Confidence is the one ingredient that’s present in almost all success stories. Without the self-belief that you can achieve your goals, you never will.
But more than that – developing confidence is incredibly important for finding inner peace.
When we have a general sense of well-being that no matter what we do, things are going to be okay, this inclines us to face our fears and take on challenges. It motivates us to step outside of our comfort zone and realize our full potential.
On the other hand, lack of confidence can wreak havoc on our lives. When we lack confidence, we’re less engaged in social interactions. We’re more anxious and on-edge about our future. We’re more likely to fall victim to procrastination and laziness.
Confidence is a meta-skill with far-reaching impacts on several areas of our life. So if you’re feeling a little lost due to lack of self-confidence, here’s a list of confidence quotes to help you nurture belief in your own abilities.
Quotes About Building Self-Confidence
How do we learn how to develop confidence? Well, a good place to start is by reading books about self-confidence that teach you how to develop the skill.
But you can heed the words of people who’ve had their own struggles with low self-confidence, as the lessons they’ve picked up will likely apply to your life.
Here’s an extensive list of confidence quotes with insight into what it takes to develop unshakeable faith in your own abilities.
- “When you have a lot of confidence and you feel like nobody can beat you, it’s game over for everyone else.” ~ Jason Day
- “Confidence comes from hours and days and weeks and years of constant work and dedication.” ~ Robert Staubach
- When you’re in the habit of keeping promises you make with yourself, you’re on the pathway to self confidence.” ~ Ed Mylett quote
- “Confidence is when you believe in yourself and your abilities, arrogance is when you think you are better than others and act accordingly.” ~ Stewart Stafford
- “Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear.” ~ Norman Vincent Peale
- “Successful people often exude confidence – it’s obvious that they believe in themselves and what they’re doing. It isn’t their success that makes them confident, however. The confidence was there first.” ~ Travis Bradberry
- “Confidence comes from knowing what you’re doing. If you are prepared for something, you usually do it. If not, you usually fall flat on your face.” ~ Tom Landry
- “I taught myself confidence. When I’d walk into a room and feel scared to death, I’d tell myself, ‘I’m not afraid of anybody.’ And people believed me. You’ve got to teach yourself to take over the world.” ~ Priyanka Chopra Jonas
- “Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.” ~ E.E. Cummings
- “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “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 Hanses
- “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
- “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
- “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
- “You can have anything you want if you are willing to give up the belief that you can’t have it.” ~ Robert Anthony
- “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
- “The more you repeat to yourself that you can do it, the more that path will be grooved in your mind.” ~ Maxime Lagacé
- “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” ~ Muhammad Ali
- “As long as you look for someone else to validate who you are by seeking their approval, you are setting yourself up for disaster. You have to be whole and complete in yourself. No one can give you that. You have to know who you are – what others say is irrelevant.” ~ Nic Sheff
- “Believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart.” ~ Steve Jobs
- “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage, and confidence in the doing.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt
- “A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves obscure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort.” ~ Sydney Smith
- “If you develop the absolute sense of certainty that powerful beliefs provide, then you can get yourself to accomplish virtually anything, including those things that other people are certain are impossible.” ~ Tony Robbins
- “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
Short Confidence Quotes
Enjoying this list of quotes so far? Then you may also enjoy these quotes about confident women or this powerful collection of you are stronger than you think quotes.
If you’d just prefer to keep reading, then here’s some more short confidence quotes that will inspire you to live boldly.
