Affirmations & Statements to Make You Feel Better About Yourself
Here is a good selection of self-affirming statements intended to boost self-esteem and confidence, along with their known authors where available.
Please note that while some of these are direct quotes, others are commonly attributed sentiments or variations of well-known advice.
For some very common affirmations, a single definitive author can be elusive, as they may have evolved over time or been expressed by many.
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
Author: Theodore Roosevelt
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”
Author: Buddha
“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.”
Author: Amelia Earhart
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
Author: Ralph Waldo Emerson
“If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is, too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.”
Author: T. Harv Eker
“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.”
Author: Stephen Covey
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
Author: Ralph Waldo Emerson
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
Author: Eleanor Roosevelt
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
Author: Steve Jobs
“You are enough just as you are.”
Author: Often attributed to various mindfulness and self-compassion teachers, a core tenet of Kristin Neff’s work.
“I am capable of achieving my goals.”
Author: General self-affirmation; widely used in positive psychology.
“My potential is limitless.”
<p>Author: General motivational statement; similar sentiments expressed by various self-help authors.<br />”I embrace my unique qualities and strengths.” <p>Author: General self-affirmation; aligns with principles of self-acceptance.
“I am worthy of love and respect.”
Author: Core concept in self-esteem literature, frequently emphasised by Brené Brown.
“Every day in every way, I am getting better and better.”
Author: Émile Coué
“I choose to be confident and powerful.”
Author: General affirmation reflects a mindset of personal agency.
“My past does not define my future.”
Author: Common therapeutic and motivational statement; reinforces a growth mindset.
“I trust my intuition and inner wisdom.”
Author: Often emphasised in spiritual and personal development teachings, like those of Louise Hay.
“I am resilient and can overcome any challenge.”
Author: General statement on resilience, a key concept explored by Angela Duckworth.
“I am a valuable and important person.”
And Even More …
“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”
Author: Sir Edmund Hillary
“To be yourself is all that you can do.”
Author: Chris Cornell (from the song “Be Yourself” by Audioslave)
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
Author: Will Durant (often misattributed to Aristotle, but Durant paraphrased him)
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
Author: Peter Drucker
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.”
Author: Marianne Williamson (from “A Return to Love”)
“If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life.”
Author: Marcus Garvey
“It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.”
Author: Vince Lombardi
“You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
Author: A.A. Milne (from Winnie-the-Pooh)
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
Author: Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.”
Author: Jim Rohn
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
Author: Arthur Ashe
“Fall seven times, stand up eight.”
Author: Japanese Proverb
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”
Author: Anaïs Nin
“I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.”
Author: Muhammad Ali
“Confidence comes from discipline and training.”
Author: Robert Kiyosaki
“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.”
Author: Maya Angelou
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Author: Winston Churchill
“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”
Author: Judy Garland
“With realisation of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.”
Author: Dalai Lama XIV
“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”
Author: William Ernest Henley (from the poem “Invictus”)