Parenting

130+ Quotes To Instantly Boost Your Confidence When Life Gets You Down

by Team Scary Mommy

Updated: June 28, 2021

Originally Published: Dec. 11, 2019

Yagazie Emezi/ Getty

Even the most self-assured people sometimes need the boost that comes from reading confidence quotes. Whether you’ve had a bad day, are suffering from a serious case of imposter syndrome, or just aren’t feeling yourself, it’s entirely normal for life to get you down. Since self-esteem is shaped by your thoughts and experiences, it exists in a constant state of flux. Some days, you won’t even notice when it dips. But other days, well, you might need a few words of encouragement to pull you out of your low-confidence funk.

Do we always feel like Beyoncé? No. And you know what? That is OK. Confidence is less of a personality trait but a practice. It’s something people work at every day. Sometimes, we feel supermodel fabulous, and on others; we feel like a toe. Everyone has their good days and bad ones, but every day you are worthy of positivity and love. Confidence is a state of mind, and these quotes below will help you get there.

Having healthy self-esteem is important. To that end, definitely reach out to someone if you feel as though you’re constantly plagued by feelings of doubt. If it’s more of a fleeting feeling, we’ve got you covered. We’ve rounded up 101 inspiring quotes that will boost your confidence in no time. Consider this self-care!

Confidence Quotes

“I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.” — Louisa May Alcott
“Don’t waste your energy trying to change opinions. Do your thing and don’t care if they like it.” — Tina Fey
“It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else’s eyes.” — Sally Field
“I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence, but it comes from within. It is there all the time.” — Anne Freud
“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” — Oscar Wilde
“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. Dew
“Confidence is directness and courage in meeting the facts of life.” — John Dewey
“Each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage, and confidence in the doing.” — Theodore Roosevelt
“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” — Lucille Ball
“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.” — Mahatma GandhiRELATED: 100+ Eckhart Tol le Quotes That Will Seriously Enlighten You
“Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they’re yours.” — Richard Bach
“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” — Helen Keller
“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
“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” — Anais Nin
“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
“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.” — e.e. cummings
“Always be yourself — express yourself, have faith in yourself. Do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.” — Bruce Lee
“Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.” — Rumi
“The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.” — C.G. Jung
“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
“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
“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” — Edmund Hillary
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” — John Wooden
“One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.” — Arthur Ashe
“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
“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
“Trust yourself — you know more than you think you do.” — Benjamin Spock
“The greatest mistake you can make in life is continually fearing that you’ll make one.” — Elbert Hubbard
“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
“You are the only person on earth who can use your ability.” — Zig Ziglar
“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
“When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things.” — Joe Namath
“Learning too soon our limitations, we never learn our powers.” — Mignon McLaughlin
“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
“Have confidence that if you have done a little thing well, you can do a bigger thing well too.” — David Storey
“If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.” — Thomas Edison
“You have no control over other people’s taste, so focus on staying true to your own.” — Tim Gunn
“Skill and confidence are an unconquered army.” — George Herbert
“Accept who you are; and revel in it.” — Mitch Albom
“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
“Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance.” — Bruce Barton
“We all have our limitations, but when we listen to our critics, we also have theirs.” — Robert Breault
“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
“The confidence which we have in ourselves give birth to much of that which we have in others.” — François de La Rochefoucauld
“Anyone who ever gave you confidence, you owe them a lot.” — Truman Capote
“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
“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
“With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.” — Dalai Lama
“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
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” — Mark Twain
“Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think.” — Benjamin Disraeli
“The more validation I need, the less discernment I have.” — Kurt Hanks
“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
“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” — David Brinkley
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Don’t live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable.” — Wendy Wasserstein
“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
“Self-confidence is the memory of success.” — David Storey
“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
“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right.” — Henry Ford
“With confidence, you have won before you have started.” — Marcus Garvey
“If you really put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price.” — Author Unknown
“You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.” — Michael Jordan
“Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.” — Paulo Coelho
“Confidence is preparation. Everything else is beyond your control.” — Richard Kline
“Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.” — Vince Lombardi
“Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks in great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself.” — Cicero
“Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.” — George Washington
“It is best to act with confidence, no matter how little right you have to it.” — Lillian Hellman
“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“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
“You’ve got to take the initiative and play your game. In a decisive set, confidence is the difference.” — Chris Evert