- “Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.” ~ Vince Lombardi
- “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right.” ~ Henry Ford
- “You are the only person on earth who can use your ability.” ~ Zig Ziglar
- “Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment.” ~ Thomas Carlyle
- “It’s better to do something badly than to not do it at all.” ~ Jordan Peterson
- “Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.” ~ Benjamin Spock
- “You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.” ~ Michael Jordan
- “If you put a small value on yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price.” ~ Anonymous
- “Self-belief is not self-centered. We can only fight effectively for others if we already believe in ourselves.” ~ Carla H. Krueger
- “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” ~ Mark Twain
- “Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can.” ~ Paul Tournier
- “If you don’t ask, the answer is always no.” ~ Nora Roberts
- “Skill and confidence are an unconquered army.” ~ George Herbert
- “If you believe it will work out, you’ll see opportunities. If you believe it won’t you will see obstacles.” ~ Wayne Dyer
- “You don’t have to have it all figured out to move forward.” ~ Harvey Specter
- “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” ~ Anais Nin quote
- “Arrogance is loud, confidence is quiet.” ~ James Pierce
- “Courage is the birthplace of confidence.” ~ Debbie Millman
- “As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Experience tells you what to do; confidence allows you to do it.” ~ Stan Smith
- “You are constantly invited to be what you are.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Someone else’s success doesn’t equal a failure for you.” ~ Joe Rogan
- “Confidence is believing in yourself. Arrogance is believing only in yourself.” ~ Daniel Pink
- “Get more confidence by doing the things that excite and frighten you.” ~ Jessica Williams
- “Always remember that you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” ~ Christopher Robin
- “To win, all you need to do is get up one more time than you fall down.” ~ Anonymous
Wise Quotes On Confidence And Happiness
There’s an undeniable link between your level of happiness and your level of confidence. Just like confidence, happiness is a choice.
We have the choice between an empty life and a purposeful life. Choosing a purposeful life takes confidence and self-belief.
Do we stay home or force ourselves to the gym? Do we approach that guy/girl at the bar or stay close to our friends? Do we start that business or continue to slug our way through the 9-5 that we hate?
Confidence is about choosing the unknown and the scary over the predictable and the secure. And as it turns out, your level of happiness and inner peace depends upon that same choice.
Here’s a list of confidence quotes that talk about the relationship between self-confidence and happiness.
- “Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks in great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself.” ~ Cicero
- “Confidence isn’t optimism or pessimism, and it’s not a character attribute. It’s the expectation of a positive outcome.” ~ Rosabeth Moss Kanter
- “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
- “Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.” ~ Golda Meir
- “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” ~ Anais Nin
- “If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.” ~ Thomas Edison
- “The greatest mistake you can make in life is continually fearing that you’ll make one.” ~ Elbert Hubbard
- “Confidence is that magic pill that makes you instantly better in everything you do.” ~ Gal Shapira
- “Your confidence in your own voice will carry over into all other aspects of your life.” ~ Eileen Rose Giadone
- “When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things.” ~ Joe Namath
- “Confident people feel good about themselves already, so they spend their time making others feel good.” ~ Beau Norton
- “Without the confidence to act, few will venture down a new path, no matter how clear the roadmap.” ~ W. Chan Kim
- “It’s all in your head. You have the power to make things seem hard or easy or even amusing. The choice is yours.” ~ Seneca
- “Lack of confidence, sometimes alternating with unrealistic dreams of heroic success, often leads to procrastination, and many studies suggest that procrastinators are self-handicappers: rather than risk failure, they prefer to create conditions that make success impossible, a reflex that of course creates a vicious cycle.” ~ James Surowiecki
- “Your fears of the consequences of a bold action are way out of proportion to reality, and in fact the consequences of timidity are worse.” ~ Robert Greene
- “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
- “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 the inside out.” ~ Alan Cohen
- “Confidence is at the root of so many attractive qualities, a sense of humor, a sense of style, a willingness to be who you are no matter what anyone else might think or say …” ~ Wentworth Miller
- “Shyness has a strange element of narcissism, a belief that how we look, how we perform, is truly important to other people.” ~ Andre Dubus
Confidence Quotes For Men
Guys – confidence is paramount to getting what you want from life. The perfect body, your dream girl, a career you can be proud of – all of these pursuits will never come to fruition in you don’t believe in yourself.
Here are some confidence quotes for the dudes out there looking to level up their confidence.
Feel free to also check out this list of motivational quotes for men as well!
