There are times when confidence might become something of a mythical beast. They’re somewhere out there, available to read about in books, but in truth, they’re hard to grasp out in the wild by yourself. That’s where confidence quotes come into play. For those times when you feel a little insecure and need a little pick-me-up, one way to hype yourself up is to read quotes about confidence. Perhaps other people’s wisdom and experience can instill fire in your campfire, too.
These uplifting quotes on confidence talk about overcoming various obstacles in life, whether those challenges are creative, professional, or personal. From people like Van Gogh, Dalai Lama, Oscar Wilde, and many others, bits of wisdom coming from quotes on this list is sure to inspire at least a tiny bit of trust in yourself. Not only that, but these self-confidence quotes should also help you realize the wonderful image of yourself. To put it in Blake Lively’s words, "The most beautiful thing you can wear is confidence."
Off to conquer the world, dig into these motivational quotes, vote for your favorites, and let us know in the comments which were the most inspiring. Stay confident!
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"Confidence is a lot of this game or any game. If you don’t think you can, you won’t." – Jerry West
"A calm mind brings inner strength and self-confidence, so that’s very important for good health." — Dalai Lama
"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
"Confidence is everything. Confidence is what makes that simple white tee and jeans look good." — Ciara
"When you have a lot of confidence and you feel like nobody can beat you, it’s game over for everyone else." — Jason Day
"Confidence comes from hours and days and weeks and years of constant work and dedication." — Robert Staubach
"Confidence is when you believe in yourself and your abilities, arrogance is when you think you are better than others and act accordingly." — Stewart Stafford
"Confidence isn’t optimism or pessimism, and it’s not a character attribute. It’s the expectation of a positive outcome." — Rosabeth Moss Kanter
"When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things." — Joe Namath
"Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong." — Peter T. McIntyre
"Have confidence that if you have done a little thing well, you can do a bigger thing well too." — David Storey
"If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life." — Marcus Garvey
"Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it." — Bruce Lee
"You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do." — Eleanor Roosevelt
"Just believe in yourself. Even if you don’t, pretend that you do and, at some point, you will." — Venus Williams
"Believe that you can make your way. Or don’t. Either way, you are right." — Jennifer Donnelly
"Self-belief is not self-centred. We can only fight effectively for others if we already believe in ourselves." — Carla H. Krueger
"With realization of one's own potential and self-confidence in one's ability, one can build a better world." — Dalai Lama
"If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves." — Thomas Edison
"You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection." — Buddha
"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
"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
"Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times." — Martin Luther
"Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks in great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself." — Cicero
"Confidence… thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live." — Franklin D. Roosevelt
"Success gave me confidence as an artist. And now I’m able to do what I want without anybody thinking it’s dumb." — Amy Lee
"All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure." — Mark Twain
"Don’t live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable." — Wendy Wasserstein
"Find what makes you feel comfortable. The confidence you wear your clothes in is what’s really going to shine." — Hayley Hasselhoff
"The level of confidence women are able to build in women-only groups is important." — Mae Jemison
"If you’re presenting yourself with confidence, you can pull off pretty much anything." — Katy Perry
"I’ve always had confidence. It came because I have lots of initiative. I wanted to make something of myself." — Eddie Murphy
"You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through." — Rosalynn Carter
"Successful people often exude confidence – it’s obvious that they believe in themselves and what they’re doing. It isn’t their success that makes them confident, however. The confidence was there first." — Travis Bradberry
"When you win, you don’t get carried away. But if you go step by step, with confidence, you can go far." — Diego Maradona
"I think the best way to have confidence is not to allow everyone else’s insecurities to be your own." — Jessie J
"If you are surrounded by your competition and you are outworking these people, outmaneuvering these people, it’s hard not to let your confidence take over. It just builds and builds and builds." — Conor McGregor
"Through my education, I didn’t just develop skills, I didn’t just develop the ability to learn, but I developed confidence." — Michelle Obama
"I taught myself confidence. When I’d walk into a room and feel scared to death, I’d tell myself, ‘I’m not afraid of anybody.’ And people believed me. You’ve got to teach yourself to take over the world." — Priyanka Chopra Jonas
"It is best to act with confidence, no matter how little right you have to it." — Lillian Helman
"I never had confidence – never. The hardest thing to know is your own worth, and it took me years and years to find out what mine is." — Peggy Lipton
"Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit." — E. E. Cummings
"You’ve got to put in the work. And you’ve got to play with confidence. You’ve got to believe in yourself." — Paul Pierce
"Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement." — Golda Meir
"One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation." — Arthur Ashe
"Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy." — Brian Tracy
"Don’t take anything for granted. If you don’t believe in yourself, nobody else will. Have a little more confidence." — Cathy Moriarty
"Life is ten percent what you experience and ninety percent how you respond to it." — Dorothy M. Neddermeyer
"We have to learn to be our own best friends because we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemies." — Roderick Thorp
"Believe it can be done. When you believe something can be done, really believe, your mind will find the ways to do it. Believing a solution paves the way to solution." — David J. Schwartz
"Self respect, self worth, and self love, all start with self. Stop looking outside of yourself for your value." — Rob Liano
"Role models are only of limited use. For no-one is as important, potentially powerful and as key in your life and world as you." — Rasheed Ogunlaru
"How strongly you believe you really can will play the biggest part in determining if you actually will." — Lorri Faye
"If you are to succeed in life, you must believe that you can succeed. That self-belief lifts you up." — Benjamin Kofi Quansah
"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
"Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye." — Helen Keller
"Success is most often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable." — Coco Chanel
"A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him." — David Brinkley
"Don't waste your energy trying to change opinions... Do your thing, and don't care if they like it." — Tina Fey
"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
"You can have anything you want if you are willing to give up the belief that you can't have it." — Robert Anthony
"The confidence which we have in ourselves give birth to much of that which we have in others." — Francois de la Rochefoucauld
"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
"You have no control over other people's taste, so focus on staying true to your own." — Tim Gunn
