Confidence building Quotes

I had self-esteem issues into my early 20s.

- Adam Lambert

By creating so many illusory images of physical perfection, whether on store aisles or storefront ads, magazine covers or TV shows, we speak more to the profit margins of companies than the self-esteem of today's girls.

- Adora Svitak

I'm surrounded by geniuses, which is really not good for my own personal self-esteem!

- Aisha Tyler

I want to poke holes in the erroneous beliefs about what fame provides. It won't raise your self-esteem, it won't create profound connection, it's not going to heal your childhood traumas, it's only going to amplify them. You're going to be subject to a lot of criticism and praise, both of which are violent in their own ways.

- Alanis Morissette

I didn't have high self-esteem when I was a teen-ager, as I think most teen-agers don't.

- Alanis Morissette

Self-esteem is the greatest sickness known to man or woman because it's conditional.

- Albert Ellis

I certainly don't feel like I have the perfect body type... It's through your own eyes. And for every female, you're going to see flaws in that; you're going to see flaws regardless. So for me, it's just important to have that confidence and self-esteem no matter what body type you have.

- Alex Morgan

Demands for equality for women are threats to men's self-esteem and sense of sexual turf.

- Alice S. Rossi

At age 14, you are just beginning to work out who you think you are, and being famous is a huge distortion of reality, and it's not healthy for a young person to be considered more special than their peers. So, I would say it hindered my self-esteem but in later years gave me a great perspective that I wouldn't have if I hadn't experienced that.

- Amanda de Cadenet

The power that you have as a young woman, unless you have great self-esteem, is largely based on how the rest of the world reacts to you. And so it's kind of a superficial confidence that you have, you know?

- Amanda de Cadenet

I've worked very hard on my self-esteem, and I know my value.

- Amanda de Cadenet

Every woman has, for her own self-esteem, to work or have a major interest.

- Amanda Eliasch

To me, self-esteem is not self-love. It is self-acknowledgment, as in recognizing and accepting who you are.

- Amity Gaige

Self-esteem comes quietly, like the truth.

- Amity Gaige

I think the biggest difference is that I've noticed Western parents seem much more concerned about their children's psyches, their self-esteem, whereas tough immigrant parents assume strength rather than fragility in their children and therefore behave completely differently.

- Amy Chua

I once won a second prize in a history concert. My parents came to the ceremony. Somebody else had won the prize for best all-around student. Afterwards my father said to me, 'Never, ever disgrace me like that again.' When I tell my Western friends, they are aghast. But I adore my father. It didn't knock my self-esteem at all.

- Amy Chua

I do not think there was anything abusive in my house. Yet, I stand by a lot of my critiques of Western parenting. I think there's a lot of questions about how you instill true self-esteem.

- Amy Chua

Real self-esteem has to be earned. I also believe in virtuous circles, like, nothing is fun until you are good at it. It is great if you can instill in children the ability to not give up, to have a work ethic.

- Amy Chua

Both of my girls have very high self-esteem because they were both able to master certain things; I should think that's good for their confidence.

- Amy Chua

There is a long list of psychology research demonstrating that appearances matter more than most us would care to admit. As shallow as it may be, better-looking people have been shown in various studies to have higher self-esteem and more charisma, are considered more trustworthy and are better negotiators.

- Andrew Ross Sorkin

Rejection is a big part of show business. It can be tough on anyone who doesn't have fairly good self-esteem. Especially kids, as they try to discover who they are.

- Angela Cartwright

Oh, God, I struggle with low self-esteem all the time! I think everyone does. I have so much wrong with me, it's unbelievable!

- Angelina Jolie

I didn't want to go down any scarier path of low self-esteem than I was already on the track for. So during my second year of college I was like, 'I'm over it! I have to go see what this other thing called life is about!'

- Anna Chlumsky

The false pride of perennial celebration, of wearing flag lapel pins while betraying the values that the flag stands for, is like the self-esteem curriculum for toddlers, where everything is praised and no achievement ultimately has meaning.

- Anne-Marie Slaughter

Social media websites are no longer performing an envisaged function of creating a positive communication link among friends, family and professionals. It is a veritable battleground, where insults fly from the human quiver, damaging lives, destroying self-esteem and a person's sense of self-worth.

- Anthony Carmona

Sticking to a diet required me to have a permanently low self-esteem. But happily, I developed other skills beyond a fluctuating weight, eventually building up a different source of self-worth.

- Arabella Weir

Resentment is weak and lowers your self-esteem.

- Barbara Sher

I think Black people need to take self-esteem seriously.

- bell hooks

I have learned to become not an M.D. but a 'C.D.' for the wounded people I meet. Yes, a 'Chosen Dad' who may not like their behavior but loves and reparents them and helps them to heal their lives and find self-worth and self-esteem and save their lives.

- Bernie Siegel

When you lose your hair, it has an impact on confidence and your overall self-esteem whether it affects your career or your love life.

- Bill Rancic

I think that Mama June has the greatest self-esteem on the planet. I always say to people, 'If I had her self-worth, I would probably be ruling the world.'

