# Quotes about self-esteem - Quotes: 24 - Authors: 17 - Broader topic: [Quotes about self-knowledge](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-knowledge.md) - Topic page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem - JSON version (same data): https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.json ## Quotes > “What’s more, you’re loads better than you think you are.” “So why is it I get to thinking that way?” I puzzled. “That’s because you’re only half-living.” she said briskly. “The other half is still untapped somewhere.” [Haruki Murakami](https://www.leafyquotes.com/haruki-murakami.md) · [A Wild Sheep Chase](https://www.leafyquotes.com/haruki-murakami/a-wild-sheep-chase.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/haruki-murakami/a-wild-sheep-chase/whats-more-youre.md) Topics: [life](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life.md), [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > She looked at me. Looked away. “You think too much of me.” > > I smiled. “Perhaps you think too little of yourself.” [Patrick Rothfuss](https://www.leafyquotes.com/patrick-rothfuss.md) · [The Name of the Wind](https://www.leafyquotes.com/patrick-rothfuss/the-name-of-the-wind.md) · p. 464 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/patrick-rothfuss/the-name-of-the-wind/she-looked-at-me-looked.md) Topics: [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > I've always considered myself a failure: I feel I've never done anything wholly right. [...] Everybody will tell you, "Oh no, how can you say that, because ten thousand people clap you on a night?" But part of that is reflex action and part of it is because you're reasonably good. But if you're great, that's a different thing. [Ronnie Drew](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ronnie-drew.md) · [Ronnie](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ronnie-drew/ronnie.md) · p. 88 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ronnie-drew/ronnie/ive-always-considered.md) Topics: [success and failure](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/success-and-failure.md), [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md), [perfectionism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/perfectionism.md) > I couldn't regard myself as personally repulsive. No man can, or, if he ever comes to do so, that is the end of him. [Ford Madox Ford](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ford-madox-ford.md) · [The Good Soldier](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ford-madox-ford/the-good-soldier.md) · p. 122 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ford-madox-ford/the-good-soldier/i-couldnt-regard.md) Topics: [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > We all of us go about, she meant to tell him but was too occupied, wanting to be wanted but unsure why anybody should bother. (twenty-two: THE PRESENT) [Marge Piercy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/marge-piercy.md) · [He, She and It](https://www.leafyquotes.com/marge-piercy/he-she-and-it.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/marge-piercy/he-she-and-it/we-all-of.md) Topics: [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > 'Most people think everybody feels about them much more violently than they actually do - they think other people's opinions of them swing through great arcs of approval or disapproval. ' [F.Scott Fitzgerald](https://www.leafyquotes.com/fscott-fitzgerald.md) · [Tender is the Night](https://www.leafyquotes.com/fscott-fitzgerald/tender-is-the-night.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/fscott-fitzgerald/tender-is-the-night/most-people-think.md) Topics: [psychology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/psychology.md), [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > Above all things, never think that you're not good enough yourself. A man should never think that. My belief is that in life people will take you very much at your own reckoning. [Anthony Trollope](https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-trollope.md) · [The Small House at Allington](https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-trollope/the-small-house-at-allington.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-trollope/the-small-house-at-allington/above-all-things.md) Topics: [self-confidence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-confidence.md), [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > I think we each come out of the womb with some unique way of looking at the world and if we don't express it, we loose faith in ourselves. [Gloria Steinem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/gloria-steinem.md) · [Revolution from Within](https://www.leafyquotes.com/gloria-steinem/revolution-from-within.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/gloria-steinem/revolution-from-within/i-think-we-each.md) Topics: [individualism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/individualism.md), [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > I’ve learned from these events that self-esteem plays as much a part in the destiny of nations as it does in the lives of individuals; that self-hatred leads to the need either to dominate or to be dominated; that citizens who refuse to obey anything but their own conscience can transform their countries; in short, that self-esteem is the basis of any real democracy. [Gloria Steinem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/gloria-steinem.md) · [Revolution from Within](https://www.leafyquotes.com/gloria-steinem/revolution-from-within.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/gloria-steinem/revolution-from-within/ive-learned-from.md) Topics: [democracy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/democracy.md), [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > It would be hard to name a more certain sign of poor self-esteem than the need to perceive some other group as inferior. [Nathaniel Branden](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nathaniel-branden.md) · [Six Pillars of Self-Esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nathaniel-branden/six-pillars-of-self-esteem.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nathaniel-branden/six-pillars-of-self-esteem/it-would-be-hard.md) Topics: [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > To love oneself is to struggle to rediscover and maintain your uniqueness. It is understanding and appreciating the idea that you will be the only you to ever live upon this earth, that when you die so will all of your fantastic possibilities. It is the realization that even you are not totally aware of the wonders which lie dormant within yourself. [Leo F. Buscaglia](https://www.leafyquotes.com/leo-f-buscaglia.md) · [Love](https://www.leafyquotes.com/leo-f-buscaglia/love.