#esteem

If you want to find the real competition, just look in the mirror. After awhile you'll see your rivals scrambling for second place. ↗

— Criss Jami

#athletes #athletics #competition #confidence #improvement

Sadly, the signals that allow men and women to find the partners who most please them are scrambled by the sexual insecurity initiated by beauty thinking. A woman who is self-conscious can't relax to let her sensuality come into play. If she is hungry she will be tense. If she is "done up" she will be on the alert for her reflection in his eyes. If she is ashamed of her body, its movement will be stilled. If she does not feel entitled to claim attention, she will not demand that airspace to shine in. If his field of vision has been boxed in by "beauty"--a box continually shrinking--he simply will not see her, his real love, standing right before him. ↗

— Naomi Wolf

#beauty #body-image #cosmetic-surgery #cosmetics #culture

God did not create you to fail! ↗

— Tommy Coletta

#self-empowerment #self-esteem #self-help #spiritual #empowerment

One of the most subversive institutions in the United States is the public library.. ↗

— Bell Hooks

#self-esteem

It certainly is the duty of every true Christian, to esteem himself a stranger and pilgrim in this world; and as bound to use earthly blessings, not as means of satisfying lust or gratifying wantonness, but of supplying his absolute wants and necessities. ↗

— Johann Arndt

#blessings #bound #certainly #christian #duty

In drawing attention to the physical characteristics of women leaders, they can be dismissed as either too pretty or too ugly. The net effect is to prevent women's identification with the issues. If the public women is stigmatized as too 'pretty,' she's a threat, a rival--or simply not serious; if derided as too 'ugly,' one risks tarring oneself with the same brush by identifying oneself with her agenda. ↗

— Naomi Wolf

#diet-industry #marketing #self-esteem #society #weight

Vogue began to focus on the body as much as on the clothes, in part because there was little they could dictate with the anarchic styles...In a stunning move, an entire replacement culture was developed by naming a 'problem' where it had scarcely existed before, centering it on the women's natural state, and elevating it to the existential female dilemma...The number of diet-related articles rose 70 percent from 1968 to 1972...The lucrative 'transfer of guilt' was resurrected just in time. ↗

— Naomi Wolf

#beauty-myth #self-esteem #society #beauty

In youth, it was a way I had, To do my best to please. And change, with every passing lad To suit his theories. But now I know the things I know And do the things I do, And if you do not like me so, To hell, my love, with you. ↗

— Dorothy Parker

#change #character #empowerment #love #men

Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. ↗

— August Wilson

#courage #self-assessment #self-esteem #strength #courage

There's no alternative to being yourself. Accept it, honour it, value it - and get on with it. ↗

— Rasheed Ogunlaru

#alternatives #appreciation #courage #honour #inspiring-quotes