- Blake McIver Ewing

I never in a million years thought I would be the person to go to for self-esteem; that was not my intent. But I happen to love beauty, I love the way people look, and I love making women look beautiful.

- Bobbi Brown

I think the stigma surrounding mental illness and also the stigma surrounding self-esteem issues or insecurities or just even feeling different is something that doesn't really get enough attention. Everybody struggles with feeling alone or that they are going through something they don't quite understand.

- Brittany Snow

Prior to being bullied, I was a very footloose sixth-grader. You know, I was quirky, I was creative - I really felt good in my own body. And when I was bullied in seventh grade, my self-esteem tanked.

- Carolyn Mackler

Everyone has different issues, and I think for a great deal of women, those issues are self-esteem. And for me, I really wanted to understand it and get through it because I didn't want to be an actress afraid of getting older. I refuse to live that way.

- Carrie-Anne Moss

I understand how important hair is to a woman's self-esteem and confidence.

- Cat Deeley

After my second-to-last record, 'The Greatest', I had gone on tour for a while, and I didn't play an instrument for about five years. And I got kind of - it's not self-esteem or whatever, or anger toward myself - but disappointed in myself that I hadn't been challenging myself to learn musically.

- Cat Power

Writing is like shouting into the world. So when someone shouts back, it's a really big deal. To have people who read hundreds and hundreds of books a year say, 'Hey, we thought this was really great,' that's a huge self-esteem boost.

- Celeste Ng

Cherish believes that God made her with a special purpose. Like any teenage girl, she has her insecurities, but for the most part she has a real healthy self-esteem.

- Charlene Tilton

Being famous before you've formed your personality, before you have that self-esteem, is dangerous.

- Chris Evert

I don't have any terrific self-esteem issues but I do sometimes realise I've been too lucky and that I'm over-praised. It makes me nervous. I have this sense of being overrated.

- Christopher Hitchens

I like to work. The self-esteem and satisfaction that I get from working makes me a better person, which makes me a better mom. I feel lucky because I have the luxury of working only one or two days a week.

- Cindy Crawford

I like to work. The self-esteem and satisfaction that I get from working makes me a better person, which makes me a better mom.

- Cindy Crawford

I hear people say it affected your self-esteem to be segregated. It never affected mine.

- Clarence Thomas

The thing that drives me crazy is when comics say 'I have low self-esteem.' No you don't. You're standing on stage asking people to pay. You don't play an instrument. You want people to pay to hear what's in your mind. You don't have low self-esteem. You might have other problems.

- Colin Quinn

I think comedy comes more from a low sense of self-esteem, and I certainly have that.

- Craig Ferguson

You can't compare an apple to an orange. It will cause a lot of self-esteem issues.

- Craig Sheffer

Focus on making you the best you you can be as an actor and follow your own path. You can't compare an apple to an orange. It will cause a lot of self-esteem issues.

- Craig Sheffer

I noticed there were so many people, especially women, who would come up to me having recognized me from TV and say, 'I heard you were a math person, why math? Oh my gosh, I could never do math!' I could just see their self-esteem crumbling; I thought that was silly, so I wanted to make math more friendly and accessible.

- Danica McKellar

Negative thinking patterns can be immensely deceptive and persuasive, and change is rarely easy. But with patience and persistence, I believe that nearly all individuals suffering from depression can improve and experience a sense of joy and self-esteem once again.

- David D. Burns

Depression can seem worse than terminal cancer, because most cancer patients feel loved and they have hope and self-esteem.

- David D. Burns

If you feel like the beginning of your history is rooted in slavery, that really, I think, messes with your sense of self, your self-esteem, and your self-worth.

- David Oyelowo

I've never disliked myself, and my weight has had nothing to do with my self-esteem.

- Dawn French

If you have a good self-esteem, you can be generous, you can give back and you can be productive in the world.

- Deborra-Lee Furness

So many comics have such low self-esteem.

- Debra Wilson

Dumbing down takes many forms: art that is good for you, museums that flatter you, universities that increase your self-esteem. Culture, after all, is really about you.

- Denis Dutton

To establish true self-esteem we must concentrate on our successes and forget about the failures and the negatives in our lives.

- Denis Waitley

Experts say that if children can't read by the end of the fifth grade, they lose self-confidence and self-esteem, making them more likely to enter the juvenile justice system.

- Dirk Kempthorne

I believe that the dissolution of a marriage comes about by the breaking down of self-esteem.

- Dixie Carter

I struggled with self-esteem issues as a young girl, and it was not until my gymnastics career was completed in 2000 that I realized my accomplishments would not have been possible without my type of body, and I finally started to appreciate and celebrate myself.

- Dominique Dawes

I'm very passionate about the use of sports in young people's lives to build self-esteem and self-discipline and self-confidence. It's been a big thing for me.

- Ed Skrein

In the late 1950s, self-esteem hadn't yet been invented. High schools saw their sole mission as preparing students thoroughly for academic work.

