Jonathan Safran Foer Quotes

I'm often prone to self-doubt about everything I do.

I have done no passably decent job in this world which did not at first seem to me useless - absurdly useless, useless to the point of nausea. My secret demon is called:;: What's the use?

Personally, I've struggled with a lot of doubt in myself at times.

She knew whose love she doubted. It wasn't her parents' and it wasn't her friends: It was her own.

Humiliation is a vast country of imprecise boundaries. If you think you're there, you are. The neurotic rule: when in doubt, go ahead and feel humiliated.

For the few little successes I may seem to have, there are acres of misgivings and self-doubt.

Life is merely terrible; I feel it as few others do. Often — and in my inmost self perhaps all the time — I doubt whether I am a human being.

Our thoughts are often worse than we are.

Welcome to a life of insecurity and paralyzing self-doubt.

...self-consciousness is a man's worst enemy.

Your self-esteem is a notch below Kafka.

Like anybody, you have moments when you question yourself and you're insecure.

You have no idea what a poor opinion I have of myself and how little I deserve it.

I couldn't have come up with a better metaphor for my life and my internal conflict. It amazes me how quickly we can manifest our fears; not only had I created my 'I'm never satisfied, I'll drive her away' nightmare.

We all have insecurities, and the thing that makes them crippling is that we all have the ability to blow them up into such huge issues in our minds, that we might as well have a facial deformity. It keeps us from really going out there and living our lives, and forgetting about hating yourself and just experiencing the world around you.

I love playing ego and insecurity combined.

It used to be that I was always paranoid or a loser or something so there's usually something that you seem to associate yourself with at one time or another.

Successful people tend to feel simultaneously inadequate and superior.

The third person allows characters to really attack themselves. We all do this - attack ourselves - every hour of our lives.

Like a lot of people, I've got a self-loathing streak that's alive and well. It acts as a de facto engine when I'm working, but it also has its extraordinary pitfalls, too.

When I don't play well, nobody needs to say anything to me. I beat myself up.

I think we all go through those moments of self-doubt.

…I hate myself for not being able to go downstairs naturally and seek comfort in numbers. I hate myself for having to sit here and be torn between I know not what within me.

It's not hard to feel afraid and insecure. I still fight an inner-critic voice, definitely. I hear it a lot.

Shame: We all have it. It's that gremlin that says 'I'm not enough.' Or, if you're feeling pretty confident,...'ooh, who do you think you are?' Shame always has a seat.