Victoria Pendleton Quotes

It sounds funny, but my biggest fear is that I'm not perfect. I'm a perfectionist, and I get upset when things go wrong or when I don't do well.

I still worry that I could be better. That's where standards come from, from not wanting to settle. The fear of not being good enough propels you.

It's almost like the better I do, the more my feeling of inadequacy actually increases, because I'm just going, 'Any moment, someone's going to find out I'm a total fraud, and that I don't deserve any of what I've achieved. I can't possibly live up to what everyone thinks I am and what everyone's expectations of me are.'

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

I struggle with perfection.

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.

The word that I constantly hear out of women is 'fear.' It's almost like a background melody. Women have excellent degrees and experience, but we are afraid we aren't good enough because we have such high expectations.

I always think that I'm not going to be right for a movie or that there's someone else who can do it better.

It's pretty disabling sometimes, the terror of not living up. My expectations are the worst.

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 think I'm slightly OCD. I'll be desperate to get a part, but as soon as I do, the sense of pride wears off almost immediately, and fear of not doing a good job sets in. I'll think, 'This is a dream come true,' and then, 'It's not OK until I get a good review.'

It's often out of my own insecurity. If I'm picky, it's for that reason. I want to be able to bring my best to the table. So if I'm not connecting to something, then I'm not gonna hold up my end of the bargain, and that's really embarrassing.

I'm very obsessed with not being perfect.

I always make things worse than they are or create problems that aren't there. And going and doing some simple task becomes a problem. I start imagining problems that aren't there. What people are going to think, who's going to judge me and am I going to be good enough? Am I worthy?

A fear of not being good enough? But that's what drives me.

For some reason, I think that I'm not doing enough work. People are like, 'You're on a series right now,' but I'm always like, 'Yeah, but I can do more!'

Quite often I have been faced with people who were praised and admired for their talents and their achievements... According to prevailing attitudes, these people-the pride and joy of their parents-should have had a strong and stable sense of self-assurance. But the case is exactly the opposite... Whenever they suddenly get the feeling they have failed to live up to some ideal image or have not measured up to some standard, then they are plagued by anxiety or deep feelings of guilt and shame. What are the reasons for such disturbances in these competent, accomplished people?

I was so afraid of being bad and being caught at it.

Hollywood's built on insecurity. People are trying to prove things. And I probably have that. I probably do. Probably guilty of it, in a way.

The relentless pursuit of perfection has been my problem over the years. It's maybe held me back.

There is always a point when one senses one's lack of skill, the doubt.

Part of me feels that I'm letting people down by not being as interesting as my books.

I still feel I need to do things 10 times better than other players. Just to be accepted and to improve myself.

I've always been a bit of a self-doubter. I think a lot of actors are.

As far as I can tell, most actors' main motivation is self-doubt and neuroses.