70 Uplifting Self-Confidence Quotes To Inspire You

Entering adulthood is an exciting yet scary stage of life. You begin to navigate the complexities of independence, career decisions, finances, and relationships, all while discovering your true self and place in the world. This coming-of-age period is filled with challenges, but it also presents amazing opportunities to develop your best self.

To stay motivated and grounded as you face these changes, we’ve compiled some motivational quotes and inspirational quotes to help you keep your chin up and give you a boost when you are feeling a lack of confidence. These words of wisdom will remind you of your inner strength, and resilience, plus keep you moving forward with self-confidence – even when the path ahead feels complicated and like your worst enemy.

Some of these quotes are from more prominent historical figures while others are from people who just have the right words to share to help you have a good day.

So, whether you are starting a new job, managing student loans, or simply learning to become a full-fledged adult, these confidence-boosting quotes are here to give you the boost you need to embrace this transformative chapter of your life and own the responsibility that is set to come.

1. Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash. – Gen. George S. Patton, letter to his son, June 6, 1944
2. Now and again the best way is the one you make yourself. – Christopher Robin
3. Fortune sides with him who dares. – Virgil, Aeneid
4. Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. – Helen Keller
5. Take responsibility of your own happiness, never put it in other people’s hands. – Roy T. Bennett
6. Knowledge earns you power, character earns you respect. – Bruce Lee
7. Confidence is the most important single factor in this game. – Jack Nicklaus
8. The first blow is half the battle. – Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer
9. Sometimes the hardest thing and the right are the same. – Isaac Slade
10. Who has self-confidence will lead the rest. – Horace, Epistles
11. A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves. – Eleanor Roosevelt
12. If you want things to be different, perhaps the answer is to become different yourself. – Norman Vincent Peale
13. Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. – John Wooden
14. Gratitude is the single most important ingredient to living a successful and fulfilled life. – Jack Canfield
15. He who seizes the right moment, is the right man. – Goethe, Faust
16. They can do all because they think they can. – Virgil, Aeneid
17. Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings. – Samuel Johnson
18. As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. – Nelson Mandela
19. Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time,’ is like saying, ‘I don’t want to. – Lao Tzu
20. The gods help them that help themselves. – Aesop, Hercules and the Waggoner
21. Every great story deserves a great ending – Christopher Nolan
22. Do what you can to show you care about other people, and you will make our world a better place. – Rosalynn Carter
23. The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud. – Coco Chanel
24. Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
25. It’s easy to stand back, but to move forward and take a chance, that takes a little more guts, a little more courage. – Venus Williams
26. He was a self-made man who owed his lack of success to nobody. – Joseph Heller,  Catch-22
27. The constant struggle in mature life, I think, is to accept the necessity of tragedy and conflict, and not to try to escape to some falsely simple solution which does not include these more somber complexities. – Slyvia Plath
28. The more things you do, the more things you can do. – Lucille Ball
29. Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power. – Seneca
30. Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion. – Michael Jordan
31. Get rid of toxic people from your life. – Barrie Davenport
32. It is confidence in our bodies, minds and spirits that allows us to keep looking for new adventures. – Oprah Winfrey
33. Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think. – Benjamin Disraeli
34. Procrastination is the thief of time. – Edward Young, Night Thoughts
35. To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
36. Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
37. Look the world straight in the eye. – Helen Keller
38. Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. – Dale Carnegie
39. Don’t waste your energy trying to change opinions… Do your thing and don’t care if they like it. – Tina Fey
40. I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it. – Maya Angelou
41. The past is a stepping stone, not a millstone. – Robert Plant
42. Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart. – Roy T. Bennett
43. The hardest things in life are done the least but provide the most. – Greg Plitt
44. Doing little things well is a step toward doing big things better. – Vincent Van Gogh
45. Remember, success is a journey not a destination. Have faith in your ability. You will do just fine. – Bruce Lee
46. The race of life is a marathon, not a sprint. – Tony Robbins
47. There are some things you only learn through experience. – Joe Namath
48. There are two stories for every life; the one you live & the one others tell. – Mitch Albom
49. Have confidence that if you have done a little thing well, you can do a bigger thing well too. – David Storey
50. A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world. Everyone you meet is your mirror. – Ken Keyes Jr.
51. All genuine education comes about through experience. – John Dewey
52. To live a life fulfilled, reflect on the things you have with gratitude. – Jaren L. Davis
53. The best lightning rod for your own protection is your own spine. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
54. The greatest things ever done on Earth have been done little by little. – William Jennings Bryan
55. A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. – Francis Bacon, Essays
56. The only man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anything. – Theodore Roosevelt
57. Failure is an important part of your growth and developing resilience. Don’t be afraid to fail. – Michelle Obama
58. Don’t put things off till tomorrow or the day after! – Hesiod, Works and Days
59. Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create. – Roy T. Bennett
60. Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear. – Mark Twain
61. Faith in your own powers and confidence in your individual methods are essential to success. – Roderick E. Stevens
62. Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong. – Peter T. Mcintyre
63. It is in your hands to create a better world for all who live in it. – Nelson Mandela
64. The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one does. – J. M. Barrie
65. Sometimes you make the right decision, sometimes you make the decision right. – Phillip C. McGraw
66. Acceptance is the key to be truly free. – Katy Perry
67. The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining. – John F. Kennedy, State of the Union address, 1962
68. Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit. – Conrad Hilton
69. Our entire life… consists ultimately in accepting ourselves as we are. – Jean Anouilh
70. Confidence is the most beautiful thing you can possess. – Sabrina Carpenter

Putting It All Together

There are a lot of amazing things that you will have the opportunity to witness throughout your adulting journey. I know at times you will feel like you are not moving forward, however, if you continue to make the choice to put one foot in front of the other day after day, you will eventually see how far you have come. 

Yes, our daily lives can seem mundane and like we are stuck but please know that life can be a lot of fun. Adulting can be a life of fun, even with all of its challenges.

There is true beauty in knowing that you are entering a new chapter in life that is even more so in your control than the previous one. I hope that is empowering and that these 70 quotes provide you with some reasonable confidence if not outright boosting your own confidence. Great things are on the horizon. Just have the confidence in yourself to hang on until then. The whole world is open to you. All you have to do is find the next thing to do that will keep you moving forward and do it.