c2p-cmd/Good-Quotes-Authors huggingface dataset:
When a person thinks you are too good for them, they create a wall without even taking a chance. The best life that God has in store for a person is often thrown away because of what he or she thinks they deserve. True love is not the life you had, but the life you never realized you could have.
— Shannon L. Alder
I wondered what it was like to feel whole, to not feel torn up or stunned out or wigged out or any of those things. I wondered what it was like to walk around the world looking up at the sky instead of searching the ground, eye to eye with things that crawled.
— Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Last Night I Sang to the Monster
It was almost painful to be different.
— Shannon A. Thompson, Seconds Before Sunrise
Drug cartels have taken the driver’s seat, training our youngmen and women on how best to self destruct, while the largercommunity watches on helplessly as these bands of renegades leadour people towards the path of self annihilation
— Oche Otorkpa, The Unseen Terrorist
Doubt has become the veritable wellspring of my creative process and my philosophic explorations. It has equipped me with the temerity and wherewithal to question certain truths deemed ‘fundamental’ by my betters. Defiance has made me stubborn—possibly even arrogant—enough to shrug off rejection and all fears thereof, no matter how lacerating to the self-esteem these could be. It has given me the will to seek only to satisfy myself.
— Ashim Shanker, Sinew of the Social Species
A beautiful face will age and a perfect body will change, but an awesome person will always be an awesome person.
— Tanya Masse
I don't see myself very clearly.Then look at the people who love you...Look into their eyes and see what they're seeing
—  that's all you need to know yourself.
No matter how small you are or feel or think you are–live big. Yours is the only life of you, in this form, the world will ever have!
— Na'ama Yehuda
If you're working out in front of a mirror and watching your muscles grow, your ego has reached a point where it is now eating itself. That's why I believe there should be a psychiatrist at every health club, so that when they see you doing this, they will take you away for a little chat.
— Lewis Black
I cannot conceive of a greater loss than the loss of one's self-respect. Decedents of the beautiful women that fought so hard for centuries to be equal and not objects of men's will, only their achievement to die in vain. As today's woman single desire is to be any men's object by any means on her part. Talk about irony...
— Irena Deneva
The line between ego and healthy self-esteem is very delicate. We should know when we cross this line, switch side, and become egotistical.
— Assegid Habtewold, The 9 Cardinal Building Blocks: For Continued Success in Leadership
Having low self-esteem and a shield of lard are not guarantees of safety. Having a warrior spirit, high self worth (most people are assaulted by someone they know, so if you think you're only worthy of hanging out with controlling low-life's, that's who you'll attract into your circle) and the ability to run, hit, kick and holler loudly are far more effective weapons against victimization.
— Jane Olson, Counting Calories: A True Story From An Average Jane Who Lost Over 120 Pounds In Less Than 6 Months
The moment you blame life for who you are is that very moment you ignore your talents and inner abilities to change the world.
— Jeekeshen Chinnappen, Psychic Gang
I will once again keep my eyes open to the changes so that I won't miss even a single spec of chance. Life is possible, believe it, LIFE'S POSSIBLE!
— Mphezulu Xetho Dainamyk
As I see, 90%+ (and not less than that) of people go about their lives living 90%+ (and not less) of a lie. choose a different way and live the least truth you might be.
— Mphezulu Xetho Dainamyk
Comfort foods they may have been, but helpful foods they most definitely were not. By merging my identity with certain foods and thinking of them as old friends, I found myself in the food equivalent of a co-dependent, destructive relationship. I was allowing food to have the power of defining me as a person. And those foods had defined me, all right; they'd defined me as fat, miserable, out of breath, lacking in energy and self-worth, and looking terrible in sweat pants. If I was going to insist on relating to food as a friend, then clearly I needed new friends.
— Jane Olson, Counting Calories: A True Story From An Average Jane Who Lost Over 120 Pounds In Less Than 6 Months
My childhood was one of both poverty and plenty, suffering and joy. I was taken out of poverty, both financial and emotional, and lavished with love. I was given a gift I could never repay if I lived a thousand lifetimes, it was the gift of hope and trust, given to me by my uncle who believed in me so strongly that I began to believe in myself.
— Sara Niles, Torn From the Inside Out
Every day I wake up and re-commit to my health. This is a very important step for me. I let the past be the past. I try not to dwell on the mistakes I've made, because those kinds of thoughts only bring me down. I wake up every day with the thought that this is a new day. That today I am going to eat well, I am going to exercise, and I'm going to focus on being healthy and happy.
— Stephen Cremen, Battle Scars: My Journey from Obesity to Health and Happiness, Fifteen Years and Counting!
If you're stressing over happiness, you're doing it wrong!
— Shannon L. Alder
Stay out of the court of self-judgment, for there is no presumption of innocence.
— Robert Brault
Conformity begins the moment you ignore how you feel for acceptance.
— Shannon L. Alder
Don't celebrate how old you are, celebrate the years you survived.
— Touaxia Vang
Worry is like a roller coaster ride that you think will take you somewhere, but it never does.
— Shannon L. Alder
A life out of balance is a person that doesn’t believe happiness can be achieved now, or in the future. It is as fleeting as the wind.