- Edith Pearlman

Many mathematicians derive part of their self-esteem by feeling themselves the proud heirs of a long tradition of rational thinking; I am afraid they idealize their cultural ancestors.

- Edsger Dijkstra

If you improve a teacher's self-esteem, confidence, communication skills or stress levels, you improve that teacher's overall effectiveness across the curriculum.

- Elaine MacDonald

My narrators tend to be women with low self-esteem, so I can send them to charm school.

- Elinor Lipman

Public speaking? I speak to myself on the street!

- Eliot Spitzer

'Showgirls' was a critical point in my life. I had my head handed to me. At 21 years old, I had to find my self-esteem again. It was a very hard time.

- Elizabeth Berkley

It was something she didn't want me to do because she thought the rejection would ruin my self-esteem. My father was, like, 'If she wants to try it, let her try it.'

- Ellen Muth

Every new adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem.

- Eric Hoffer

Self-esteem and self-contempt have specific odors; they can be smelled.

- Eric Hoffer

The proud depend upon the world to tell them whether they have value or not. Their self-esteem is determined by where they are judged to be on the ladders of worldly success. They feel worthwhile as individuals if the numbers beneath them in achievement, talent, beauty, or intellect are large enough.

- Ezra Taft Benson

If we love God, do His will, and fear His judgment more than men's, we will have self-esteem.

- Ezra Taft Benson

A leader who cobbles together his self-esteem by attempting to silence or libel his critics and by amplifying his echo chamber is a dangerous one indeed.

- Faith Salie

You'd be surprised how addicting high self-esteem is.

- Fergie

Our dependency makes slaves out of us, especially if this dependency is a dependency of our self-esteem. If you need encouragement, praise, pats on the back from everybody, then you make everybody your judge.

- Fritz Perls

I love Paul Giamatti - God, that man is like a walking Chekhov. His connection to humanity is unbelievable, and those feelings of low self-esteem - the way that all comes together on the screen? Delicious.

- Gary Shteyngart

Involvement in the arts engages kids in their community, improves self-esteem, reclaims at-risk youth, and builds the creative skills that are required of a 21st century workforce.

- Gavin Newsom

If you're the greatest, it's okay to say you're the greatest. My suggestion to everybody is to be their own greatest fan. Weaker personas and personalities define that as egotistical or arrogant, but what it means is their self-esteem isn't that strong.

- Gene Simmons

Most of my central characters lack confidence but overcome their timidity or low self-esteem to win through in the end, so I suppose there is a kind of wish-fulfillment at work.

- Geraldine McCaughrean

I've spent most of my life in prison. I was a prisoner of my fear and my low self-esteem.

- Gerry Cooney

People always want to ask me about my drug problem - I never had a drug problem; I had a self-esteem problem!

- Gloria Gaynor

Well, we all know that self-esteem comes from what you think of you, not what other people think of you.

- Gloria Gaynor

The Saving Our Cinderellas program is a facet of Saving Our Daughters which is more specifically geared towards using music, theatre, film and television as a means to help build self-esteem in our girls by developing programs that allow them to discover, explore and express their individuality using the arts.

- Grace Gealey

Hiding, secrets, and not being able to be yourself is one of the worst things ever for a person. It gives you low self-esteem. You never get to reach that peak in your life. You should always be able to be yourself and be proud of yourself.

- Grace Jones

The Games are just a nice, positive way to build friendships, camaraderie and, of course, self-esteem. Plus, the Games are a great opportunity for people to participate in sports who normally wouldn't.

- Greg Louganis

When you're a kid growing up, and you think you're gay, you know that you're different; you're often teased and it can really destroy your self-esteem. But sports can be great for building self-esteem.

- Greg Louganis

Self-esteem comes from who you have in your life. How you were raised. What you struggled with as a child.

- Halle Berry

A person's self-esteem has nothing to do with how she looks.

- Halle Berry

Like it or not, life is a series of competitions. You may be competing for a grade, a spot on a team, a job, or the largest account in town. The higher your self-esteem is, the better you get along with yourself, with others, and the more you'll accomplish.

- Harvey Mackay

Most fears of rejection rest on the desire for approval from other people. Don't base your self-esteem on their opinions.

- Harvey Mackay

Neither gender is routinely more jealous - although women are more willing to work to win back a lover, while men tend to flaunt their money and status and are more likely to walk out to protect their self-esteem or save face.

- Helen Fisher

Very early on, you figure out that you put your self-esteem in the hands of strangers. There's a different commodity. There's the Helena Bonham Carter that everyone thinks they know, who really has nothing to do with me. But you just have to let that go.

- Helena Bonham Carter

In high school, from age 15 to 18, I was saddled with the unfortunate nickname of 'Junk,' which doesn't do a lot for one's self-esteem.

- Hudson Leick

If you have a smothering parent, the effect it can apparently have on a child is to give them, in equal doses, a sense of too much self-esteem, because they are mummy's little princess or prince, and low self-esteem. It affects future relationships.

- Hugh Grant

I learned that coming out was crucial to self-esteem.