"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
"It is not so much our friends' help that helps us, as the confidence of their help." — Epicurus
"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
"Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love." — Lao Tzu
"Doubt can motivate you, so don’t be afraid of it. Confidence and doubt are at two ends of the scale, and you need both. They balance each other out." — Barbra Streisand
"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." — Eleanor Roosevelt
"A fit body gives you confidence. And there’s nothing more impressive than a great attitude, which you can wear on your sleeve. But you’ll have to remember the difference between being rude and being confident." — Virat Kohli
"I have a confidence about my life that comes from standing tall on my own two feet." — Jane Fonda
"I think about trust and confidence as something that you earn every day, and we will keep at it, earning it every day." — Lynn Good
"For if you train hard and responsibly your confidence surges to a maximum." — Floyd Patterson
"There’s a confidence and sense of self that comes with age that I didn’t anticipate." — Jillian Michaels
"Sometimes, if you fake confidence long enough, you’re going to be confident." — Elle King
"Confidence comes from knowing what you’re doing. If you are prepared for something, you usually do it. If not, you usually fall flat on your face." — Tom Landry
"For me, it’s always been about preparation, and the more prepared I can be each week, the less pressure I feel and the more confident I am. As your confidence grows, it’s only natural that the pressure you feel diminishes." — Aaron Rodgers
"You just have to be yourself and go full with confidence and be courageous." — Gabby Douglas
"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, at whatever cost, must be attained." — Marie Curie
"Confidence is key. Sometimes, you need to look like you’re confident even when you’re not." — Vanessa Hudgens
"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence." — Helen Keller
"It takes a lot for you to find your confidence, but you shouldn’t let someone else be the person to find it for you." — Justine Skye
"Each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage, and confidence in the doing." — Theodore Roosevelt
"Because one believes in oneself, one doesn’t try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn’t need others’ approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her." — Lao Tzu
"I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence but it comes from within. It is there all the time." — Anna Freud
"I’ve studied the lives of the 20th century’s great businessmen and concluded self-confidence was instrumental in all their success." — Alex Spanos
"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
"Always remember, you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." — Christopher Robin
"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." — Ralph Waldo Emerson
"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
"To love yourself right now, just as you are, is to give yourself heaven. Don’t wait until you die. If you wait, you die now. If you love, you live now." — Alan Cohen
"It’s all about confidence and how you feel about yourself. There’s no such thing as a perfect woman. I like imperfections – that’s what makes you unique." — Hayley Hasselhoff
"With the realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world." — Dalai Lama
"Think like a queen. A queen if not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness." — Oprah Winfrey
"Wouldn’t it be powerful if you fell in love with yourself so deeply that you would do just about anything if you knew it would make you happy? This is precisely how much life loves you and wants you to nurture yourself. The deeper you love yourself, the more the universe will affirm your worth. Then you can enjoy a lifelong love affair that brings you the richest fulfillment from inside out." — Alan Cohen
"Don’t you dare, for one more second, surround yourself with people who are not aware of the greatness that you are." — Jo Blackwell-Preston
"If you put a small value on yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price." — Unknown
"If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is, too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think." — T. Harv Eker
"When you start living the life of your dreams, there will always be obstacles, doubters, mistakes and setbacks along the way. But with hard work, perseverance and self-belief there is no limit to what you can achieve." — Roy T. Bennett
"Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world." — Lucille Ball
"Life is too short to waste any amount of time on wondering what other people think about you. In the first place, if they had better things going on in their lives, they wouldn’t have the time to sit around and talk about you. What’s important to me is not others’ opinions of me, but what’s important to me is my opinion of myself." — C. Joybell C.
"Depression weighs you down like a rock in a river. You don’t stand a chance. You can fight and pray and hope you have the strength to swim, but sometimes, you have to let yourself sink. Because you’ll never know true happiness until someone or something pulls you back out of that river–and you’ll never believe it until you realize it was you, yourself who saved you." — Alysha Speer
"We established most of our self-beliefs during our childhood, but they were based on our limited understanding of the world around us. They are either flawed or have become outdated. We can’t take these beliefs at face value anymore." — Yong Kang Chan
"Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence." — George Washington
"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
"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
"You've got to take the initiative and play your game. In a decisive set, confidence is the difference." — Chris Evert
"Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth." — Rumi
"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
"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.
"Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance." — Bruce Barton
"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
"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
"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
"Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear." — Norman Vincent Peale
"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
"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 a light from within." — Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
"Noble and great. Courageous and determined. Faithful and fearless. That is who you are and who you have always been. And understanding it can change your life because this knowledge carries a confidence that cannot be duplicated any other way." — Sheri L. Drew
"Love who you are, embrace who you are. Love yourself. When you love yourself, people can kind of pick up on that: they can see confidence, they can see self-esteem, and naturally, people gravitate towards you." — Lilly Singh
"It is an absolute human certainty that no one can know his own beauty or perceive a sense of his own worth until it has been reflected back to him in the mirror of another loving, caring human being." — John Joseph Powell
"The person in life that you will always be with the most, is yourself. What kind of person do you want to walk down the street with? What kind of person do you want to wake up in the morning with? What kind of person do you want to see at the end of the day before you fall asleep? Because that person is yourself, and it’s your responsibility to be that person you want to be with. I know I want to spend my life with a person who knows how to let things go, who’s not full of hate, who’s able to smile and be carefree. So that’s who I have to be" — C. Joybell C.
"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
"It is confidence in our bodies, minds, and spirits that allows us to keep looking for new adventures." — Oprah Winfrey