— Shannon L. Alder
You think it's so easy to change yourself. You think it's so easy, but it's not True, things don't stay the same forever: couches are replaced, boys leave, you discover a song, your body becomes forever scarred. And with each of these moments you change again, your true self spinning, shifting positions - but always at last it returns to you, like a dancer on the floor. Because throughout it all you are still always, *you*: beautiful and bruised, known and unknowable. And isn't that - just you - enough?
— Leila Sales, This Song Will Save Your Life
Secularity is a way of being dependent on the responses of our milieu. The secular or false self is the self which is fabricated, as Thomas Merton says, by social compulsions. 'Compulsive' is indeed the best adjective for the false self. It points to the need for ongoing and increasing affirmation. Who am I? I am the one who is liked, praised, admired, disliked, hated or despised. Whether I am a pianist, a businessman or a minister, what matters is how I am perceived by my world. If being busy is a good thing, then I must be busy. If having money is a sign of real freedom, then I must claim my money. If knowing many people proves my importance, I will have to make the necessary contacts. The compulsion manifests itself in the lurking fear of failure and the steady urge to prevent this by gathering more of the same - more work, more money, more friends.
— Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Way of the Heart: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers
Sexual abuse injects poisonous lies into its victims’ hearts and minds. “You’re not worthy” is one of them.
— Carolyn Byers Ruch
If you spend your energy condemning and judging the people who mistreat you it puts you in a condemning and judging mindset, which subconsciously makes you feel condemned and judged too. The more judgmental you are, the worse your self-esteem will be.
— Kimberly Giles, Choosing Clarity: The Path to Fearlessness
No one can repair your self-esteem for you. Your spouse cannot fix it. Your parents cannot fix it. Your boss cannot fix it. No amount of success or beauty enhancements can fix it. You have to fix it by changing the way you see yourself. You have to choose to see yourself accurately, to see life as a classroom, and commit to the policy that you have the same value no matter how you perform. It is time to claim the power to do this and not let anyone take your self-esteem from you again.
— Kimberly Giles, Choosing Clarity: The Path to Fearlessness
Most people think that once they lose the weight or make more money they will finally feel good about them themselves, but they are usually disappointed when they get there to find they don’t feel better. This happens because real self-worth can’t be earned. Real self-worth comes from understanding the truth about who you are and understanding that your value is infinite and absolute no matter what. This is the only way to peace.
— Kimberly Giles, Choosing Clarity: The Path to Fearlessness
Self-Empowerment is free to anyone who chooses to use it. It comes from within and nowhere else. You cannot buy it, borrow it, steal it or sell it. It is always available to you and never wears out. The only choice you have to make is whether or not you will use it.
— Gary   Hopkins
Stop looking at what everyone else has! You have to figure out who you are before you can be anyone!
— Setona Mizushiro, After School Nightmare, Volume 9
I realized that I was okay with myself. I was quirky and withdrawn and loud, but I liked that. I smiled at strangers without thinking they were going to attack me and drag me into their cars. I went to doctors’ offices and touched magazines that had been touched by sick people.
— Anna White, Mended: Thoughts on Life, Love, and Leaps of Faith
We are also not what others think of us. Our reputations do not define our true worth. Every person we know has an opinion of us. We drive ourselves crazy wondering what those opinion are and trying to change the ones that aren’t favorable.
— Toni Sorenson
Yes, you are right! I am your leftover trash. I hope you know a bum got to eat too. I believe you were one when I met you.
— Touaxia Vang
Empower Yourself, Empower Your Relationships
— Pamela Cummins, Psychic Wisdom on Love and Relationships
Wetting one's pants is no kind of self-esteem builder.
— Susan Juby, Home to Woefield
You are an irreplaceable, one-of-a-kind, amazing being. There will never be another you and this fact alone makes you infinitely and absolutely valuable. Having absolute value means you cannot be diminished by anything or anyone. You are bulletproof and nothing can change your value.
— Kimberly Giles, Choosing Clarity: The Path to Fearlessness
Don't become a random photograph in the eyes of friends, and even your enemies, for each glance at your face will cause a declination of value and reputation. Create value, through scarcity.
— Michael Bassey Johnson
The different people are not like other people, but being different is nothing to be ashamed of. Because other people are not such wonderful people. They're one hundred times one thousand. You're one times one! They walk all over the earth. You just stay here.
— Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie
I don't know why, but people seem to be fascinated to learn how some members of society fall through the cracks. I think it's partly that feeling that... it could happen to anyone. But I think it also makes people feel better about their own lives. It makes them think, 'Well, I may think my life is bad, but it could be worse, I could be that poor sod.
— James Bowen, A Street Cat Named Bob: And How He Saved My Life
You'll make bundle of blunders if you consider yourself too clever to look at anothers work.
— Michael Bassey Johnson
I have a body, but I am not my body.I have a face, but I am not my face.
— Iyanla Vanzant, Don't Give It Away!: A Workbook of Self-Awareness and Self-Affirmations for Young Women
You're not as invisible as you think.
