But when I really look back on my life, being really honest about it and now that I've got the chance to travel the world, seeing how a lot of little kids grow up - my life wasn't so bad.
Approach each new problem not with a view of finding what you hope will be there, but to get the truth, the realities that must be grappled with. You may not like what you find. In that case you are entitled to try to change it. But do not deceive yourself as to what you do find to be the facts of the situation.
You have to be ruthless with yourself, in terms of being honest about what is working and what is not.
Reality is painful -- it's so much easier to keep doing stuff you know you're good at or else to pick something so hard there's no point at which it's obvious you're failing -- but it's impossible to get better without confronting it.
Our power will be multiplied … if we frankly recognize the negative as well as the positive sides of our activity ….
The past is what makes the present coherent, and the past will remain horrible for exactly as long as we refuse to assess it honestly.
I think having a visionary CEO is awesome, and visionary leadership is one thing, but you also need checks and balances on whether this company can withstand a very honest and critical look at itself.
Sometimes in order for change to be made in a positive fashion, we must force ourselves to look unblinkingly at painful realities and reevaluate.
Reviews are great. I can read negative reviews and say, 'You know that point they made... they were dead on.'
Outward judgment often fails, inward judgment never.
My thing is, I'm just way too harsh. It's an enormous impediment, and that's just the truth of it. It doesn't make me any better, make me any worse, it certainly isn't more valorous. I have a character defect, man.
It is splendid to be supportive when you see those around you doing well, but blind praise is easier than harsh facts.
Since we think about ourselves so much of the time, it is comforting to assume ... that we really know the score.... [But] this is not an easy assignment. [As] Santayana wrote, 'Nothing requires a rarer intellectual heroism than willingness to see one's equation written out.'
Leaders must see reality as it is, not as it ought to be.
I'll be honest with you, I don't agree with President Obama about everything. But I've gotten to know him, I've worked with him, and the choice is crystal clear.
We can't go out and tell ourselves we've done good if we haven't.
The American people deserve an honest assessment of the state of our foreign affairs.
When you have a problem, the first thing to do in addressing it is to honestly identify it.
Sometimes it's not the optimist you need, but another pessimist to walk beside you and know, absolutely know, that the sound in the dark is a monster, and it really is as bad as you think. Did that sound hopeless? It didn't feel hopeless. It felt reassuring. It felt - real.
The search for scapegoats is essentially an abnegation of responsibility: it indicates an inability to assess honestly and intelligently the true nature of the problems which lie at the root of social and economic difficulties and a lack of resolve in grappling with them.
Sometimes you've got to put your realistic glasses on and see who you are.
Our educational establishment is failing; it is past time for courage, honesty, and action commensurate with the need, particularly here in the United States.
I started out as a lousy actress and have remained one.
My brain is here for the picking, and a lot of people are calling me to see what I think about their business, and I'm brutally honest with them.
I can document this past week [of presidency] we've put out memos from every agency showing what did we do. Try to be as honest as possible. There's a little hype involved obviously. It's spin because it's our agencies. We feel some pride about it. But tried to be self-critical as well.
