.” - Eleanor Roosevelt
24. “Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.” - Helen Keller
25. “I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.” - Louise May Alcott
26. “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” - Helen Keller
27. “Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember–the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you.” - Zig Ziglar
28. “Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.” - Norman Vincent Peale
29. “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” - Dale Carnegie
30. “Success is most often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” -Coco Chanel
31. “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” - Anais Nin
32. “You’ve got to take the initiative and play your game. In a decisive set, confidence is the difference.” - Chris Evert
33. “Always be yourself–express yourself, have faith in yourself. Do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.” - Bruce Lee
34. “Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.” - Rumi
35. “Self-confidence can be learned, practiced, and mastered–just like any other skill. Once you master it, everything in your life will change for the better.” -Barrie Davenport 36. “A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” - David Brinkley
36. “One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.” -Arthur Ashe
37. “Don’t waste your energy trying to change opinions … Do your thing, and don’t care if they like it.” -Tina Fey
38. “Successful people have fear, successful people have doubts, and successful people have worries. They just don’t let these feelings stop them.” -T. Harv Eker
39. “You can have anything you want if you are willing to give up the belief that you can’t have it.” ­-Robert Anthony
40. “Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” ­-Christopher Robin
41. “It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else’s eyes.” -Sally Field
42. “The confidence which we have in ourselves give birth to much of that which we have in others.” -Francois de la Rochefoucauld
43. “Confidence doesn’t come out of nowhere. It’s a result of something … hours and days and weeks and years of constant work and dedication.” -Roger Staubach
44. “If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.” -Thomas Edison
45. “I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence but it comes from within. It is there all the time.” -Anne Freud
46. “You have no control over other people’s taste, so focus on staying true to your own.” ­-Tim Gunn
47. “With confidence, you have won before you have started.” -Marcus Garvey 49. “I think that the power is the principle. The principle of moving forward, as though you have the confidence to move forward, eventually gives you confidence when you look back and see what you’ve done.” -Robert Downey Jr.
48. “When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things.” -Joe Namath 51. “Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance.” -Bruce Barton
49. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sail. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain
50. “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” -Oscar Wilde
51. “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” -Buddha
52. “Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all.” -Norman Vincent Peale
53. “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
54. “When you’re different, sometimes you don’t see the millions of people who accept you for what you are. All you notice is the person who doesn’t.” -Jodi Picoult
55. “As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
56. “Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.” –e. e. cummings
57. “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who’ll decide where to go.” -Dr. Seuss
58. “I laugh at myself. I don’t take myself completely seriously. I think that’s another quality that people have to hold on to … you have to laugh, especially at yourself.” ―Madonna
59. “Regardless of how you feel inside, always try to look like a winner. Even if you are behind, a sustained look of control and confidence can give you a mental edge that results in victory.” -Diane Arbus
60. “Learning too soon our limitations, we never learn our powers.” -Mignon McLaughlin
61. “People who ask confidently get more than those who are hesitant and uncertain. When you’ve figured out what you want to ask for, do it with certainty, boldness and confidence.” -Jack Canfield
62. “It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us, as the confidence of their help.” -Epicurus
63. “Skill and confidence are an unconquered army.” -George Herbert
64. “Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they’re yours.” -Richard Bach
65. “Of all our infirmities, the most savage is to despise our being. -Michel de Montaigne
66. “If I have lost confidence in myself, I have the universe against me.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
67. “Your success will be determined by your own confidence and fortitude.” -Michelle Obama
68. “Once you become self-conscious, there is no end to it; once you start to doubt, there is no room for anything else.” -Mignon McLaughlin
69. “Anyone who ever gave you confidence, you owe them a lot.” -Truman Capote
70. “Kindness in words creates confidence.” -Laozi
71. “Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.” -Samuel Johnson
72. “As is our confidence, so is our capacity."-William Hazlitt
73. “Never dull your shine for somebody else.” -Tyra Banks
74. “Control your own destiny or someone else will.” -Jack Welch
75. “Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks in great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself. .” -Cicero
76. “Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work.” -Jack Nicklaus
77. “If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem.” -Abraham Lincoln
78. “Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.” -Vince Lombardi
79. “The greatest mistake you can make in life is continually fearing that you’ll make one.” -Elbert Hubbard
80. “I quit being afraid when my first venture failed and the sky didn’t fall down.” -Al Neuharth
81. “It generally happens that assurance keeps an even pace with ability.” -Samuel Johnson
82. “Only the person who has faith in himself is able to be faithful to others.” -Erich Fromm
83. “One’s self-image is very important because if that’s in good shape, then you can do anything, or practically anything.” -John Gielgud
84. “Humor comes from self-confidence.” -Rita Mae Brown
85. “The more validation I need, the less discernment I have.” -Kurt Hanks
86. “We all have our limitations, but when we listen to our critics, we also have theirs.” -Robert Breault
87. “If you don’t ask, the answer is always no.” -Nora Roberts 91.“The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you.” -William Jennings Bryan
88. “Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think.” -Benjamin Disraeli
89. “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” -Lucille Ball
90. “Confidence is directness and courage in meeting the facts of life.” -John Dewey 95. “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” -Edmund Hillary
91. “First thing every morning before you arise say out loud, I believe.” -Norman Vincent Peale
92. “Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it. " - M. Scott Peck
93. “Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.” - Harvey Fierstein
94. “The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.” ― Michel de Montaigne
95. “The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.” ― C.G. Jung
96. “It’s not the lack of ability or opportunity that holds you back; it is only a lack of confidence in yourself.” — Richard Monckton Milnes Need an extra dose of motivation to get started? These 129 inspirational quotes for women are for you.