— C.J. Duggan, That One Summer
When I thought of myself, of the feelings I had, of the things I thought I understood so well, I imagined myself somehow abstractly, because that other visual recollection was painful and unpleasant for me. No sooner would I call to mind my physical appearance than the finest, most lyrical, wonderful visions would vanish in an instant - so monstrous was its disparity with the intangible, glittering world that existed in my imagination. It seemed to me that there could be no greater contrast than that between my inner life and my outward appearance; sometimes I even imagined that I was trapped in someone else's strange, almost hateful body.
— Gaito Gazdanov, Призрак Александра Вольфа
In her experience, groups of friends like that just didn't open up to include underage, undersized geeks like her. They hadn't sounded mean, they just sounded — self-confident. Something she wasn't.
— Rachel Caine, Glass Houses
The most capricious modern entitlement is not just Social Security but to self-esteem.
— George F. Will, One Man's America: The Pleasures and Provocations of Our Singular Nation
Having the courage to stand up for yourself is like bringing swords to a stick fight.
— Kyle Schmalenberg
How do you get rid of unhappiness? You must release yourself from the prison you have unknowingly placed yourself in. Come to terms with the fact that there are things that you cannot control. But, just because you don’t ‘control’ something, doesn’t mean it’s going to fall to pieces. That may be the hardest part. We get bent out of shape when something happens that is out of our control, because we don’t understand why it’s happening or where it’s coming from. It’s unsettling. You put your fighting arms up and prepare to battle the world. But, stop for a moment. Think. Where are all of these things coming from?The world is not a wild, untamed place, where things are a free for all. Understand that there is a higher power running the world.
— Leigh Hershkovich
I just figured that was the life I picked, so I had to make the most of it.
— Claire Cook, Must Love Dogs
Of course gratitude should be expressed...But that does not mean to kill your self-esteem.
— Deepika Muthusamy
I think your whole life shows in your face and you should be proud of that.
— Lauren Bacall
Being shy is a symptom of a low self-esteem.
— Mokokoma Mokhonoana, The Confessions of a Misfit
If you know yourself and don’t have a belief that other people are better than you, then you simply can’t feel jealous or threatened.
— Roberto Hogue, Real Secrets of Sex: A Women's Guide on How to Be Good in Bed
In many cases, people hold on so tightly to their past pains to avoid letting go of the “excuses” and the fear of having to be accountable for their life.
— Yvonne Pierre, The Day My Soul Cried:  A Memoir
Why don't we learn about the mental health which affects every minute of our lives? ... Where is the school for learning [about] positive mental health?
— Maddy Malhotra, How to Build Self-Esteem and Be Confident: Overcome Fears, Break Habits, Be Successful and Happy
You are not your skin. You are not your body. You are a soul. You are a cell in the body of the Divine. You are a magnificent product of Divine Creation. You are a moment of inspiration made manifest in a human body.
— Yancy Lael, Soulful Skincare: The ultimate guide to radically transforming your complexion
A sad truth is that we don't know what we really believe! We don't know how we operate. We don't know what is holding us back. We don't know why we do what we do.
— Maddy Malhotra, How to Build Self-Esteem and Be Confident: Overcome Fears, Break Habits, Be Successful and Happy
No one can discover you until you do. Exploit your talents, skills and strengths and make the world sit up and take notice.
— Rob Liano
In this culture, cultivating unconditional self-acceptance truly is radical.
— Yancy Lael, Soulful Skincare: The ultimate guide to radically transforming your complexion
It is a pleasurable thing to earn the admiration of others, but it is a far better feeling to honestly admire thyself.
— Richelle E. Goodrich, Smile Anyway
For most of us, the most common and unfortunate side effect of skin problems is isolation. We don't want to be seen the way we look. You can hide a lot of physical flaws, but not acne. It's right there, on the first thing people notice about us - our face. And it's hard for some of us to imagine that people can see the face - the PERSON - behind the acne.
— Yancy Lael, Soulful Skincare: The ultimate guide to radically transforming your complexion
That's not me talking, it's your inner voice. I'd attempt the accent, only I don't speak low self-esteem. It's a language I've never needed to learn.
— Sophie Hannah, Kind of Cruel
Believe in the strength of your own resolve.
— Sandra T. Huerta
Exercise is a great leveler. It doesn't matter how rich you are, you can't just buy your way into a great body. You have to do the work. I find that comforting. It's one of the few things in life where we're all on a level playing field.
— Vinnie Tortorich
The worst thing about being concise with people is the game of puzzle you've made them play.
— Michael Bassey Johnson
Gestalt means whole, and so are you.
— Jan Deelstra, Escaping the Chrysalis: Introduction to Gestalt Techniques for Self-Esteem Transformation
Don’t wait to receive until you feel worthy. Your self-esteem will go up as a result of receiving. ~Amanda Owen
— Amanda Owen
There is no other company in the world I've found more pleasurable than my own. For no one else has ever been as accepting of me or as thoroughly entertained by my quirkiness. It is a sweet thing to like yourself.
— Richelle E. Goodrich, Smile Anyway
There is no doubt a new dress is a help under all circumstances.
— Noel Streatfeild, Ballet Shoes
I will never attend an anti-war rally; if you have a peace rally, invite me.