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/leo-f-buscaglia/love/to-love-oneself.md) Topics: [individualism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/individualism.md), [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > "It's easy to run to others. It's so hard to stand on one's own record. You can fake virtue for an audience. You can't fake it in your own eyes. Your ego is your strictest judge. They run from it. They spend their lives running. It's easier to donate a few thousand to charity and think oneself noble than to base self-respect on personal standards of personal achievement. It's simple to seek substitutes for competence—such easy substitutes; love, charm, kindness, charity. But there is no substitute for competence." [Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md) · [The Fountainhead](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead.md) · p. 658 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead/its-easy-to-run.md) Topics: [talent](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/talent.md), [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > "If one doesn't respect oneself one can have neither love nor respect for others." [Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md) · [The Fountainhead](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead.md) · p. 660 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead/if-one-doesnt.md) Topics: [love](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love.md), [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > "It's said that the worst thing one can do to a man is to kill his self-respect. But that's not true. Self-respect is something that can't be killed. The worst thing is to kill a man's pretense at it." [Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md) · [The Fountainhead](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead.md) · p. 427 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead/its-said-that.md) Topics: [appearances](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/appearances.md), [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > "Ask anything of men. Ask them to achieve wealth, fame, love, brutality, murder, self-sacrifice. But don't ask them to achieve self-respect. They will hate your soul." [Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md) · [The Fountainhead](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead.md) · p. 379 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead/ask-anything-of-men.md) Topics: [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > We are delighted to find a person who values us as we value ourselves, and distinguishes us from the rest of mankind, with an attention not unlike that with which we distinguish ourselves. [Adam Smith](https://www.leafyquotes.com/adam-smith.md) · [The Theory of Moral Sentiments](https://www.leafyquotes.com/adam-smith/the-theory-of-moral-sentiments.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/adam-smith/the-theory-of-moral-sentiments/we-are-delighted.md) Topics: [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md), [flattery](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/flattery.md) > The man who esteems himself as he ought, and no more than he ought, seldom fails to obtain from other people all the esteem that he himself thinks due. He desires no more than is due to him, and he rests upon it with complete satisfaction. [Adam Smith](https://www.leafyquotes.com/adam-smith.md) · [The Theory of Moral Sentiments](https://www.leafyquotes.com/adam-smith/the-theory-of-moral-sentiments.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/adam-smith/the-theory-of-moral-sentiments/the-man-who-esteems.md) Topics: [respect](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/respect.md), [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > Shyness is only the effect of a sense of inferiority in some way or other. If I could persuade myself that my manners were perfectly easy and graceful, I should not be shy. [Jane Austen](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen.md) · [Sense and Sensibility](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen/sense-and-sensibility.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen/sense-and-sensibility/shyness-is-only.md) Topics: [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md), [shyness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/shyness.md) > The self-respects of most middle-class American people my age or older, and still alive, are out to pasture now, not a bad place to be. They munch. They ruminate. If self-respect breaks a leg, the leg can never heal. Its owner has to shoot it. [Kurt Vonnegut](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut.md) · [Timequake](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/timequake.md) · p. 211 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/timequake/the-self-respects-of-most.md) Topics: [old age](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/old-age.md), [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > In order to get what we've got, Anita, we have, in effect, traded these people out of what was the most important thing on earth to them — the feeling of being needed and useful, the foundation of self-respect. [Kurt Vonnegut](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut.md) · [Player Piano](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/player-piano.md) · p. 169 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/player-piano/in-order-to-get.md) Topics: [work](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work.md), [technology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/technology.md), [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > I do matter, and despising me was the gravest error of their lives. [Orson Scott Card](https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card.md) · [The Ships Of Earth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/the-ships-of-earth.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/the-ships-of-earth/i-do-matter.md) Topics: [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > "The difference between how you look and how you see yourself is enough to kill most people. And maybe the reason vampires don’t die is because they can never see themselves in photographs or mirrors." p144 [Chuck Palahniuk](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk.md) · [Haunted](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/haunted.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/haunted/the-difference-between.md) Topics: [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > Art is man's metaphysical mirror; what a rational man seeks to see in that mirror is a salute; what an irrational man seeks to see is a justification – even if only a justification of his depravity, as a last convulsion of his betrayed self-esteem. [Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md) · [The Romantic Manifesto](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-romantic-manifesto.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-romantic-manifesto/art-is-mans.md) Topics: [art](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/art.md), [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md) > "[T]here's allays two 'pinions; there's the 'pinion a man has of himsen, and there's the 'pinion other folks have on him. There'd be two 'pinions about a cracked bell, if the bell could hear itself." [George Eliot](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot.md) · [Silas Marner](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/silas-marner.md) · p. 48 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/silas-marner/t-heres-allays-two.md) Topics: [self-esteem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-esteem.md), [public opinion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/public-opinion.md)