170 Self Esteem Quotes On Building Confidence And Self-Worth

These self-esteem quotes will inspire you to love yourself for who you really are.

How we speak to ourselves is how we see ourselves, and sometimes, we need new examples of how our inner conversation should go.

Share your favorite self-esteem comment with us in the comment section below.

What Are The Benefits Of Reading These Self-Esteem Quotes?

At one point or another, we will all need a self-esteem boost!

That motivation can be both internal and external.

But it’s something that we must continually work at.

People who have an empowered self-image will have a greater understanding of the world and their connection to it.

How do you define self-esteem?

Well, according to Webster, self-esteem is “confidence and satisfaction in oneself.”

Always keep your emphasis on the “satisfaction with oneself” so you can learn to love yourself for who you are in the present.

To help you love yourself better, below is our collection of inspirational, wise, and uplifting self-esteem quotes, self-esteem sayings, and self-esteem proverbs collected from a variety of sources over the years.

Research has shown that when we boost our confidence, we become:

• kinder
• more loving
• more compassionate

Confidence and self-esteem are all directly connected to our ability to give and receive love.

When there is more love in the world, the world literally changes!

And by doing so, even the amount we donate to charity increases!

Here is our latest collection of uplifting self-esteem quotes to boost your self-esteem.

If you enjoy this article, check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily motivation. 

If you want more motivational quotes, check out our motivational quotes category page.

Self-Esteem Quotes To Boost Your Confidence For Any Occasion

1. “To love yourself right now, just as you are, is to give yourself heaven. Don’t wait until you die. If you wait, you die now. If you love, you live now.” – Alan Cohen

2. “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

3. “You can have anything you want if you are willing to give up the belief that you can’t have it.” – Dr. Robert Anthony

4. “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” – Sir Edmund Hillary

5. “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” – Oscar Wilde

6. “I had to grow to love my body. I did not have a good self-image at first. Finally it occurred to me, I’m either going to love me or hate me. And I chose to love myself. Then everything kind of sprung from there. Things that I thought weren’t attractive became sexy. Confidence makes you sexy.”  – Queen Latifah

7. “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” – Buddha

8. “Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” – Oprah

9. “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

10. “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.” – Marianne Williamson

Inspirational Self-Esteem Quotes About Building Your Confidence

11. “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

12. “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” – Helen Keller (see more quotes by Helen Keller)

13. “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” – Thomas Jefferson

14. “Confidence is a habit that can be developed by acting as if you already had the confidence you desire to have.” – Brian Tracy

15. “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

16. “You are blessed and highly favored.” – Les Brown

17. “Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.” – Peter T. McIntyre

18. “Never bend your head. Hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.” – Helen Keller

19. “I don’t entirely approve of some of the things I have done, or am, or have been. But I’m me. God knows, I’m me.” – Elizabeth Taylor

20. “If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.” – T. Harv Eker

Self-Esteem Quotes About Perseverance And Confidence

21. “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

22. “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 inside out.” – Alan Cohen

23. “Love yourself and love those around you. Take care of yourself and take care of those around you. Lead by example. Give love. Be a part of everything that is great in the world, and in turn there is more love and greatness in the world! Change the world!” – Jeffrey I. Moore

24. “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”― Sharon Salzberg

25. “Confidence is knowing who you are and not changing it a bit because of someone’s version of reality is not your reality.”― Shannon L. Alder

26. “I am beginning to measure myself in strength, not pounds. Sometimes in smiles.”― Laurie Halse Anderson

27. “You’re always with yourself, so you might as well enjoy the company.”― Diane Von Furstenberg

28. “The best lightning rod for your protection is your own spine.”― Ralph Waldo Emerson

29. “At the core of your heart, you are perfect and pure. No one and nothing can alter that.”― Amit Ray

30. “If you want to find the real competition, just look in the mirror. After awhile you’ll see your rivals scrambling for second place.”― Criss Jami

Self-Esteem Quotes To Make You Strong

31. “I am my own experiment. I am my own work of art.”― Madonna

32. “Nobody holds a good opinion of a man who holds a low opinion of himself.”― Anthony Trollope

33. “I never loved another person the way I loved myself.”― Mae West

34. “Believe in yourself up here and it will make you stronger than you could ever imagine.”― Sarah Dessen