— Mother Teresa
We can never know the impact a simple smile has on another. Smiling is one of the easiest things we can do. Is there a simpler, more effortless way to give everyone you meet a moment of joy, even a sense of worth?
— Steve Goodier
If everybody likes you, you are doing it wrong.
— Ben Michaelis
I have terrible periods of lack of confidence. I just don't believe I can do it and no evidence to the contrary will sway me from that view.
— Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt
I'll never have to give an account for not being more like my favorite celebrity, that shining star in my chosen field or anybody else. And at the end of my life, the question I never want to be asked is, "How come you weren't more like YOU? You had such great potential. You were a wholly unique person -- unrepeatable and irreplaceable. Why you weren't more like YOU?
— Steve Goodier
Focusing on who you are, and pursuing opportunities to improve your abilities, allows you to be in acceptance of yourself. This makes you a beautiful person who could care less about what others think of you.
— Ellen J. Barrier
The nature of the 'collapse of the wave function' is determined by our self-concept stored in the subconscious mind. Our subconscious mind is aware of the 'many-worlds' occurring simultaneously and chooses the reality we continue to exist in based on our self-concept.
— Kevin Michel, Moving Through Parallel Worlds To Achieve Your Dreams
No wonder she was so underweight. She was desperate to please a woman that could never be pleased, in the hopes of being loved and accepted by the very person that should be giving that freely.
— Rose Wynters, Delicate Devastation
In her 20′s, a woman’s breasts double her self-esteem. In her 40′s, they halve it.
— Mokokoma Mokhonoana
Life entertains humble men by giving men with below average looks (intellect, knowledge, etc.) an above average self-esteem.
— Mokokoma Mokhonoana
When we feel that all eyes are upon on us, it is often difficultto take chances in expressing our individuality.
— Bobbi Brown, Bobbi Brown Beauty Rules: Fabulous Looks, Beauty Essentials, and Life Lessons
*I’m hustling* is a low self-esteem having man’s way of saying *I’m unemployed,* when answering a seemingly materialistic woman’s question as to what he does for a living.
— Mokokoma Mokhonoana
I'd love to be what I have been.
— Raheel Farooq
Life ups the self-esteem of a low-paid man by giving him things that the high-paid man that he envies cannot buy (intellect, looks, sex appeal, etc.).
— Mokokoma Mokhonoana
In Tulsa, a girl would no sooner have run around with unstraightened hair than she would have run around naked. It would have been worse than running around naked, letting everyone see your naps (40).
— Martha Southgate, Third Girl from the Left
When it looks like everyone is against you, look inside for the truth.
— Sumner Davenport
Like a Columbus of the heart, mind and soul I have hurled myself off the shores of my own fears and limiting beliefs to venture far out into the uncharted territories of my inner truth, in search of what it means to be genuine and at peace with who I really am. I have abandoned the masquerade of living up to the expectations of others and explored the new horizons of what it means to be truly and completely me, in all my amazing imperfection and most splendid insecurity.
— Anthon St. Maarten
If we experience any failures or setbacks, we do not forget them because they offend our self-esteem. Instead we reflect on them deeply, trying to figure out what went wrong and discern whether there are any patterns to our mistakes.
— Robert Greene, Mastery
People who love themselves, don’t hurt other people. People who love themselves have no reason to ever judge another person on looks. There is simply no need. People who love themselves no longer look at beauty on a sliding scale or as a competition. There is nobody more beautiful or less beautiful than anyone else, including themselves. People who love themselves no longer see fat or skinny, tall or short, fair or dark skin, gay or straight, strong or weak. They only see people. Beautiful, beautiful people.
— Dan Pearce, Single Dad Laughing
The image that concerns most people is the reflection they see in other people's minds.
— Edward de Bono
I don’t see the me that you see. I wish for just a lit­tle bit I could climb into you and then you could climb into me and then we could tell each other what we saw there.
— Lauren Roedy Vaughn, OCD, the Dude, and Me
When you do talk to people, share what you are. Stop focusing on all the things that you aren’t. Stop focusing on all of the physical features that you think people won’t like about you. Stop focusing on your inabilities or lack of talent. Instead, focus on those physical features that you know people already love about you. Focus on your abilities and the talents that you do have. You have been blessed with all of the above, and that makes you worth getting to know in my book.
— Dan Pearce, Single Dad Laughing
In spite of her plainness that would have made wallflowers of other women, she radiated a great sense of self-importance.
— Robert Galbraith, The Cuckoo's Calling
Smile at people everywhere you go. Don’t just give them one of those half-smirk/head nod things. Raise your eyebrows, show those teeth, and chuckle while you smile. Next time you’re at the store, give a full-hearted smile to at least three complete strangers. You’ll be amazed at what this does for them and for you.
— Dan Pearce, Single Dad Laughing
You'll have less heartaches and disappointments if you stop seeking from others the things ONLY God and you can give yourself!
— Yvonne Pierre, The Day My Soul Cried:  A Memoir
Do you love yourself? The test is simple. Do you look at others and see anything besides another beautiful human being? Do you see somebody who is more beautiful or less beautiful than you? If so, look down a little deeper and ask yourself why. It may be painful. The whys usually are. Do it anyway.
