Cate Blanchett Quotes

My biggest enemy for the longest time was my head. When I first became successful, it made me anxious because I was overthinking everything, and you hear so many 'fail' stories.

You still get these waves of doubt that come over you, for example, when you get a bad review or you accept a part and think, 'Oh, God, what have I just accepted? I can't do that.' I don't think that's something that will ever go away in me.

It's kind of a rule of thumb for me to self-doubt going into any kind of project. I always think that I shouldn't be doing it and I don't know how to do it and I'm going to fail and that I fooled them. I always try to find a way out.

I always wanted to be a Broadway girl. But once I got Tony-nominated, it really messed with me, because it was like, yes, I'm getting this affirmation that you're right where you're supposed to be, but there was still this voice saying, 'You're not good enough.'

Well, I always think the worst things are going to happen here, because I'm - basically inside, I'm a bad person, and so the bad kind of takes over.

God, I'm such a lazy writer - I can't even think up new names.

For me personally it is because I get an awful amount of success and I don't think I deserve it and then I want to sabotage it.

I had such high expectations of myself. I was going to be the best mother, the best housewife, the best entertainer, the best nurse, you know - what it was, I was going to be the best. And I could never live up to my expectations.

I have many moments of self doubt. Everybody does.

The worst thing you can think about when you're working is yourself.

Even when I had a run of successful prime-time shows, I couldn't sit down and enjoy my success. I would beat myself up and scrutinise everything. I'm a natural-born worrier.

If I didn't do something perfectly, I had to do it again... I grew up with a glue gun pointed at my head.

If you're going to worry about what people say, you're never going to make any progress.

I'm probably my biggest critic. I worry that if you spend any quality time reveling in good things then karma will slap you upside the head, so I try to stay as even keel as I'm able.

I criticise myself an awful lot. I do worry to the point that I don't think it's very healthy. I'm always picking my flaws. It's a terrible anxiety I have. I wish I could pretend nothing fazes me, but it does.

When you see something that's so excellent it can be intimidating to walk into it no matter how many people you know.

I have a lot of what you might call creative self-loathing - I have pretty high expectations, and they seem to consistently be higher than what I'm able to accomplish.

I am my own worst enemy. My friends and family will say, 'You've got everything going for you right now', and I say, 'Oh yes, but!' Which is not a good way to be.

I'm kind of an insecure artist. I hop from piece to piece. I always think my life depends on every painting. Every painting is my first painting.

It's just so fragile. The growing sense of 'Oh, God, what am I doing? Am I any good? Will I ever work again?' All those questions of self doubt, they do creep in.

It's funny, I never think I'm doing that well. I've never, ever. I just constantly think, 'This isn't working out.'

My biggest fear is that I'm not good enough. I have this voice in my head that I've been battling for years that says, 'You're not really talented enough. You don't really deserve this.'

I want to be perfect. I don't want to fail. And you always fail.

I used to feel unsafe right in the moment of an accomplishment - I felt the ground fall from under my feet because this could be the end. And even now, while everyone is celebrating, I'm on to the next thing. I don't want to get lost in this big cushion of success.

To this day, I haven't felt like I've made it. I'm waiting for them to pull the rug out from under me. I kind of feel like George Plimpton; I'm just experiencing this whole business with the really talented people.