- Ian Mckellen

I suffer from low self-esteem. I had horrible self-esteem growing up. You really have to save yourself because the critic within you will eat you up. It's not the outside world - it's your interior life, that critic within you, that you have to silence.

- Iman

I have a 15-year-old daughter who thinks that I always had this self confidence that I have now at the age of 60. And I always tell her that what she is going through - the low self-esteem as a teenager - that is a right of passage.

- Iman

I was raised to treat my body as a temple, but even as a little girl, I had a major issue with self-esteem. I thought there was something wrong with the temple.

- Iman

At the end of the day, a 34B doesn't give you self-esteem.

- Iman

Colonialism deprives you of your self-esteem and to get it back you have to fight to redress the balance.

- Imran Khan

Conscience: self-esteem with a halo.

- Irving Layton

I spent so many years being repeatedly rejected and told I wasn't good enough. It took a huge toll on my self-esteem until I realized I am more than my body and that, actually, our beauty comes from diversity.

- Iskra Lawrence

Self-esteem is made up primarily of two things: feeling lovable and feeling capable. Lovable means I feel people want to be with me. They invite me to parties; they affirm I have the qualities necessary to be included. Feeling capable is knowing that I can produce a result. It's knowing I can handle anything that life hands me.

- Jack Canfield

Build your self-esteem by recalling all the ways you have succeeded, and your brain will be filled with images of you making your achievements happen again and again. Give yourself permission to toot your own horn, and don't wait for anyone to praise you.

- Jack Canfield

For the first ten years after I got out of graduate school, I studied success. I read every book I could get my hands on and took every training I could find, and that allowed me to become an expert in this area. I learned how to create high self-esteem and success in my own life and in the lives of others.

- Jack Canfield

Self-esteem is made up primarily of two things: feeling lovable and feeling capable.

- Jack Canfield

Greater self-esteem produces greater success, and greater success produces more high self-esteem, so it keeps on spiraling up.

- Jack Canfield

I started acting when I was 5 years old. And I was pretty well known for a while. Your self-esteem and your identity start to become wrapped up in that celebrity, and when that starts to fade away, your self-esteem and your identity start to fade away with it.

- Jackie Earle Haley

Many weight issues stem from illness, be it physical or, indeed, emotional. And a large portion of people who sometimes struggle to maintain a 'healthy' weight deal daily with their own self-esteem crises.

- Jameela Jamil

My father was Abe Burrows, who was a Broadway legend. 'Guys and Dolls,' 'How to Succeed,' 'Cactus Flower,' '40 Karats,' 'Can-Can,' 'Happy Hunting,' 'Reclining Figure,' it goes on. He was a legend, and when I was growing up, I was Abe Burrows' kid. That was my self-esteem.

- James Burrows

If we can find forgiveness in our hearts for those who have caused us hurt and injury, we will rise to a higher level of self-esteem and well-being.

- James E. Faust

Early intervention programs enrich adverse family environments. The largest effects of the early intervention programs are on noncognitive traits. Now, what do I mean by that? I mean perseverance, motivation, self-esteem, and hard work.

- James Heckman

My mother tried her best to give us a sense of self-esteem.

- James McBride

High expectations weren't nurtured in my neck of nowhere back then - children weren't fawned over from an early age as 'gifted' and groomed for a prizewinning future; self-esteem was considered something you had to pick from the garden yourself.

- James Wolcott

I was doing a children's book on self-esteem, and I really felt like I wanted to shed the shame I'd been feeling - and maybe make it easier for women my age who had probably felt bad about themselves.

- Jamie Lee Curtis

I think high self-esteem is overrated. A little low self-esteem is actually quite good. Maybe you're not the best, so you should work a little harder.

- Jay Leno

A lot of straight and transgender boys get in touch with me through my website and social media. They tell me I'm inspirational and beautiful. It boosts my self-esteem.

- Jazz Jennings

In general, for me, a big thing in my life has been just sort of learning what true self-esteem is and what true positive self-image is. And being a dancer, and growing up in that world, you're so focused on yourself, and you're so focused on achieving goals, on finding perfection, and working on your craft.

- Jenna Dewan

Aleta St. James is an internationally renowned energy healer, life coach, best selling author, and more. Aleta does private sessions to release old resistance and shift out of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, trauma, addictions, infertility, and insecurity at a cellular level.

- Jenna Morasca

I had low self-esteem.

- Jennifer O'Neill

The thing I'm most proud of is that I've raised a lot of money for certain charities - breast cancer and the Caldecott Foundation and the NSPCC. But as far as my self-esteem is concerned, doing 'The Graduate' for 11 months was fantastic.

- Jerry Hall

Self-esteem is something I still battle. People look at me and say, 'You've got fame. You've got admiration. You've done this; you've done that.' As far as I'm concerned, I haven't done anything. I've just fulfilled a dream of competing.

- Jerry West

Even though I felt, at times, 'My goodness, you're among the upper echelon,' there is still a huge void there. A huge void. It is about self-esteem. That's a thing that has always been a real complex part of my life.

- Jerry West

I think family mealtime is really important. There's a lot of research that shows kids are going to do better in school and have more self-esteem if you can all sit down and eat together.

