Feeling like you’re not good enough is a struggle many of us know too well. Low self-esteem can sneak into our thoughts and affect our daily lives. Sometimes, a few words can change our mindset.
Quotes have the power to lift us up when we’re down. They can remind us of our worth and help us see the brighter side. This list of low self-esteem quotes aims to give you that encouragement you need.
Understanding Quotes on Low Self Esteem
“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” – Oscar Wilde
“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” – Sir Edmund Hillary
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” – Buddha
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.” – Malcolm S. Forbes
“Self-esteem is as important to our well-being as legs are to a table. It is essential for physical and mental health and for happiness.” – Louise Hart
“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.” – Dalai Lama
“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – A.A. Milne
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“You are enough just as you are.” – Meghan Markle
“The better you feel about yourself, the less you feel the need to show off.” – Robert Hand
“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” – William James
“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.” – Harvey Fierstein
“It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not.” – Anonymous
“To establish true self-esteem, we must concentrate on our successes and forget about the failures and the negatives in our lives.” – Denis Waitley
“Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your handbrake on.” – Maxwell Maltz
“You have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” – Louise L. Hay
“The hardest challenge is to be yourself in a world where everyone is trying to make you be somebody else.” – E.E. Cummings
“Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we’ll ever do.” – Brené Brown
“It’s not what you are that is holding you back. It’s what you think you are not.” – Denis Waitley
“Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself.” – Coco Chanel
“Self-worth comes from one thing – thinking that you are worthy.” – Wayne Dyer
“I think everybody’s weird. We should all celebrate our individuality and not be embarrassed or ashamed of it.” – Johnny Depp
“Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.” – Bertrand Russell
“Why should we worry about what others think of us, do we have more confidence in their opinions than we do our own?” – Brigham Young
“You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you.” – Brian Tracy
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The only person who can pull me down is myself, and I’m not going to let myself pull me down anymore.” – C. JoyBell C.
“Believe in yourself up here and it will make you stronger than you could ever imagine.” – Unknown
“Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Inspirational Quotes for Self Worth
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” — Buddha
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” — A.A. Milne
“To fall in love with yourself is the first secret to happiness.” — Robert Morley
“You are enough just as you are.” — Meghan Markle
“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” — William James
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” — Theodore Roosevelt
“The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” — Sylvia Plath
“You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.” — Rumi
“The only person who can pull me down is myself, and I’m not going to let myself pull me down anymore.” — C. JoyBell C.
“Loving yourself isn’t vanity. It’s sanity.” — Katrina Mayer
“Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.” — M. Scott Peck
“Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we’ll ever do.” — Brené Brown
“You are very powerful, provided you know how powerful you are.” — Yogi Bhajan
“Self-worth comes from one thing – thinking that you are worthy.” — Wayne Dyer
“We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light.” — Mary Dunbar
“You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody.” — Maya Angelou
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-break on.” — Maxwell Maltz
“Why should we worry about what others think of us, do we have more confidence in their opinions than we do our own?” — Brigham Young
“The better you feel about yourself, the less you feel the need to show off.” — Robert Hand
“You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” — Louise Hay
“Remember, you have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” — Louise L. Hay
“The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself, in spite of being unacceptable.” — Paul Tillich
“We have to learn to be our own best friends because we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemies.” — Roderick Thorp
“Self-care is never a selfish act—it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer to others.” — Parker Palmer
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The only opinion that matters in life is your own.” — Jenni Young
“When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.” — Jean Shinoda Bolen
“There is nothing noble about being superior to some other person. True nobility is in being superior to your previous self.” — Indian Proverb
“Don’t waste your energy trying to change opinions. Do your thing, and don’t care if they like it.” — Tina Fey
“You can’t build joy on a feeling of self-loathing.” — Ram Dass
Overcoming Challenges Quotes
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Nelson Mandela
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.” – Christian D. Larson
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius
“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” – Joshua J. Marine
“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.” – Richard Branson
“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” – C.S. Lewis
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” – Henry Ford
“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“Tough times never last, but tough people do.” – Robert H. Schuller
“You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.” – Bob Marley
“Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” – J.K. Rowling, “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”
“The struggle you’re in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow.” – Robert Tew
“No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again.” – Buddha
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” – Napoleon Hill
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.'” – Mary Anne Radmacher
“Difficulties in life are intended to make us better, not bitter.” – Dan Reeves
“When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what the storm is all about.” – Haruki Murakami
“Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” – Sam Levenson
“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
“You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you.” – Brian Tracy
“One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.” – Sigmund Freud
“Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.” – Charles R. Swindoll
“It’s not whether you get knocked down. It’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
Reflections on Self Perception Quotes
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” – Buddha
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.” – William Shakespeare
“You are enough just as you are.” — Meghan Markle
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful.” – Amy Bloom
“Believe in yourself and there will come a day when others will have no choice but to believe with you.” – Cynthia Kersey