35. “You’ve been criticising yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.”― Louise Hay

36. “One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.”― Shannon L. Alder

37. “The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.”― Michel de Montaigne

38. “There are so many more important things to worry about than how you’re perceived by strangers.”― Dennis Lehane

39. “At every given moment we are absolutely perfect for what is required for our journey.”― Steve Maraboli

40. “Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself.”― Lucille Ball

Self-Esteem Quotes To Make You Feel Better About Yourself

41. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

42. “The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.”― Mark Twain

43. “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

44. “The man who does not value himself, cannot value anything or anyone.”― Ayn Rand

45. “Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.” – Benjamin Spock

46. “Be faithful to that which exists within yourself.”― Andre Gide

47. “Whatever you are doing, love yourself for doing it. Whatever you are feeling, love yourself for feeling it.” – Thaddeus Golas

48. “Why should we worry about what others think of us, do we have more confidence in their opinions than we do our own?”― Brigham Young

49. “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

50. “Don’t let mental blocks control you. Set yourself free. Confront your fear and turn the mental blocks into building blocks.”― Dr. Roopleen

More Self-Esteem Quotes And Sayings

51. “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

52. “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.” – Edward Everett Hale

53. “Everything that happens to you is a reflection of what you believe about yourself. We cannot outperform our level of self-esteem. We cannot draw to ourselves more than we think we are worth.” – Iyanla Vanzant

54. “The better you feel about yourself, the less you feel the need to show off.” – Robert Hand

55. “Never let the opinion of another affect your opinion of yourself.” – Teresa Mummert

56. “Be yourself, you’re already fully equipped to succeed at that.” – Rob Liano

57. Don’t measure how valuable you are by the way you are treated.” – Charlie Mackesy

58. “The more you understand yourself and your emotions, the more you like discovering yourself.” – James Hilton

59. “Much of your self-esteem doesn’t come from what happens to you on a given day or what somebody says, but what you know about yourself on the inside.” – Dr. Judy Ho

60. “We only value ourselves as others value us, for it might be said that we hold ourselves in trust for others.” – Charles Palliser

61. “When you have high self-esteem, you are not dependent on others to feel happy. You believe in yourself and you believe in your values more than anything.” – Angel Graff

62. “If we are going to build self-esteem, we must get committed to our promises to ourselves and to others.” – David DeNotaris

63. “The fact is that self-esteem and your circumstances are only indirectly related. There is another intervening factor that determines self-esteem 100 percent of the time: your thoughts.” – Matthew McKay

64. “Onсе you build соurаgе уоu will lеаrn to ассерt punishment аnd rеwаrdѕ grасеfullу.” – Meiso

65. “Just remember, there are no quick fixes. But, by taking action just a little bit every day, you will build up a powerful reservoir of confidence, self-esteem, and discipline.” – Scott Allan

Motivational Self-Esteem Quotes

66. “If you want to improve your self-worth, stop giving other people the calculator.” – Tim Fargo

67. “Personality begins where comparison leaves off.” – Shannon L. Alder

68. “To overcome fear is the quickest way to gain your self-confidence.” – Roy T. Bennett

69. “Remember: If someone’s trying to pull you down that means they’re already beneath you.”― Karen Salmansohn

70. “You are you, no one else is you, you are the right you, and the right you, is the you that you love.”― Ya’ira Somerville

71. “Never let success get to your head; never let failures get to your heart.” – Ziad K. Abdelnour

72. “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” – William James

73. “Self-esteem is made up primarily of two things: feeling lovable and feeling capable.” – Jack Canfield

74. “Fear of failure is caused by lack of self-esteem and confidence. Dealing with fear is the key to super success.” – Dan Pena

75. “Don’t worry so much about your self-esteem. Worry more about your character.” – Laura Schlessinger

76. “You can’t let someone else lower your self-esteem, because that’s what it is – self-esteem.” – Winnie Harlow

Self-Esteem Quotes For Teens

77. “Remember that this is YOUR LIFE, and nothing is more important than YOU.”― Miya Yamanouchi

78. “Sometimes the most important person to know is yourself.” — Philip Ai

79. “You can be anything you want to be; all you have to do is believe.” — Jovantae D

80. “Sometimes the best thing you can do is stand in the rain and not care how wet your clothes get.” — Sarah R

81. “You don’t have to be the prettiest girl in the room for every guy to want you and every girl to want to be you.” — Nichole W

82. “You can’t live your life for other people. You have to do what’s right for you, even if it hurts some people you love.” — Lady Unique

83. “When you only know your faults and failures, you allow yourself and others to downgrade your dreams and belittle your wants.”― Shannon L. Alder

84. “What you think to be the end may actually be a great beginning to a bright future. So, don’t conclude the end and live your part boldly.” — Saranya P.M.