- “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
- “A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.” ~ Mark Twain
- “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 up 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.” ~ Mahatama Gandhi
- “A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” ~ David Brinkley
- “I think that the power is the principle. The principle of moving forward, as though you have the confidence to move forward, eventually gives you confidence when you look back and see what you’ve done.” ~ Robert Downey Jr.
- “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
- “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
- “No matter what life throws at you, remain calm and confident that you will handle it and emerge victorious.” ~ Tristan Tate quote
- “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
- “Action is a high road to self-confidence and self-esteem.” ~ Bruce Lee
- “Your desire for what you want just has to be greater than your fear of it. That’s all.” ~ Neil Strauss
- “There can be no failure to a man who has not lost his courage, his character, his self-respect, or his self-confidence. He is still a King.” ~ Orison Swett Marden
- “The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” ~ Ayn Rand
- “Man often becomes what he believes himself to be.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
- “Search and you will find that at the base and birth of every great business organization was an enthusiast, man consumed with an earnestness of purpose, with confidence in his power, with faith in the worthwhileness of his endeavors.” ~ B.C. Forbes
- “I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.” ~ Marcus Aurelius
- “The more you seek the uncomfortable the more you will become comfortable.” ~ Conor McGregor
- “The world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going.” ~ James Allen
- “What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates his fate.” ~ Henry David Thoreau
- “The man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he is justly entitled.” ~ Andrew Carnegie
Confidence Quotes For Women
Let’s keep this list rolling with some more badass quotes for the women reading this who want to level up their confidence.
Feel free to also check out this list of quotes about confident women for further motivation.
- “The most beautiful thing you can wear is confidence.” ~ Blake Lively
- “Doubt can motivate you, so don’t be afraid of it. Confidence and doubt are at two ends of the scale, and you need both. They balance each other out.” ~ Barbara Streisand
- “Confidence is one of the sexiest things in guys and girls.” ~ Danica Mckellar
- “I never had confidence – never. The hardest thing to know is your own worth, and it took me years and years to find out what mine is.” ~ Peggy Lipton
- “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
- “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
- “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” ~ Helen Keller
- “Don’t waste your energy trying to change opinions … Do your thing, and don’t care if they like it.” ~ Tina Fey
- “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
- “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” ~ Lucille Ball
- “Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.” ~ Brené Brown
- “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
- “Confidence comes with maturity, being more accepting of yourself.” ~ Nicole Scherzinger
- “Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow.” ~ Carrie Fisher
- “It is best to act with confidence, no matter how little right you have to it.” ~ Lillian Hellman
- “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” ~ Lucille Ball
- “The more we refuse to buy into our inner critics – and our external ones too – the easier it will get to have confidence in our choices, and to feel comfortable with who we are – as women and as mothers.” ~ Arianna Huffington
Final Thoughts
We’ve reached the end of this giant list of confidence quotes – hopefully some of them resonated with you!
All of the things that we truly desire from life lie on the other side of fear.
And what does it take to move past our fears? Unshakeable confidence.
In high school, I was by far the hardest worker on the freshman basketball team. I’d be in the gym at 5 a.m. before school training my skills while everyone else was in bed.
I was a pretty solid basketball player. But the one thing I lacked? Confidence.
When defenders put pressure on me, I’d routinely shrink up and get the ball stolen from me. I’d make stupid passes and turn the ball over like clockwork. All of the skills that I’d worked so hard to develop didn’t matter because from the moment I stopped on the court, I was afraid.
The result? I was never more than a bench player on the freshman team and got cut from the junior varsity team the next year – that’s despite putting in more work than any other team members combined.
That’s the power of belief. When it’s time to perform, the only thing that matters is whether or not you believe in your ability to deliver. If you don’t believe in yourself, you’ll routinely shrink from the moment and spend the rest of your life playing small.
Opportunities will pass you by and your life will become stagnant. You may make a little progress here and there, but without confidence you’ll struggle to truly reinvent yourself.
So start taking action. Get out of your comfort zone. Take some risks. Voluntarily expose yourself to the things that you’re afraid of. Use these confidence quotes as fuel to start taking ownership of your life.
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