Self-doubt Quotes

• And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.

  Sylvia Plath

  Life, Sad, Writing

  Sylvia Plath (2013). “The Journals of Sylvia Plath”, p.85, Anchor

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• The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.

  Sylvia Plath

  Inspirational, Life, Beautiful

  Sylvia Plath (2007). “The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath”, p.545, Anchor

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• Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.

  William Shakespeare

  Inspirational, Life, Success

  William Shakespeare (1838). “The Pictorial edition of the works of Shakspere, ed. by C. Knight. [8 vols., including a vol. entitled William Shakspere, by C. Knight].”, p.281

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• We can either watch life from the sidelines, or actively participate... Either we let self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy prevent us from realising our potential, or embrace the fact that when we turn our attention away from ourselves, our potential is limitless.

  Christopher Reeve

  Inspirational, Inspiring, Self

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• If you don't have some self doubts and fears when you pursue a dream, then you haven't dreamed big enough.

  Joe Vitale

  Inspirational, Dream, Self

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• Don't regret the past or fear the future. Both bring misery through self-doubt.

  Deepak Chopra

  Regret, Past, Self

  Deepak Chopra, Rudolph E. Tanzi (2012). “Super Brain: Unleashing the explosive power of your mind to maximize health, happiness and spiritual well-being”, p.54, Random House

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• The greater the artist, the greater the doubt; perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize.

  Robert Hughes

  Inspirational, Motivational, Art

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• Chronic self-doubt is a symptom of the core belief, 'I'm not good enough.' We adopt these types of limiting beliefs in response to our family and childhood experiences, and they become rooted in the subconscious... we have the ability to take action to override it.

  Lauren Mackler

  Self, Not Good Enough, Childhood

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  No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

  Eleanor Roosevelt

  Inspirational, Motivational, Happiness

  Quoted in Vidette-Messenger (Valparaiso, Ind.), 7 June 1941 See Channing 1

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• Fame is hollow. It amplifies what is there. If there is any self-doubt, or hatred, or lack of ability to connect with people, fame will magnify it.

  Alanis Morissette

  Self, People, Hatred

  "This much I know: Alanis Morissette" by Kerry Potter, www.theguardian.com. August 25, 2012.

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• Any work looks wonderful to me except the one which I can do.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Looks, Wonderful, Can Do

  Ralph Waldo Emerson (1960). “The Journals”

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• The only virtue on which I pride myself is my self-doubt; when a writer loses her self-doubt, the time has come to lay aside her pen.

  Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

  Pride, Self, Doubt

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• Whenever you're making a movie, especially when you're writing, you always have self-doubts.

  George Lucas

  Writing, Self, Doubt

  "Cinematic Phenomenon". Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. June 19, 1999.

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• Are you paralyzed with fear? That’s a good sign. Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember one rule of thumb: the more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.

  Steven Pressfield

  Motivational, Self, Doubt

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• Someone's opinion of you does not have to become your reality.

  Les Brown

  Inspirational, Motivational, Encouraging

  "Conversations on Success".

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• We usually look outside ourselves for heroes and teachers. It has not occurred to most people that they may already be the role model they seek. The wholeness they are looking for may be trapped within themselves by beliefs, attitudes, and self-doubt. But our wholeness exists in us now. Trapped though it may be, it can be called upon for guidance, direction, and most fundamentally, comfort. It can be remembered. Eventually we may come to live by it.

  Rachel Naomi Remen

  Teacher, Attitude, Hero

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  I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

  Thomas A. Edison

  Inspirational, Funny, Motivational

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• The greater the artist, the greater the doubt.

  Robert Hughes

  Artist, Doubt, Inspirational Art

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• The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.

  James M. Barrie

  Inspirational, Motivational, Inspiring

  James M. Barrie (2013). “The Little White Bird (Annotated Edition)”, p.85, Jazzybee Verlag

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• You can either waltz boldly onto the stage of life and live the way you know your spirit is nudging you to, or you can sit quietly by the wall, receding into the shadows of fear and self doubt.

  Oprah Winfrey

  Wall, Self, Doubt

  Oprah Winfrey (2014). “What I Know For Sure”, p.4, Macmillan

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  If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined...

  Henry David Thoreau

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  "Walden". Book by Henry David Thoreau, 1854.

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• I don't believe anyone ever suspects how completely unsure I am of my work and myself and what tortures of self-doubting the doubt of others has always given me.

  Tennessee Williams

  Believe, Self, Doubt

  Tennessee Williams, Albert J. Devlin, Nancy Marie Patterson Tischler (2002). “The Selected Letters of Tennessee Williams: 1920-1945”, p.341, New Directions Publishing

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• Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.

  Henry Ford

  Motivational, Success, Business

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• The worst thing about that kind of prejudice... is that while you feel hurt and angry and all the rest of it, it feeds you self-doubt. You start thinking, perhaps I am not good enough.

  Nina Simone

  Hurt, Thinking, Self

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• A total absence of self-doubt is the first sign of insanity.

  Sandy Woodward

  Self, Insanity, Doubt

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