“The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.” – Mark Twain
“Self-esteem is made up primarily of two things: feeling lovable and feeling capable.” – Jack Canfield
“You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” – Louise L. Hay
“The better you feel about yourself, the less you feel the need to show off.” – Robert Hand
“Sometimes the hardest part of the journey is believing you’re worthy of the trip.” – Glenn Beck
“The things that make me different are the things that make me.” – A.A. Milne
“Your value doesn’t decrease based on someone’s inability to see your worth.” – Unknown
“Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.” – Tim Ferriss
“To fall in love with yourself is the first secret to happiness.” – Robert Morley
“Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself.” – Coco Chanel
“What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“You are very powerful, provided you know how powerful you are.” – Yogi Bhajan
“You must have a positive self perception in order to transcend anything.” – Steve Maraboli
“Spend time understanding who you are, after all the only person you’re ever going to truly live with is yourself.” – Nikki Rowe
“If you have the ability to love, love yourself first.” – Charles Bukowski
“Don’t belittle yourself. Be BIG yourself.” – Corita Kent
“Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-brake on.” – Maxwell Maltz
“If you’re presenting yourself with confidence, you can pull off pretty much anything.” – Katy Perry
“Remember, you have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” – Louise Hay
“Self-respect permeates every aspect of your life.” – Joe Clark
“To love yourself right now, just as you are, is to give yourself heaven. Don’t wait until you die. If you wait, you die now. If you love, you live now.” – Alan Cohen
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot
“Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we’ll ever do.” – Brené Brown
“Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.” – Peter T. McIntyre
Empowering Self Acceptance Quotes
“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” — Oscar Wilde
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” — Buddha
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
“To accept ourselves as we are means to value our imperfections as much as our perfections.” — Sandra Bierig
“You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful.” — Amy Bloom
“Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.” — Brené Brown
“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” — Carl Jung
“It’s not your job to like me, it’s mine.” — Byron Katie
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.” — Mark Twain
“You are enough just as you are.” — Meghan Markle
“When I loved myself enough, I began leaving whatever wasn’t healthy. This meant people, jobs, my own beliefs and habits—anything that kept me small. My judgment called it disloyal. Now I see it as self-loving.” — Kim McMillen
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” — Rumi
“Comparison is an act of violence against the self.” — Iyanla Vanzant
“Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself.” — Coco Chanel
“The moment you accept yourself, you become beautiful.” — Osho
“It’s not what you are that is holding you back; it’s what you think you are not.” — Denis Waitley
“Loving yourself isn’t vanity; it’s sanity.” — Katrina Mayer
“The only person who can pull me down is myself, and I’m not going to let myself pull me down anymore.” — C. JoyBell C.
“Accept yourself, love yourself, and keep moving forward. If you want to fly, you have to give up what weighs you down.” — Roy T. Bennett
“You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.” — Eckhart Tolle
“The journey isn’t about becoming a different person, but loving who you are right now.” — Unknown
“Self-acceptance means you refuse to allow your shortcomings to define you.” — Helen Manos
“You have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” — Louise Hay
“Respect yourself enough to say ‘I deserve peace’ and walk away from people or things that prevent you from attaining it.” — Jerico Silvers
“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.” — Malcolm S. Forbes
“Our entire life…consists ultimately in accepting ourselves as we are.” — Jean Anouilh
“Be kinder to yourself. And then let your kindness flood the world.” — Pema Chodron
“Love yourself unconditionally, just as you love those closest to you despite their faults.” — Les Brown
“Your relationship with yourself sets the tone for every other relationship you have.” — Robert Holden
Transformative Self Love Quotes
“To fall in love with yourself is the first secret to happiness.” – Robert Morley
“Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” – Buddha
“Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.” – Brené Brown
“Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.” – Brené Brown
“Your relationship with yourself sets the tone for every other relationship you have.” – Robert Holden
“Self-care is giving the world the best of you, instead of what’s left of you.” – Katie Reed
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden
“You are very powerful, provided you know how powerful you are.” – Yogi Bhajan
“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” – Oscar Wilde
“When I loved myself enough, I began leaving whatever wasn’t healthy. This meant people, jobs, my own beliefs and habits – anything that kept me small. My judgment called it disloyal. Now I see it as self-loving.” – Kim McMillen
“You are enough just as you are.” – Meghan Markle
“The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.” – Mark Twain
“You yourself deserve your love and affection more than anyone else in the world.” – Buddha
“No other love no matter how genuine it is, can fulfill one’s heart better than unconditional self-love.” – Edmond Mbiaka
“Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde
“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” – Lucille Ball
“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” – Oprah Winfrey
“You can’t pour from an empty cup. Take care of yourself first.” – Unknown
“The only person who can pull me down is myself, and I’m not going to let myself pull me down anymore.” – C. JoyBell C.
“If you have the ability to love, love yourself first.” – Charles Bukowski
“To accept ourselves as we are means to value our imperfections as much as our perfections.” – Sandra Bierig
“Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.” – Unknown
“Self-love is not so vile a sin as self-neglecting.” – William Shakespeare
“Believe in yourself a little more.” – Unknown
“How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you.” – Rupi Kaur
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“When you’re different, sometimes you don’t see the millions of people who accept you for what you are. All you notice is the person who doesn’t.” – Jodi Picoult
“Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, as self-neglecting.” – William Shakespeare
“She remembered who she was and the game changed.” – Lalah Delia
To Conclude
These low self-esteem quotes serve as reminders that everyone struggles with self-doubt sometimes. They help us see that we are not alone in our feelings and that many have walked this path before us. Quotes can inspire hope and offer a new perspective on our worth and abilities.
Reflecting on these words, we can start to rebuild confidence and find strength within ourselves. They provide comfort and motivation to keep moving forward, even when times are tough. Save these quotes for whenever you need a little boost to remind yourself of your true value.
