Tawni O'Dell Quotes

I think a lot of young teenagers try to get esteem from accolades from other people, or boys, and what you learn as you get older is that you have to create that within yourself.

It's so easy today to get swept up in celebrity fixation and materialism and searching for some validation outside of yourself when we know it's really found within and through meaningful connections with other people.

If you are hoping to find your self-worth and fulfillment in other peoples' opinion of your writing, you will never find it.

I used to feel like I was waiting for someone to discover me, to 'produce' me, like Lana Turner at the drugstore. Utlimately I realized that the person I was waiting for was myself. If we wait for the world's permission to shine, we will never receive it.

When I was a younger actor, I was pretty much solely motivated by validation. I just wanted to be told I was good and handsome and a part of the gang. It was pretty simple animal-social stuff. I don't care as much about those things anymore.

I have nothing to prove to anyone but myself.

I'm not looking for 'outer esteem' anymore, what they call 'other esteem.' I'm looking for self-esteem. And people think that self-esteem is built with accomplishments. And, 'Hey, look what I did in my life.'

As you get older, it's always a process of self-love, learning how to really do that for yourself instead of trying to find it outside yourself.

Winning or losing an argument, receiving an acceptance or rejection, is no proof of the validity or value of personal identity. One may be wrong, mistaken, or a poor craftsman, or just ignorant - but this is no indication of the true worth of one's total human identity: past, present and future!

In some way I felt I was never good enough until I started fighting. I was always striving to show my worth and value.

Thus her whole identity hangs in the balance of her love life. She is allowed to love herself only if a man finds her worthy of love.

When you have more respect for yourself and put yourself in a position where you feel your sense of value or worth, that's how you know you're on the right path.

If my aim is to prove I am 'enough,' the project goes on to infinity-because the battle was already lost on the day I conceded the issue was debatable.

We are forever looking outside ourselves, seeking approval and striving to impress others. But living to please others is a poor substitute for self-love, for no matter how family and friends may adore us, they can never satisfy our visceral need to love and honor ourselves.

I've been in situations where I've said to young people: "You're so personable, you're so articulate, you're clearly so bright, you're so good-looking - feel better about yourself!" But if at the core if you don't, all those words mean nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Stop looking outside for scraps of pleasure or fulfillment, for validation, security, or love - you have a treasure within that is infinitely greater than anything the world can offer.

The More we value things, the less we value ourselves

Self respect beats social approval, every time.

Every day you must try to make your own self-image grow; this you can do.

The main thing you can change is how you perceive yourself. Stop looking in the mirror and realize that youre living for yourself, not other people.

Most women are starving to receive something from a man that they need to give to themselves.

You have to accept the fact that some people are never going to be for you. Treat them with respect, but you don’t need their approval to fulfill your destiny.

Let others determine your worth and you're already lost, because no one wants people worth more than themselves.

We are all equal in that we can all strive to become the best we are capable of becoming. We can always improve but we shouldn't compare ourselves to others. We get in trouble when we start trying to measure up to someone else.

We are told to value ourselves without feedback, but if nobody is making a pass at you or trying to take you to Bermuda, how are you supposed to feel? Confident?