- Jewel

When you're strong physically, it improves your strength in every other facet of your life. You're more confident, your self-esteem is higher, and your self image is better.

- Jillian Michaels

Capitalistic society teaches kids to be No. 1, but true self-esteem doesn't come from money. It doesn't come from winning the Super Bowl.

- Jim Brown

I think self-esteem is fluid. It's not a fixed state, and so some days are better than others.

- Jo Brand

I'm not saying that I don't have skills. I'm saying I don't feel like I can use my skills to achieve self-esteem. I feel like it's cheating. I think that I should have self-esteem simply because I am a human being who deserves love and deserves everything just as much or just as little as everyone else.

- John Grant

Nothing profits more than self-esteem, grounded on what is just and right.

- John Milton

Where talent is a dwarf, self-esteem is a giant.

- John Petit-Senn

I walked on eggshells a lot. I have a bad self-esteem problem, and my father probably facilitated it. He once looked at me very seriously when I was about 15 and had whipped cream smeared all over myself. He said, 'You'd do anything for a laugh, wouldn't you?'

- Judge Reinhold

I feel like I have a healthy self-esteem.

- Judy Greer

I suffer the terrible disease of low self-esteem.

- Julie Bowen

Watching TV produces low levels of satisfaction because it doesn't challenge you. Instead, do something that raises your self-esteem. Tap into your 'signature strengths' - things you're good at or passionate about.

- Karen Salmansohn

Altruism raises your mood because it raises your self-esteem, which increases happiness. Plus, giving to others gets you outside of yourself and distracts you from your problems.

- Karen Salmansohn

I'm very comfortable as a singer. In fact, I think it's more - I identified my self-esteem, my self more in those ways when I was growing up. I really - it was kind of my calling card as a kid.

- Katey Sagal

If I've got a confidence problem, it's that my self-esteem is entirely too high.

- Katherine Ryan

If we get our self-esteem from superficial places, from our popularity, appearance, business success, financial situation, health, any of these, we will be disappointed, because no one can guarantee that we'll have them tomorrow.

- Kathy Ireland

Like everyone, I had low self-esteem, and I wanted to be like the pretty, popular girls.

- Katie Stevens

All my life, I have judged my worth by how much I have been loved by a man. It's so with a lot of women, that their self-esteem is measured by how much they are loved by a man, their partner, their boyfriend or maybe their husband. In my case, it may be because I grew up without my father.

- Katrina Kaif

Even though I'm in the industry and I act and all this stuff, I still suffer from self-esteem issues... from the way that I look or the way that I talk... just nitpicking at myself.

- Keke Palmer

I was called fat and ugly in the press almost my entire life. I understand that being judged by others comes with the territory, but it broke my heart and ruined my self-esteem.

- Kelly Osbourne

I've suffered from low self-esteem.

- Ken Kercheval

I had just started ninth grade when I got my acne. And I had braces. I wouldn't look people in the eye. It was not a good time for me - it just killed my self-esteem. I thought when I didn't look at someone, they couldn't see my face.

- Kendall Jenner

That kid who lives in the projects, he has a self-esteem problem - everybody looks down on him. He may be a good kid, but other parents don't want their kids to be with them because percentages say they could be bad. I went through a lot of that.

- Kenny Troutt

I took a public speaking class in college and managed to make the class laugh a little bit.

- Kevin James

I had low self-esteem. I just really wanted attention and love from somebody.

- Kim Mathers

Self-esteem is such a challenging issue for young women.

- Kimberly Elise

As long as we depend on other women for self-esteem, using them as bad examples or fantasy versions - special, powerful - of ourselves, they remain stuck in a narcissistic version of themselves, too.

- Koren Zailckas

I haven't always been confident. I actually suffered with low self-esteem growing up. Eventually, I got to a point where I was just like, 'OK, this is taking too much energy.' After that, I started accepting myself for who I was, and I was like, whoever is not going to accept it, they weren't really meant to be in my life in that way.

- La'Porsha Renae

Don't worry so much about your self-esteem. Worry more about your character. Integrity is its own reward.

- Laura Schlessinger

I have low self-esteem and I always have. Guys always cheated on me with women who were European-looking. You know, the long-hair type. Really beautiful women that left me thinking, 'How I can I compete with that?' Being a regular black girl wasn't good enough.

- Lil' Kim

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

I'm passionate about speaking out against bullying and speaking up for self-awareness with young people and body-image issues and self-esteem issues.

- Lily Collins

Basically, in our society, you can never fix anything enough. The minute you get your head above water about one thing, they let you know that 12 other things about you suck. It's like playing 'Self-Esteem Whack-A-Mole.'

- Lisa Ann Walter

I'm not looking for 'outer esteem' anymore, what they call 'other esteem.' I'm looking for self-esteem. And people think that self-esteem is built with accomplishments. And, 'Hey, look what I did in my life.'