— Dan Pearce, Single Dad Laughing
I know how mirrors work. They're all in league with the cosmetics trade. They tell a woman lies. Drawing her gaze from one imagined flaw to another, until all she sees is a constellation of imperfections. If you could get outside yourself, borrow my eyes for just an instant... There is only beauty.
— Tessa Dare, Any Duchess Will Do
What I find powerful is a person withthe confidence to be her own self.
— Oprah Winfrey
By looking at the Bible as if it were fundamentally about us, we totally miss the Point–like the two on the road to Emmaus. As Luke 24 shows, it's possible to read the Bible, study the Bible, and memorize large portions of the Bible, while missing the whole point of the Bible. It's entirely possible, in other words, to read the stories and miss the Story.
— Tullian Tchividjian
you're Worth More Than Gold
— Britt Nicole
And get some self-esteem. What the fuck is that? It’s so annoying to see a pretty girl see herself as not worthy. You know what it makes us guys think you aren’t worthy? We see you how you see you. You’re pretty and funny and smart. Stop being such a douche-canoe.
— Tara Brown, My Side
Each one of us is the architect of his own fate; and he is unfortunate indeed who will try to build himself without the inspiration of God, without realizing that he grows from within, not from without.
— David O. McKay, Secrets of a Happy Life
In the vast majority of cases, however, getting into trouble has nothing to do with one's self-esteem. It usually has much more to do with whatever is causing the trouble - a monster, a bus driver, a banana peel, killer bees, the school principal - than what you think of yourself.
— Lemony Snicket, The Miserable Mill
Mockery is childish. It does not become you.
— Veronica Roth, Insurgent
Every time I move I squash something said Loathesome.
— Norman Mailer, Deaths For The Ladies
The purpose of school is for children to learn, not for them to feel good about themselves all the time.
— Jean M. Twenge, Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before
Katie wondered for a moment if part of the reason so many of the young women she knew who had poor self-esteem ended up that way because they had spent their lives gazing at themselves in a mirror instead of being the mirror others gazed into.
— Robin Jones Gunn, Finally and Forever
Product WarningIf this book were a medication with a label, it would read something like this: Side Effects Include but Are Not Limited torenewed sense of self-esteemincreased motivation in all areas of lifeYou may also lose weight, fall in love, leave a bad marriage, create a better one, have closer relationships with your family, or find the job of your dreams.Some Users Have experienceda kick in their stepa swing in their hipsa twinkle in their eyeHair-tossing (commercial-style) is common, but seek medical attention if you pinch a nerve or can’t stop doing it.
— Stacy London, The Truth About Style
I'm not talking about the blood ecstasy. I'm talking about my being able to fill that emotion void she has. You know her as well as I do, maybe better. She aches with it. She needs to be accepted for who she is so badly. And I was able to do that. Do you know good that felt? To be able to show someone that, yes, you are someone worth sacrificing for? That you like them for their faults and that you respect them for their ability to rise above them?
— Kim Harrison, A Fistful of Charms
It seemed so natural, receiving it, watching others receive it, assuming that the approval of others determined our worth. Then one day we found we couldn't feel any worth without it. We'd forgotten that we were gifted in ways unimaginable, created with a unique purpose like no other, that people are hurting, that we beat that same hurt and we can help them. There is no one as valuable as you. Unlearn that old lie.
— Lee  Goff
Just ’cause a body says somethin’ don’t make it so. You know who you are, and they can’t change that no matter what them cacklin’ hens is to say.” He tapped him on the chest. “What matters is what’s in here, son. Not a soul can take that away from you.
— Tracy Winegar, Good Ground
People shouldn’t be ashamed of what they are. And it will help them, to gain self esteem and confidence.
— M.F. Moonzajer
It's none of your concern what others say or think about you. Your happiness is your own responsibility.
— Richelle E. Goodrich, Smile Anyway
1. We fear people because they can expose and humiliate us. 2. We fear people because they can reject, ridicule, or despise us. 3. We fear people because they can attack, oppress, or threaten us. These three reasons have one thing in common: they see people as “bigger” (that is, more powerful and significant) than God, and, out of the fear that creates in us, we give other people the power and right to tell us what to feel, think, and do.
— Edward T. Welch, When People Are Big and God is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man
Sometimes people with low self-esteem will try to punish you for caring about them.
— Wayne Gerard Trotman
There's no alternative to being yourself. Accept it, honour it, value it - and get on with it.
— Rasheed Ogunlaru
Style comes from knowing who you are and who you want to be in the world; it does not come from wanting to be somebody else, or wanting to be thinner, shorter, taller, prettier.
— Nina García, The Little Black Book of Style
It's hard loving those who don't much like themselves: "If you're so great, why would you think I'm so great.
— Alain de Botton
When you say, "I need more confidence," what you're really saying is, "I need those people over there to approve of me."That is the desire to control other people and what they think. The first person who figures out how to do this owns the world.
— Augusten Burroughs, This Is How: Proven Aid in Overcoming Shyness, Molestation, Fatness, Spinsterhood, Grief, Disease, Lushery, Decrepitude & More. For Young and Old Alike.
