Overconfidence Quotes

• A certain death of an artist is overconfidence.

  Robin Trower

  Artist, Certain Death, Certain

  60 Copy quote

• Incompetence annoys me. Overconfidence terrifies me.

  Malcolm Gladwell

  Annoying, Incompetence

  "Gladwell packs UTC venue". www.timesfreepress.com. October 6, 2010.

  18 Copy quote

  Show source

• Doubt is often better than overconfidence, for it leads to inquiry, and inquiry leads to invention.

  Hudson Maxim

  Doubt, Inquiry, Invention

  10 Copy quote

• ... overconfidence in one's own ability is the root of much evil. Vanity, egoism, is the deadliest of all characteristics. This vanity, combined with extreme ignorance of conditions the knowledge of which is the very A B C of business and of life, produces more shipwrecks and heartaches than any other part of our mental make-up.

  Alice Foote MacDougall

  Business, Ignorance, Roots

  17 Copy quote

• Courage is willingness to take the risk once you know the odds. Optimistic overconfidence means you are taking the risk because you don't know the odds. It's a big difference.

  Daniel Kahneman

  Optimistic, Mean, Odds

  16 Copy quote

• Overconfidence comes from fear and doubt, and you boast an ego when you're feeling less than.

  Nikki Sixx

  Ego, Feelings, Doubt

  13 Copy quote

• The illusion that we understand the past fosters overconfidence in our ability to predict the future.

  Daniel Kahneman

  Past, Illusion, Ability

  Daniel Kahneman (2011). “Thinking, Fast and Slow”, p.248, Macmillan

  55 Copy quote

  Show source

• Doubt is not the enemy of justice; overconfidence is.

  Carol Tavris

  Justice, Doubt, Enemy

  12 Copy quote

• Overconfidence is a powerful source of illusions, primarily determined by the quality and coherence of the story that you can construct, not by its validity.

  Daniel Kahneman

  Powerful, Quality, Stories

  "Kahneman and Klein on strategic decisions: When can you trust your gut?". Interview with Gary Klein, bobmorris.biz. September 25, 2016.

  31 Copy quote

  Show source

• Sometimes its difficult to accept, to recognise ones own mistakes, but one must do it. I was guilty of overconfidence and arrogance, and I was punished for that.

  Mikhail Gorbachev

  Mistake, Arrogance, Sometimes

  4 Copy quote

• Self esteem is not the same as being self centered, self absorbed or selfish. Self esteem is also not complacency or overconfidence, both of which and set us up for failure. Self esteem is a strong motivator to work hard. Self esteem is related to mental health and happiness.

  Glenn R. Schiraldi

  Strong, Self Esteem, Selfish

  7 Copy quote

• Incompetence is certainty in the absence of expertise. Overconfidence is certainty in the presence of expertise.

  Malcolm Gladwell

  Absence, Incompetence, Certainty

  5 Copy quote

• I'm very confident in what I do, but I'd like to think I don't ever show any kind of cockiness or overconfidence.

  David Wright

  Thinking, Kind, Cockiness

  6 Copy quote

• To a winner, complacency and overconfidence can be destructive. To losers, desperation and despondency are just as harmful.

  Bill Walsh

  Softball, Sports, Motivation

  15 Copy quote

• I don't think there is a thing like overconfidence in chess. It's always better to be too confident than too reluctant.

  Magnus Carlsen

  Thinking, Chess, Reluctant

  Source: www.esquire.com

  34 Copy quote

  Show source

• In strategic decisions, I'd be really concerned about overconfidence.

  Daniel Kahneman

  Decision, Concerned, Strategic

  "Kahneman and Klein on strategic decisions: When can you trust your gut?". Interview with Gary Klein, bobmorris.biz. September 25, 2016.

  10 Copy quote

  Show source

• People exaggerate their confidence in their plans - something we call the planning fallacy... The existence of the plan tends to induce overconfidence.

  Daniel Kahneman

  Confidence, People, Planning

  9 Copy quote

• Every woman knows what I'm talking about. It’s the presumption that makes it hard, at times, for any woman in any field; that keeps women from speaking up and from being heard when they dare; that crushes young women into silence by indicating, the way harassment on the street does, that this is not their world. It trains us in self-doubt and self-limitation just as it exercises men’s unsupported overconfidence.

  Rebecca Solnit

  Crush, Exercise, Men

  "Tomgram: Rebecca Solnit, The Archipelago of Arrogance". www.tomdispatch.com. April 13, 2008.

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• That's one of the real dangers of leader selection in many organizations: leaders are selected for overconfidence.

  Daniel Kahneman

  Real, Organization, Leader

  "Kahneman and Klein on strategic decisions: When can you trust your gut?". Interview with Gary Klein, bobmorris.biz. September 25, 2016.

  14 Copy quote

  Show source

• There's a lot of overconfidence about this bill. We're going to expose it. It will not pass.

  Jeff Sessions

  Immigration, Bills, Immigration Reform

  4 Copy quote

• In their leaders, advisers, and experts, people much prefer overconfidence, total certainty, to any kind of doubt.

  Michael Lewis

  People, Leader, Doubt

  Source: www.businessinsider.com

  6 Copy quote

  Show source

• The hedge fund known as "Long Term Capital Management" collapsed last fall through overconfidence in its highly leveraged methods, despite I.Q.'s of its principals that must have averaged 160. Smart people aren't exempt from professional disasters from overconfidence. Often, they just run aground in the more difficult voyages they choose, relying on their self-appraisals that they have superior talents and methods.

  Charlie Munger

  Running, Smart, Fall

  15 Copy quote

• Except for some effects that I attribute mostly to age, my intuitive thinking is just as prone to overconfidence, extreme predictions, and the planning fallacy as it was before I made a study of these issues.

  Daniel Kahneman

  Thinking, Issues, Age

  Daniel Kahneman (2011). “Thinking, Fast and Slow”, p.475, Macmillan

  13 Copy quote

  Show source