- Lisa Lampanelli

Hot Lips changed a lot in eleven years. Initially, Margaret Houlihan behaved as though a man were the only thing that could complete her life, and she didn't see what richness her life contained. She gained a lot of self-esteem through the years, and she came to realize that what she did, what she offered, was valuable.

- Loretta Swit

I don't think I am narcissistic. I think I have low self-esteem.

- Lorraine Bracco

Self-esteem is as important to our well-being as legs are to a table. It is essential for physical and mental health and for happiness.

- Louise Hart

We all know that girls who compete in sports perform better in school, are physically healthier and have a stronger self-esteem.

- Louise Slaughter

Sure, the job of high school teachers is not to tear down students' self-esteem. But it's certainly not to inflate students' sense of self-worth with a bunch of unearned compliments and half-truths.

- LZ Granderson

The biggest thing you can give a kid is self-esteem, so that they're not shy to do different things.

- Magnus Scheving

Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.

- Margaret Thatcher

Confidence has nothing to do with what you look like. If you obsess over that, you'll end up being disappointed in yourself all the time. Instead, high self-esteem comes from how you feel in any moment. So walk into a room acting like you're in charge, and spend your energy on making the people around you happy.

- Marian Seldes

I grew up with low self-esteem. I didn't think I was very pretty. I had glasses, red hair and was generally quite a spod.

- Mark Gatiss

Realizing that we've surrendered our self-esteem to others and choosing to be accountable for our own self-worth would mean absorbing the terrifying fact that we're always vulnerable to pain and loss.

- Martha Beck

No one else can take risks for us, or face our losses on our behalf, or give us self-esteem. No one can spare us from life's slings and arrows, and when death comes, we meet it alone.

- Martha Beck

Money can be a reflection of our perceptions of power, self-esteem, personal history, fears, and happiness.

- Mary Pilon

Unhealthy eating habits cause major health problems, such as diabetes and heart disease, and can also lead to food insecurity, disrupted eating patterns, and low self-esteem.

- Matt Cartwright

A normal recession disrupts people's lives, but a long recession destroys them. You lose output, prosperity, family stability, self-esteem, and many other qualities on what looks to be a semi-permanent basis.

- Matthew Yglesias

Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-brake on.

- Maxwell Maltz

For a kid, self-esteem can be as close at hand as a sports victory or a sense of belonging in a peer group. It's a much more complicated and elusive proposition for adults, subject to the responsibilities and vicissitudes of grown-up life.

- Meghan Daum

Self-esteem, the kind that comes from finding the sweet spot between a healthy fondness for yourself and healthy self-skepticism, tends to get harder to come by the older we get.

- Meghan Daum

Self-righteousness, when you think about it, is a contra-indicator of self-esteem. It's what sets in when genuine righteousness eludes us.

- Meghan Daum

I was a kid who didn't have a lot of self-esteem.

- Melanie Lynskey

I can be a rock star with a television show and still have a self-esteem problem. So it's nice to have your dad go, 'Hey Melissa, I'm proud of you - you're doing good.'

- Melissa Etheridge

It's hard to give up the self-esteem connected to being codependent and appearing 'right,' which is probably a survival behavior learned from growing up in a crazy family. It feels like you will actually disappear.

- Melody Beattie

After a lifetime of feeling at home in my plus-size body, I was a 27-year-old having self-esteem issues. Clothes shopping stopped being fun and became a chore; I couldn't wear the curve-showing styles I loved without Spanx - and I worried that my new body would affect my training.

- Michelle Carter

People from both political parties have long recognized that welfare without work creates negative incentives that lead to permanent poverty. It robs people of self-esteem.

- Mitt Romney

Anger is a manifestation of a deeper issue... and that, for me, is based on insecurity, self-esteem and loneliness.

- Naomi Campbell

Most urgently, women's identity must be premised upon our 'beauty' so that we will remain vulnerable to outside approval, carrying the vital sensitive organ of self-esteem exposed to the air.

- Naomi Wolf

There is overwhelming evidence that the higher the level of self-esteem, the more likely one will be to treat others with respect, kindness, and generosity.

- Nathaniel Branden

Tell me how a person judges his or her self-esteem, and I will tell you how that person operates at work, in love, in sex, in parenting, in every important aspect of existence - and how high he or she is likely to rise. The reputation you have with yourself - your self-esteem - is the single most important factor for a fulfilling life.

- Nathaniel Branden

Self-esteem is a powerful force within each of us... Self-esteem is the experience that we are appropriate to life and to the requirements of life.

- Nathaniel Branden

Productive achievement is a consequence and an expression of health and self-esteem, not its cause.

- Nathaniel Branden

As a father, I believe that involving children in sports at a young age is generally, a wise proposition. I believe that healthy competition is... well... healthy; that sporting events foster a spirit of teamwork that far surpasses the events themselves; and that active participation keeps children moving and is good for their self-esteem.

- Naveen Jain

With women, the way they look... it's the core of their self-esteem.

- Nia Peeples

Spina bifida affects every single aspect of your life, from your child's self-esteem to your ability to sleep at night.

- Nicole Ari Parker

I am not someone who throws around the word 'self-esteem.' It is a fictional description.