Looking outside of yourself for love and acceptance, leaves your happiness in the hands of others.
— Debra Beck, My Feet Aren't Ugly: A Girl's Guide to Loving Herself from the Inside Out
It won't matter if nobody ever thinks I'm pretty (although sometimes I wish, just for a second, that somebody would)
— Lauren Oliver, Delirium
The treasure shouldn't do the hunting, and you're a treasure.
— Ed Asner
Appreciate the things and people in your life while remaining independent of them. Give thanks for them, but realize that they do not complete you. Only you can complete you.
— Serenity Rey
I don't know anyone who remembers meeting their parents when they were a baby so i'm just like everybody else. -Zoey (100% Real)
— Tara Michener, 100% Real: A Who I Am Book
When I first went to kindergarten kids asked me what I was. I did not understand-I'm a person. They explained that I look a little different and it is not as easy to tell which color I am. -Janelle from Who I Am Not What I Am, Tara Michener
— Tara Michener, Who I Am Not What I Am!
Protect your self-esteem and self-confidence - it is your responsibility!
— Mark  Donnelly
As a basic step of self-esteem, learn to treat as the mark of a cannibal any man’s demand for your help. To demand it is to claim that your life is his property – and loathsome as such claim might be, there’s something still more loathsome: your agreement. Do you ask if it’s ever proper to help another man? No- if he claims it as his right or as a moral duty that you owe him. Yes- if such is your own desire based on your own selfish pleasure in the value of his person and his struggle. Suffering as such is not a value, only man’s fight against suffering is. If you choose to help a man who suffers, do it only on the ground of his virtues, of his fight to recover, of his rational record, or of the fact that he suffers unjustly; then your action is still trade, and his virtue is the payment for your help. But to help a man who has no virtues, to help him on the ground of his suffering as such, to accept his faults, his need, as a claim – is to accept the mortgage of a zero on your values. A man who has no virtues is a hater of existence who acts on the premise of death; to help him is to sanction his evil and to support his career of destruction. Be it only a penny you will miss or a kindly smile he has not earned, a tribute to a zero is treason to life and to all those who struggle to maintain it. It is of such pennies and smiles that the desolation of your world was made.
— Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
You are real! Everyone has to be different or the world would be really boring. If we all looked the same, then no one could tell us apart. -Janelle
— Tara Michener, 100% Real: A Who I Am Book
If you have realistic ideals and can generally live up to them, your self-esteem will not be threatened. If your ideals are exaggerated and you cannot reach them, your good feelings from successes may be short lived, and you may feel that you are never good enough.The continued hope for the impossible, the expectation that you will or can be unconditionally loved and adored, is not facing reality but rather holding onto an idealized image of yourself and an idealized version of what others can provide. If this is the case, your sense of self may be threatened by shame and its resulting depression, or by feelings of inadequacy for not living up to your unrealistic ideals. A better understanding of shame may help you recognize your tendency to hide what you feel from yourself and others.
— Mary C. Lamia, The White Knight Syndrome: Rescuing Yourself from Your Need to Rescue Others
She tried to remind herself that beauty was only skin deep, but that didn't offer any helpful excuses when she was berating herself for never knowing what to say to people. There was nothing more depressing than an ugly girl with no personality.It hurts, because deep inside, she knew who she was, and that person was smart and kind and often very funny, but somehow her personality always got lost somewhere between her heart and her mouth, and she found herself saying the wrong thing or, more often, nothing at all.
— Julia Quinn, Romancing Mister Bridgerton: The Epilogue II
Mamma says if we stay so focused on our past failings, we won't be able to move beyond them and learn what we need to know.
— Annette Bridges, The Gospel According to Mamma
I dont care who you are I know who I am
— Sandra Cameroun
No matter our size or shape, everyone deserves a safe place in this world." ~ from BIG SMALL DOG, a children's story about overcoming bullying and adversity, and discovering unity and friendship.
— Suzanne V. Marshall, Big Small Dog
Be resilient until you complete a task. Challenge yourself and never limit yourself. Stay humble, hopeful, patient, but never quit!
— Winsome Campbell-Green, The Secret Rules Of Self-Love: How To Love Yourself, Overcome The Loneliness Of Being Single, And Achieve Happiness
Do the things that interest you and do them with all your heart. Don't be concerned about whether people are watching you or criticizing you. The chances are that they aren't paying any attention to you. It's your attention to yourself that is so stultifying. But you have to disregard yourself as completely as possible. If you fail the first time then you'll just have to try harder the second time. After all, there's no real reason why you should fail. Just stop thinking about yourself.
— Eleanor Roosevelt, You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life
Are you what others say and think you are?  Or are you who you are regardless of what others say and think?
— Richelle E. Goodrich, Smile Anyway
My sister said Mary Elizabeth is suffering from low self-esteem, but I told her that she said the same thing about Sam back in November when she started dating Craig, and Sam is completely different. Everything can't be low self-esteem, can it? My sister tried to clarify things. She said that by introducing me to all these great things, Mary Elizabeth gained a "superior position" that she wouldn't need if she was confident about herself. She also said that people who try to control situations all the time are afraid that if they don't, nothing will work out the way they want.
— Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
I'd been through so much, falling short again and again, and only recently had found a place where who I was, right now, was enough.
— Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever
Perhaps the most extraordinary popular delusion about violence of the past quarter-century is that it is caused by low self-esteem. That theory has been endorsed by dozens of prominent experts, has inspired school programs designed to get kids to feel better about themselves, and in the late 1980s led the California legislature to form a Task Force to Promote Self-Esteem. Yet Baumeister has shown that the theory could not be more spectacularly, hilariously, achingly wrong. Violence is a problem not of too little self-esteem but of too much, particularly when it is unearned.
— Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined
I have known many true connoisseurs, with excellent tastes that range across the humanities and the culinary arts--and they never fail to have a fatal effect on my self-esteem. When I find myself sitting at dinner next to someone who knows just as much about novels as I do but has somehow also found the mental space to adore and be knowledgeable about the opera, have strong opinions about the relative rankings of Renaissance painters, an encyclopedic knowledge of the English civil war, of French wines--I feel an anxiety that nudges beyond the envious into the existential. How did she find the time?
— Zadie Smith
Once Ed said to me, "For a very long time I didn't like myself." It was not said in self-pity but simply as an unfortunate fact. "It was a very difficult time," he said, "and very painful. I did not like myself for a number of reasons, some of them valid and some of them pure fancy. I would hate to have to go back to that. Then gradually," he said, "I discovered with surprise and pleasure that a number of people did like me. And I thought, if they can like me, why cannot I like myself? Just thinking it did not do it, but slowly I learned to like myself and then it was all right." This was not said in self-love in its bad connotation but in self-knowledge. He meant literally that he had learned to accept and like the person "Ed" as he liked other people. It gave him a great advantage. Most people do not like themselves at all. They distrust themselves, put on masks and pomposities. They quarrel and boast and pretend and are jealous because they do not like themselves. But mostly they do not even know themselves well enough to form a true liking. They cannot see themselves well enough to form a true liking, and since we automatically fear and dislike strangers, we fear and dislike our stranger-selves.
— John Steinbeck, The Log from the Sea of Cortez
Try not to be in a hurry to get older because youth happens once in your life. Thereafter, old age stays with you forever.
— Chris Jirika
The only one that believes in you, is you. Don't lean on how others see you to find belief in yourself.
— Anthony Liccione
It's all me. I'm not just one flavor. You're not, either. So it all comes down to which 'you' you want to show the world.
— Cyn Balog, Starstruck
Being human makes us one. Be uniquely ourselves makes us individual." - Nancy S. Mure, Author of Unidentical Twins
— Nancy S.  Mure
I realized that I don't want to try to change you in order to be with you. That's not fair to you. And I deserve to share my life with someone who's on the same path as me, and right now, that's not you. But I need you to know that you have been such a strength and a comfort to me when I had nothing and," I started to cry, "I love you so much. You truly are my best friend. I don't want to have to imagine my world without you in it. But if following my truth creates that, then know that I will always love you no matter what you choose to do with your life.
— The Hippie
Genuine self-acceptance is not derived from the power of positive thinking, mind games or pop psychology. IT IS AN ACT OF FAITH in the God of grace.
— Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out
People will ask you the question 'how is life treating you?' But my question is 'how are you treating life?' On that your happiness rests
— Rasheed Ogunlaru
The most stable, and therefore, the most healthy self-esteem is based on deserved respect from others rather than on external fame or celebrity and unwarranted adulation.
— Abraham H. Maslow
Stop spending so much time trying to prove what you already know to people who don't really matter. It just makes you look insecure and lacking self-confidence.
— Karen E. Quinones Miller
I naively believe that self-love is 80 percent of the solution, that it helps beyond words to take yourself through the day as you would with your most beloved mental-patient relative, with great humor and lots of small treats.
— Anne Lamott
You your own best thing, Sethe. You are.
— Toni Morrison, Beloved
I had to come to terms with the fact that I wouldn’t have peace with myself until I found a way to like myself.
— Michael Barbarulo
That nice feeling when you look in the mirror, and your hair's right for the first time in your life? I don;t think we should base so much on weight, muscles, and a good hair day, but when it happens, it's nice. It really is.
— Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Don't be so defensive and afraid to be proven wrong that you miss the opportunity to learn from your mistakes.
— Karen E. Quinones Miller
I didn't despise myself for being who I was, and I never would. I wouldn't allow anyone to make me feel bad about that. That was a line I could draw in the sand.
— Z.A. Maxfield, Jacob's Ladder
When it comes to your self-esteem, it is best not to value the opinions of deluded psychopaths.
— Rosen Trevithick
Elizabeth scowled, feeling like a nobody, a nothing. She felt like her entire self had been made worthless. She could change her interests, but she couldn’t change her looks. She’d never be six feet tall. She’d never look like a supermodel.
— Francine Pascal, Model Flirt
The past is never where you think you left it.
— Katherine Anne Porter
The past beats inside me like a second heart.
— John Banville, The Sea
You must learn some of my philosophy. Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.
— Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
My yesterdays walk with me. They keep step, they are gray faces that peer over my shoulder.
