Life can be tough. And it’s even tougher to face challenges when you don’t feel good about yourself. That’s exactly why we do our best to help our students feel strong and prepared for the obstacles they’ll face. Feel like everyone could use a little boost? Here are some quotes about confidence to share in the classroom.
Quotes About Confidence by Historical Figures
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. —Eleanor Roosevelt
We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face … we must do that which we think we cannot. —Eleanor Roosevelt
You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do. —Eleanor Roosevelt
With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world. —The Dalai Lama
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
Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. —Winston Churchill
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 must be attained. —Marie Curie
Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye. —Helen Keller
Only the person who has faith in himself is able to be faithful to others. —Erich Fromm
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. —Helen Keller
If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves. —Thomas Edison
Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can. —Paul Tournier
Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think. —Benjamin Disraeli
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
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
Success is most often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable. —Coco Chanel
If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. —Abraham Lincoln
I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence, but it comes from within. It is there all the time. —Anna Freud
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
Your success will be determined by your own confidence and fortitude. —Michelle Obama
Quotes About Confidence by Artists
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
We all have our limitations, but when we listen to our critics, we also have theirs. —Robert Breault
Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. —Paulo Coelho
Quotes About Confidence by Authors
Accept who you are; and revel in it. —Mitch Albom
It generally happens that assurance keeps an even pace with ability. —Samuel Johnson
Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit. —E.E. Cummings
I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it. —Maya Angelou
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
The greatest mistake you can make in life is continually fearing that you’ll make one. —Elbert Hubbard
Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape. —Bell Hooks
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
Humor comes from self-confidence. —Rita Mae Brown
The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it. —J. M. Barrie
Anyone who ever gave you confidence, you owe them a lot. —Truman Capote
Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings. —Samuel Johnson
The more validation I need, the less discernment I have. —Kurt Hanks
It is best to act with confidence, no matter how little right you have to it. —Lillian Hellman
It’s not the lack of ability or opportunity that holds you back; it is only a lack of confidence in yourself. —Richard Monckton Milnes
Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you. —Ralph Waldo Emerson
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. —Ralph Waldo Emerson
If I have lost confidence in myself, I have the universe against me. —Ralph Waldo Emerson
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
If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. —Nora Roberts
As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live. —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship. —Louisa May Alcott
Skill and confidence are an unconquered army. —George Herbert
As is our confidence, so is our capacity. —William Hazlitt
Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy. —Dale Carnegie
We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are. —Anais Nin
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
Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth. —Rumi
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
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
Learning too soon our limitations, we never learn our powers. —Mignon McLaughlin
Once you become self-conscious, there is no end to it; once you start to doubt, there is no room for anything else. —Mignon McLaughlin
The confidence which we have in ourselves gives birth to much of that which we have in others. —Francois de la Rochefoucauld
Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they’re yours.—Richard Bach
To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance. —Oscar Wilde
Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance. —Bruce Barton
Quotes About Confidence by Philosophers
Because one believes in oneself, one doesn’t try to convince. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn’t need others’ approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her. —Laozi
Kindness in words creates confidence. —Laozi
You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection. —Buddha
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
The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself. —Michel de Montaigne
Confidence is directness and courage in meeting the facts of life. —John Dewey
It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us, as the confidence of their help. —Epicurus
Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks in great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself. —Cicero
Quotes About Confidence by Celebrities
Don’t waste your energy trying to change opinions. … Do your thing, and don’t care if they like it. —Tina Fey
Always be yourself—express yourself, have faith in yourself. Do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it. —Bruce Lee
One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation. —Arthur Ashe
Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. —Christopher Robin
It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else’s eyes. —Sally Field
You have no control over other people’s taste, so focus on staying true to your own. —Tim Gunn
Of all our infirmities, the most savage is to despise our being. —Michel de Montaigne
One’s self-image is very important because if that’s in good shape, then you can do anything, or practically anything. —John Gielgud
Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world. —Lucille Ball
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
Quotes About Confidence by Athletes
Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. —John Wooden
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
You’ve got to take the initiative and play your game. In a decisive set, confidence is the difference. —Chris Evert
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
When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things. —Joe Namath
Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work. —Jack Nicklaus
Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence. —Vince Lombardi
Other Quotes About Confidence
Trust yourself—you know more than you think you do. —Benjamin Spock
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
A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him. —David Brinkley
You can have anything you want if you are willing to give up the belief that you can’t have it. —Robert Anthony
With confidence, you have won before you have started. —Marcus Garvey
Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result but the cause of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all. —Norman Vincent Peale
Control your own destiny or someone else will. —Jack Welch
I quit being afraid when my first venture failed and the sky didn’t fall down. —Al Neuharth
It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves. —Edmund Hillary
First thing every morning before you arise, say out loud, I believe. —Norman Vincent Peale
The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely. —C.G. Jung
Come share your favorite quotes about confidence for students in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook!
And if you like these quotes about confidence, check out these team-building quotes for classrooms and schools.
