Francois de La Rochefoucauld Quotes

Undeserved praise causes more pangs of conscience later than undeserved blame, but probably only for this reason, that our power of judgment are more completely exposed by being over praised than by being unjustly underestimated.

You're taught from a very young age that you shouldn't get too big for your britches, so I tend to err way too much on the side of 'Nothing means anything.'

I get a lot of credit I don't deserve.

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?

It's not terrible, people telling you you're great; what's terrible is when you start believing it.

I don't want to believe my own hype.

Women are hard on themselves.

I think I have a great deal of self-hatred, a profound feeling of fraudulence, of being detestable and evil. It's only a part of me, but it's there, and it's active.

False modesty can be worse than arrogance.

I like to think of myself as a New Yorker, which is pathetic.

There is no belittling worse than to over praise a man.

I'm a hopeless mother; a hopeless wife; I have to try harder. I'm just a pathetic case history, really.

Anything nice that's said about me is diametrically opposed to who I am.

You always think you're better than you are in the beginning.

I thought I was so much smarter than everybody. And I'm not.

The more people that praise you, the more there is danger to develop arrogance.

Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth

It is an honor that I have neither earned nor deserved

Nobody's wrong but England – and England's always wrong, Too late – or else too early – too soft – or else too strong. And when for once the wide world begins to praise her name Her own sons crowd and hurry to shout her back to shame.

When we disclaim praise, it is only showing our desire to be praised a second time.

I'm always nervous. A classy comedian is full of self-doubt disguised with an air of false confidence. If there isn't self-doubt, you seem aggressive.

I think I have let ego get in the way sometimes - the pendulum swung pretty strongly. I was maybe a little overconfident at one point in my time, and then I went way the other way and thought I wasn't capable of anything.

Modesty is the only sure bait when you angle for praise.

I'm vaguely embarrassed by myself sometimes.

My biggest problem is overconfidence.