— William Golding
Sooner or later we've all got to let go of our past.
— Dan Brown, Deception Point
What's past is prologue.
— William Shakespeare, The Tempest
If only. Those must be the two saddest words in the world.
— Mercedes Lackey
No man is rich enough to buy back his past.
— Oscar Wilde
Memories are dangerous things. You turn them over and over, until you know every touch and corner, but still you'll find an edge to cut you.
— Mark  Lawrence, Prince of Thorns
Today expect something good to happen to you no matter what occurred yesterday. Realize the past no longer holds you captive. It can only continue to hurt you if you hold on to it. Let the past go. A simply abundant world awaits. (January 11)
— Sarah Ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance:  A Daybook of Comfort and Joy
These fragments I have shored against my ruins
— T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land and Other Poems
A medicine cat has no time for doubt. Put your energy into today and stop worrying about the past.
— Erin Hunter, Rising Storm
When you understand, that what you're telling is just a story. It isn't happening anymore. When you realize the story you're telling is just words, when you can just crumble up and throw your past in the trashcan, then we'll figure out who you're going to be.
— Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters
When it comes to the past, everyone writes fiction.
— Stephen King, Joyland
I had my chance.' He said it, retiring from a lifetime of wanting. 'I had my chance, and sometimes in life, there are no second chances. You look at what you have, not what you miss, and you move forward.
— Jamie Ford, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.
— Gautama Buddha
…everything has a past. Everything – a person, an object, a word, everything. If you don’t know the past, you can’t understand the present and plan properly for the future.
— Chaim Potok, Davita's Harp
Our past may explain why we're suffering but we must not use it as an excuse to stay in bondage.
— Joyce Meyer, Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind
This is the past: It drifts, it gathers. If you are not careful, it will bury you.
— Lauren Oliver, Requiem
Things without all remedy should be without regard: what's done is done.
— William Shakespeare, Macbeth
I want everything back, the way it was. But there is no point to it, this wanting.
— Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale
Those who have hurt you in the past cannot continue to hurt you now unless you hold on to the pain through resentment.
— Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?
I've never tried to block out the memories of the past, even though some are painful. I don't understand people who hide from their past. Everything you live through helps to make you the person you are now.
— Sophia Loren
You go on. You set one foot in front of the other, and if a thin voice cries out, somewhere behind you, you pretend not to hear, and keep going.
— Geraldine Brooks, March
because the past was always around her and might return at any time. It prowled the world searching for her, and she knew it was growing angrier at every passing day.
— Nicholas Sparks, Safe Haven
They made a major mistake," he blurted out, "the dumb bastards, when they didn't start by killing you first.""Benjamin Thomas Parish, that was the sweetest and most bizarre compliment anyone's ever given me."I kissed him on the cheek. He kissed me on the mouth."You know," I whispered, "a year ago, I would have sold my soul for that."He shook his head. "Not worth it." And, for one-ten thousandth of a second, all of it fell away, the despair and grief and anger and pain and hunger, and the old Ben Parish rose from the dead. The eyes that impaled. The smile that slayed. In another moment, he would fade, slide back into the new Ben, the one called Zombie, and I understood something I hadn't before: He was dead, the object of my schoolgirl desires, just as the schoolgirl who desired him was dead.
— Rick Yancey, The Infinite Sea
It's just hard to see people from your past when your present is so cataclysmically fucked.
— Jonathan Tropper, This is Where I Leave You
You can lose your way groping among the shadows of the past.
— Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Journey to the End of the Night
Sometimes in order to be happy in the present moment you have to be willing to give up all hope for a better past.
— Robert Holden
Fuck the past. This was the present.
— Maggie Stiefvater, The Dream Thieves
Even the good things from our pasts still only belonged in the past
— Cora Carmack, Faking It
We can draw lessons from the past, but we cannot live in it.
— Lyndon B. Johnson
It is important for people to know that no matter what lies in their past, they can overcome the dark side and press on to a brighter world.
— Dave Pelzer, A Child Called "It"
No human can bury their past indefinitely. It’s only a matter of time before you crack.
— K.A. Tucker, Ten Tiny Breaths
If it’s over, then don’t let the past screw up the rest of your life.
— Nicholas Sparks, A Bend in the Road
Sometimes I think I live more closely to the past than the present.
— Patricia Briggs, Dragon Bones
The past was but the cemetery of our illusions: one simply stubbed one's toes on the gravestones.
— Émile Zola, The Masterpiece
The 'what should be' never did exist, but people keep trying to live up to it. There is no 'what should be,' there is only what is.
— Lenny Bruce
She needs a new journal. The one she has is problematic. To get to the present, she needs to page through the past, and when she does, she remembers things, and her new journal entries become, for the most part, reactions to the days she regrets, wants to correct, rewrite.
— Dave Eggers, How the Water Feels to the Fishes
Those who can forget the past are way ahead of the rest of us.
— Chuck Palahniuk, Choke
Learn from the past, but don’t live in the past.
— Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free
These things...they are who you are. They brought you here. To this day. You didn't give me a chance to understand that ever the unattractive parts of you, the messy parts, were something I could accept.
— Laura Dave, The Divorce Party