Confidence Quotes For Girls

“Your success will be determined by your own confidence and fortitude.” — Michelle Obama
“If you don’t ask, the answer is always no.” — Nora Roberts
“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
“Life is 10 percent what you experience and ninety percent how you respond to it.” ― Dorothy M. Neddermeyer
“Success is most often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” — Coco Chanel
“Never dull your shine for somebody else.” — Tyra Banks
“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
“As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can.” — Paul Tournier
“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
“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
“Humor comes from self-confidence.” — Rita Mae Brown
“Confidence comes from caring. Caring comes from love.” — Maxime Lagacé
“Every woman that finally figured out her worth, has picked up her suitcases of pride and boarded a flight to freedom, which landed in the valley of change.” — Shannon L. Alder
“Courage is the birthplace of confidence.” — Debbie Millman
“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
“Of all our infirmities, the most savage is to despise our being.” — Michel de Montaigne
“You can have anything you want if you are willing to give up the belief that you can’t have it.” — Robert Anthony
“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
“As is our confidence, so is our capacity.” — William Hazlitt
“Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.” — Helen Keller
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.” — Maya Angelou
“Think like a queen. A queen if not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” — Oprah

Funny Confidence Quotes

“God give me the confidence of a mediocre white dude.” — Sarah Hagi
“The bags under my eyes are Prada.” — Unknown
“You were born to be real, not to be perfect.” — Unknown
“Be a pineapple: stand tall, wear a crown, and be sweet on the inside.” — Unknown
“In a society that profits from your self-doubt, loving yourself is a rebellious act.” — Unknown
“If you’re searching for that one person that will change your life, take a look in the mirror.” — Unknown
“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
“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
“Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.” — Samuel Johnson
“One advantage of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.” — A. A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh)
“I don’t wear the opinions of others anymore, I learnt to dress myself.” — Nikki Rowe
“You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” — Louise L. Hay
“Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.” — Unknown
“Accept who you are. Unless you’re a serial killer.” — Ellen DeGeneres
“Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says, “Oh crap, she’s up!’” — Unknown
“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.” — Lao Tzu
“Don’t belittle yourself. Be BIG yourself.” — Corita Kent
“I am a queen because I know how to govern myself.” — Lailah Gifty Akita
“I am the only person in the world I should like to know thoroughly.” — Oscar Wilde
“I have an everyday religion that works for me. Love yourself first, and everything else falls into line.” — Lucille Ball
“I think everybody’s weird. We should all celebrate our individuality and not be embarrassed or ashamed of it.” — Johnny Depp
“If you end up with a boring, miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on television telling you how to do your shit, then you deserve it.” — Frank Zappa
“It is not love that should be depicted as blind, but self-love.” — Voltaire
“It’s not your job to like me… it’s mine!” — Byron Katie
“I’ve finally stopped running away from myself. Who else is there better to be?” — Golden Hawn
“Let’s begin by taking a smallish nap or two.” — A.A. Milne
“Loving yourself isn’t vanity. It’s sanity.” — Andre Gide
“Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-break on.” — Maxwell Maltz
“People think, ‘Oh, I’m loving myself by sitting on this sofa for four hours.’ Love yourself enough to get up!” — Alison Sweeney
“Self-love seems so often unrequited.” — Anthony Powell
“The nicest thing about the rain is that it always stops. Eventually.” — A.A. Milne
“The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not.” — Mark Twain
“The real difficulty is to overcome how you think about yourself.” — Maya Angelou
“The things that make me different are the things that make me me.” — A.A. Milne
“We must fall in love with yourselves. I don’t like myself. I’m crazy about myself.” — Mae West
“We must not allow other people’s limited perceptions to define us.” — Virginia Satir
“When I was around 18, I looked in the mirror and said, ‘You’re either going to love yourself or hate yourself.’ And I decided to love myself. That changed a lot of things.” — Queen Latifah
“When life gives you lemons, squirt someone in the eye.” — Cathy Guisewite
“When you realize your self-worth, you’ll stop giving people discounts.” — Unknown
“Yes, I am weird, weird is good. Normal is overrated.” — Mad-D
“Your problem is you’re… too busy holding onto your unworthiness.” — Ram Dass
“You’re always with yourself, so you might as well enjoy the company.” — Diane von Fürstenberg

This article was originally published on Dec. 11, 2019