85. “To make a difference in anyone else’s life you must first make a difference in your own. Start small; you’ll never believe the things you can accomplish.” — Carol Ann W

86. “If you don’t love yourself it’s tough to love anything about your life. Appreciating who you are is essential to your happiness.”― Karen Salmansohn

Quotes About Self-Esteem To Embrace The Real You

87. “A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.” – Mark Twain

88. “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

89. “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” – Lucille Ball

90. “Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

91. “If only you could sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.” – Fred Rogers

92. “Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-break on.” – Maxwell Maltz

93. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

94. “When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.” – Jean Shinoda Bolen

95. “Self-care is never a selfish act—it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer to others.” – Parker Palmer

96. “The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.” – William James

Self-Esteem Quotes To Boost Trust In Oneself

97. “I have a confidence about my life that comes from standing tall on my own two feet.” — Jane Fonda

98. “Nothing is better for self-esteem than survival.” — Martha Gellhorn

99. “Nothing profits more than self-esteem, grounded on what is just and right.” — John Milton

100. “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

101. “Self-esteem is the reputation we acquire with ourselves.”   — Nathaniel Branden

102. “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

103. “Self-esteem isn’t everything; it’s just that there’s nothing without it.” ― Gloria Steinem

104. “Greater self-esteem produces greater success, and greater success produces more high self-esteem, so it keeps on spiraling up.” — Jack Canfield

109. “A good self-esteem level is mostly dependant on how we value ourselves without any bias.”― Stephen Richards

110.  “Self-esteem is crucial to how much or how little contentment you feel at the end of your life.” — Mark Goulston

Self-Esteem Quotes To Be Confident About Yourself

111. “Self-confidence and self-esteem are the two most important aspects of your life, because these dictate your level of happiness.” — Nathan Smart

112. “Self confidence, self-esteem and perseverance are the essential underpinnings of success.” — Byron Pulsifer

113. In order to achieve true self-esteem and self-confidence, you should be willing to accept that you’re more than capable – both of accomplishing the greatest of things and of making the biggest mistakes.” — Ryan Cooper

114. “To establish true self-esteem we must concentrate on our successes and forget about the failures and the negatives in our lives.” — Denis Waitley

115. The great thing about keeping a journal is you can see how far that you have come or how far you still need to go. This can help with confidence and self-esteem when you see the kind of steps that you have made or are making.” — Heather Rose

116. “The reputation you have with yourself – your self-esteem – is the single most important factor for a fulfilling life.” — Nathaniel Branden

117. “Once you discover how self-esteem works, you will begin to live your life to the fullest and learn to build a wall of confidence, preventing problems or feelings that may arise from low self-esteem, from ever happening again.” — Genevieve Amor

118. “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.” — Bruce Lee

119. “Undue criticism, negative talk impinges like a bullet on the confidence and self-esteem of a person with already low self-confidence, whereas positive vibes encourage, help improve.” — Vinod Kumar Sharma

120. “I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence but it comes from within. It is there all the time.” — Anna Freud

Self-Esteem Quotes On Confidence To Stand Up For Yourself

121. The most stable, and therefore, the most healthy self-esteem is based on deserved respect from others rather than on external fame or celebrity and unwarranted adulation.” ― Abraham Maslow

122. “A little bit of irreverence is necessary to have any self-esteem at all. Not irreverence for people, but rather, for what other people think.” ― Sherry Argov

123. “People who repeatedly attack your confidence and self-esteem are quite aware of your potential, even if you are not.” ― Wayne Gerard Trotman

124. “Too many young girls have eating disorders due to low self-esteem and distorted body image. I think it’s so important for girls to love themselves and to treat their bodies respectfully.” ― Ariana Grande

