Cornelia Otis Skinner Quotes

I got more shy as I got older and realized people could be laughing at me or judging me.

I worry that's what people are going to think about me if they kind of go backwards. But if that didn't happen to you, I'll feel better.

I think we all fear appearing foolish in public. We don't want to be laughed at.

What I never overcame is a kind of shyness.

I don't want to think about how many people have thought or still think that I'm crazy.

You know when you tell a self-deprecating story at a dinner party, everyone's laughing along with you? But then when someone else repeats that same story at another dinner party you feel they're all laughing at you?

You know why I fear people's judgment? Because I know they're judging. I know they are.

It's human nature to not say everything that's on your mind at the time you think it. Because we fear saying something that people will laugh at, people will think is dumb. We're afraid of being embarrassed.

I can't stand to ask anyone, 'How was that?'

I'm paranoid of people hating on me.

For years I would sit on the side when my friends swam in the water. There is no feeling worse than that, to be afraid of what people will say about you, or to be embarrassed by who you are and what you are.

I was horribly self-conscious; I wanted everybody to look at me and think me the most fascinating creature in the world, and yet I died a small hideous death if I saw even one person throw a casual glance at me.

The easily embarrassed doesn't learn

I'm a total wreck. Afraid to let anyone near. Afraid they'll see the real me.

Shyness is a curious thing, because, like quicksand, it can strike people at any time, and also, like quicksand, it usually makes its victims look down.

I am dreading the publication, for it will be impossible not to mind what is said. I have exposed my heart to be shot at.

Embarrassment, or the risk of it, accompanies all your important choices.

It's really intimidating to go on the beach in a bikini.

I just have a harder time, I think, feeling close to people without self consciousness.

I've always had a problem saying what I feel for fear of having someone dislike me.

The last thing in the world I should have done was go into the theater because was inordinately shy as a young man. I couldn't open my mouth. At a party, I was the one stuck up against the wall. I was embarrassed about talking. I felt that I couldn't talk well.

I think that all of us are 5-year-olds and we don't want to be embarrassed in the schoolyard.

When you sit down and play your music for someone you respect, you get that feeling in your stomach of like: 'Oh my God...' You know if it's not great because you start to feel sick.

I'm even embarrassed at times when my friends come upon my pictures.

I never sing out loud because I'm afraid people will go, 'Shut up!'