- Nicolle Wallace

Although my marriage left me with three beautiful children, it also left me with a healthy dose of self-doubt, low self-esteem, and an extreme desire to be loved again. I was operating on empty, expecting to be paid in full.

- Niecy Nash

I wasn't a good-looking child. I got screwed out of the genetic deal. My sister looks like a model. I think that's why I'm a comic. I'm deeply insecure, since I was always feeling ugly. I wasn't a healthy child. I had poor self-esteem. That's why I need people's approval.

- Nikki Glaser

I would much rather be someone with high self-esteem and less funny.

- Nikki Glaser

I went through a lot of feelings of self-doubt and loss of self-esteem. I was particularly vulnerable after having my son. It was rough getting back on my feet in the business.

- Nina Tassler

I've had self-esteem issues for a really, really long time. Plenty of people think I'm ugly, and plenty of people don't. But there's a moment when I'm modeling where I forget about my self-esteem issues and focus on what the photographer's telling me - and I feel pretty. And in that sense, it's selfish.

- Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson

I emphasize self-esteem, self-confidence, and dignity, not as an ideal, but as a real test of community organization. Without leadership development, community organizations do not have staying power.

- Paul Wellstone

We've always been for women and for biggin' up their self-esteem. That's why we do songs like 'Independent.'

- Pepa

Barack Obama winning the election had an instant impact on everything - race relations, national self-esteem, tolerance. It also had an instant affect on 'Frost/Nixon.' At a stroke, instead of being a piece that reminded people of the agony they were in, it became an uplifting message about the agony they had escaped.

- Peter Morgan

I've talked to so many people, men and women alike, that get overweight and their self-esteem just goes in the tank. They think they're judged. They think they're unattractive.

- Phil McGraw

My family has reduced the effect of my career on my self-esteem. When I'm with them, they make me feel special regardless of how I play.

- Phil Mickelson

I think that we need to allow words to be words. If my self-esteem and my self-worth linger on words that are used to describe me, then you have a problem in itself.

- Philomena Kwao

I've never cheated or been cheated upon. I've seen my parents together and secure. So I feel the same way. Infidelity stems from low self-esteem. You want to cheat when you don't feel good about yourself.

- Preity Zinta

I really don't know how to be anyone else, and whenever I try to be anyone else, I fail miserably. Or I disappoint myself. It doesn't build my self-esteem, and it doesn't help me grow me at all.

- Queen Latifah

If we focus on our health, including our inner health, our self-esteem, and how we look at ourselves and our confidence level, we'll tend to be healthier people anyway, we'll tend to make better choices for our lives, for our bodies, we'll always be trying to learn more, and get better as time goes on.

- Queen Latifah

You are loved just for being who you are, just for existing. You don't have to do anything to earn it. Your shortcomings, your lack of self-esteem, physical perfection, or social and economic success - none of that matters. No one can take this love away from you, and it will always be here.

- Ram Dass

'My self-esteem,' 'my self-this,' 'my self-that.' Believe me, I've been there - I'm an actress. At one point, you just get nauseous with it and think, 'I have to take my mind off myself!'

- Raquel Welch

I have a day job where I make money and satisfy my self-esteem. Writing is for fun, and I want to keep it that way.

- Ravi Subramanian

It seems to be a common denominator with a lot of comics, this low self-esteem thing.

- Ray Romano

We are all good at things - a varied assortment of things - and we all desperately need to find out what those things are for our self-esteem. If there is anything young people need, it is confidence and an identity and a purpose.

- Renee Elise Goldsberry

I always had a separate life than just my work. I built my own family. I have my own hobbies and interests. I have a ranch with livestock and horses. I didn't always get my self-esteem and identity from acting. I never worked unless I wanted to. I never did anything just to do it, just for the paycheck. I always did things that I liked.

- Ricky Schroder

Compared with other recent presidents whose stumbles and failures have assaulted the national self-esteem, memories of Kennedy continue to give the country faith that its better days are ahead. That's been reason enough to discount his limitations and remain enamored of his presidential performance.

- Robert Dallek

Evidence suggests jobs are crucial not only to economic well-being but also to self-esteem.

- Robert Reich

It's always at the back of my mind that acting might come to an end for me when Harry Potter finishes. I don't know if I'm good enough to have a long career. I've got a bit of an inferiority complex about my acting. My self-esteem is quite low in that sense.

- Rupert Grint

I think I finally overcame my self-esteem and confidence issues at around 20.

- Rupi Kaur

You can be cocky and confident, but when you start developing feelings for someone, suddenly your self-esteem drops a bit.

- Russell Tovey

I'm shy at public speaking, which is tough.

- Ruth Negga

Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish.

- Sam Walton

Adversity, and perseverance and all these things can shape you. They can give you a value and a self-esteem that is priceless.

- Scott Hamilton

Judging by informal observation, most young Americans burn up their spare time buffing their emotional IQ and self-esteem with social media and non-stop texting. That's great for eye-thumb coordination, but what about the satisfaction of actually making something?