125. “Once a depressed person becomes active and hopeful, self-esteem always improves. Bolstering self-esteem without changing hopelessness, without changing passivity, accomplishes nothing.” ― Martin Seligman

126. “Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes.” ― William Gibson

127. “High self-esteem isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity for anyone who has important goals to achieve.” ― Jack Canfield

128.  “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

129. “The foundation of lasting self-confidence and self esteem is excellence, mastery of your work.” ― Brian Tracy

130. “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

Self-Esteem Quotes On Confidence To Make You Feel Powerful

131. “Self-esteem is the confidence which a person has in himself even though there’s no one be has fooled more often.” ― Evan Esar

132. “Most fears of rejection rest on the desire for approval from other people. Don’t base your self-esteem on their opinions.” ― Harvey Mackay

133. “Self-esteem is the result of recognizing our personal power; awe and wonder come from recognizing our lack of it.  Both are true, and in an exceptional life there is no conflict between them.” ― Victoria Moran

134. “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

135. “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

136. “Whoever has the most energy wins.  Energy gives one confidence, power, self-esteem and new possibilities.” ― Mark Victor Hansen

137. “That kind of life is most happy which affords us most opportunities of gaining our own esteem.” ― Samuel Johnson

138. “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

139. “Self-esteem is reliance on one’s power to think… The man of authentic self-confidence is the man who relies on the judgment of his own mind.” ― Ayn Rand

140. “The strongest single factor in prosperity consciousness is self-esteem: believing you can do it, believing you deserve it, believing you will get it.” ― Jerry Gillies

Self-Esteem Quotes On Confidence To Keep You Off From Interference

141.“The mere fact that I exist, means that I deserve to be here and to express myself any damn way I please.” ― Euphoria Godsent

142. “Failure is not the end of life. It is the beginning of a greater success, if thy will persist.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

143. “Be confident, be courageous!” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

144. “Self-discipline, self-realization and self-reliance.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

145. “Nobody can bring you a change. You have to want to change.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

146. “Nothing has value without self worth” ― Rasheed Ogunlaru

147. “Be daring, be determined!” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

148. “You are unique with unique talents for unique purpose.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

149. “What God has written for your life. No human being can alter it.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

150. “Explore your unique talent.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

Self-Esteem Quotes On Confidence To Boost Your Morale

151. “If you lose one battle, don’t give up. Get up again, you have a war to win.” ― Sira Masetti

152. “Do not allow the opinions of others deter you. Be yourself and have faith in your abilities.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

153. “You are never old to begin self-seeking.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

154. “Be yourself and believe in your abilities.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

155. “Never compete with any man but yourself. Seek to develop yourself.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

156. “Whenever it comes to doing anything. Remember the part about having confidence.” ― Auliq Ice

157. “You must seek to thyself.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

158. “Our greatest quest must be self-education.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

159. “I will be all that I am capable of being.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

160. “Divine self is holy being.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

Self-Esteem Quotes For Her

161. “Talk to yourself like someone you love.” ― Brene Brown

162. “It is easy to live for others, everybody does. I call on you to live for yourself.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

163. “To fall in love with yourself is the first secret to happiness.” ― Robert Morely

164. “Happiness does not come from without, it comes from within.” ― Helen Keller

165. “If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” ― Dr. Maya Angelou

166. “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” ― George Eliot

167. “Do things that make you feel good: mind, body, and soul.” ― Robyn Conley Downs

168. “If there’s one thing I’m willing to bet on, it’s myself.” ― Beyoncé

169. “The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do.” ― Swati Sharma

170. “The universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you already are.” ― Rumi

Want To See More Self-Esteem Quotes?

Life has taught me that self-love and hope are key ingredients for giving the world our best, whatever that might be.

When I look at my own life, I know it has been the commitment to build my self-confidence that has allowed me to express myself.

The influence I have been able to have because of that makes me proud and thankful.

Supercharging your self-esteem can directly improve your mental health and well-being and will never be something you’ll regret.

What about you: what are your favorite self-esteem quotes that have helped develop your confidence?

Tell us in the comment section below.

Learn to keep your self-esteem high with these doormat quotes.