- Seth Shostak

Assertiveness is not what you do, it's who you are!

- Shakti Gawain

It's very validating when you are new in the industry to get awards. It boosts your self-esteem.

- Sheena Easton

I am trying to inspire people to just take control of their oral health, because if we don't take care of our oral health, it affects so many different aspects of our lives. If your smile and mouth is not together, it affects your relationship, your self-esteem, your health.

- Sherri Shepherd

I used to take it personally when a casting director didn't like me or I didn't get picked for something. Now I realize you can't do that. It'll mess with your self-esteem. Don't take rejection overly personally. If that doesn't work out, there's something else waiting for you.

- Sierra McCormick

As actors, we tend to usually have some issues with self-esteem and some need for validation, and it takes awhile for that fear of not having a job to go away.

- Simon Helberg

Shoes are a neutral blessing for us because feet generally aren't regarded as a place where the battle for self-esteem is won or lost. Feet don't change size when the body does through the natural ageing process.

- Simon Van Booy

We all put obstacles in our own path toward personal style, myself included. If we understood why we constructed these practical and emotional obstacles, we might move beyond it to healthier, happier perceptions of ourselves and, ideally, a better sense of self-esteem.

- Stacy London

Self-esteem doesn't come simply from dressing well, but they are both something we can control. It's a missed opportunity when women say they don't have the money, figure, etc., because style is such a way to help cultivate the way women feel about themselves.

- Stacy London

Your self-esteem won't come from body parts. You need to step away from the mirror every once in a while, and look for another reflection, like the one in the eyes of the people who love you and admire you.

- Stacy London

I think fashion is repulsive. The whole idea that someone else can make clothing that is supposed to be in style and make other people look good is ridiculous. It sickens me to think that there is an industry that plays to the low self-esteem of the general public. I would like the fashion industry to collapse.

- Steve Albini

Being a vegan just helps me build up my self-esteem. I feel good about it every time I eat a meal.

- Steve-O

Initially, my decision to stop eating meat was motivated by fear of spiritual consequences, but right away I found that not eating meat made me feel good about myself. It increased my self-esteem, which I found so rewarding, I wanted to do more.

- Steve-O

I think if you exercise, your state of mind - my state of mind - is usually more at ease, ready for more mental challenges. Once I get the physical stuff out of the way it always seems like I have more calmness and better self-esteem.

- Stone Gossard

If I am to choose two words that best describes myself, they are 'self-esteem' and 'guts.' Guts helped me become a global model.

- Sung Jin Park

Most of the people of this world are coated round and round with self-esteem, and they're afraid to admit any understanding of the things which aren't good.

- Susan Glaspell

There is power in having a friend group because you have this bond that helps you navigate girl world, and it creates safety and self-esteem. But if you speak up to the leader, you risk that social isolation or not having a group and feeling really left out.

- Taylor Louderman

I enjoy my public speaking. That's what I love doing. It's what I'm good at.

- Terry Bradshaw

Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment.

- Thomas Carlyle

Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one's self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily.

- Thomas Szasz

I don't think it's a good attitude in your life to feel that you have to be rich to have self-esteem.

- Tom Petty

When I was 19 years old, I came down with anorexia. I had it for about a year before it became public. And it had a lot to do with my self-esteem.

- Tracey Gold

Women with low self-esteem love bad boys. Women who have work to do love bad boys. Women who love themselves love good men.

- Tracy McMillan

Happiness is definitely a priority in our household. That the kids are happy and everybody is comfortable. Self-esteem is very important.

- Tracy Pollan

I didn't have a job because nobody would hire me. My friends were getting hired, and I couldn't even get a job interview. That really rocked my self-esteem because I didn't understand what I did wrong on those job applications.

- Tyra Banks

I suffered from low self-esteem for much of my life. And now to feel like maybe something that I'm projecting or saying could mean something to someone means a lot to me.

- Viola Davis

Slobodan Milosevic was just as smart as a five-year-old. Five-year-olds have an uncanny way of getting into your psyche, your self-esteem.

- Wesley Clark

I did some pretty embarrassing modeling, like catalogs and QVC. I know there's probably a stereotype where all pretty girls think they're unattractive, but modeling is the worst thing for your self-esteem, because you're never pretty enough, you're never thin enough.

- Whitney Cummings

For some reason, all artists have self-esteem issues.

- Whoopi Goldberg

When you go through a traumatic event, there's a lot of shame that comes with that. A lot of loss of self-esteem. That can become debilitating.

- Willie Aames

You can't let someone else lower your self-esteem, because that's what it is - self-esteem. You need to first love yourself before you have anybody else love you.

- Winnie Harlow

I grew up in the South, in New Orleans, where guys torture you all the time. So I didn't really grow up on the self-esteem campaign. When you were lousy at something, they told you you were lousy, and they told you how to fix it.

- Wynton Marsalis

I think ballet has influenced my personality a lot in the sense that I am very disciplined in all of my endeavours. I am always on time; I take things very seriously. I've built up my inner strength and self-esteem over time as I've improved as a dancer.

- Yuan Yuan Tan