Self Criticism Quotes

“We are all failures- at least the best of us are.”
― J.M. Barrie

“Put down everything that comes into your head and then you're a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff's worth, without pity, and destroy most of it."

(Casual Chance, 1964)”
― Colette

“Remember, you have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.”
― Louise L. Hay, You Can Heal Your Life

“The biggest enemies of willpower: temptation, self-criticism, and stress. (...) these three skills —self-awareness, self-care, and remembering what matter most— are the foundation for self-control.”
― Kelly McGonigal, The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It

“You've been criticising yourself for years and it hasn't worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.”
― Louise Hay

“A modern philosopher who has never once suspected himself of being a charlatan must be such a shallow mind that his work is probably not worth reading.”
― Leszek Kolakowski, Metaphysical Horror

“We are never so much disposed to quarrel with others as when we are dissatisfied with ourselves.”
― William Hazlitt, Characteristics: In the Manner of Rochefoucault's Maxims

“Stop walking through the world looking for confirmation that you don't belong. You will always find it because you've made that your mission. Stop scouring people's faces for evidence that you're not enough. You will always find it because you've made that your goal. True belonging and self-worth are not goods; we don't negotiate their value with the world. The truth about who we are lives in our hearts. Our call to courage is to protect our wild heart against constant evaluation, especially our own. No one belongs here more than you.”
― Brené Brown, Braving the Wilderness

“You know that sickening feeling of inadequacy and over-exposure you feel when you look upon your own empurpled prose? Relax into the awareness that this ghastly sensation will never, ever leave you, no matter how successful and publicly lauded you become. It is intrinsic to the real business of writing and should be cherished.”
― Will Self

“Inside Critics

The critical voices in our own heads are far more vicious than what we might hear from the outside. Our "inside critics" have intimate knowledge of us and can zero in on our weakest spots.

You might be told by the critics that you're too fat, too old, too young, not intelligent enough, a quitter, not logical, prone to try too many things...
It's all balderdash!

Some elements of these may be true, and it's completely up to you how they affect you. Inside critics are really just trying to protect you. You can:

Learn to dialogue with them.
Give them new jobs.
Turn them into allies.
You can also dismantle/exterminate them.”
― Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy (SARK), A Creative Companion: How to Free Your Creative Spirit

“In life, most of us are highly skilled at suppressing action. All the improvisation teacher has to do is to reverse this skill and he creates very ‘gifted’ improvisers. Bad improvisers block action, often with a high degree of skill. Good improvisers develop action.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

“Writers are often the worst judges of what they have written.”
― Stephen King, Everything's Eventual

“In the inner courtroom of my mind, mine is the only judgment that counts.”
― Nathaniel Branden, Six Pillars of Self-Esteem

“Don't panic. Midway through writing a novel, I have regularly experienced moments of bowel-curdling terror, as I contemplate the drivel on the screen before me and see beyond it, in quick succession, the derisive reviews, the friends' embarrassment, the failing career, the dwindling income, the repossessed house, the divorce . . . Working doggedly on through crises like these, however, has always got me there in the end. Leaving the desk for a while can help. Talking the problem through can help me recall what I was trying to achieve before I got stuck. Going for a long walk almost always gets me thinking about my manuscript in a slightly new way. And if all else fails, there's prayer. St Francis de Sales, the patron saint of writers, has often helped me out in a crisis. If you want to spread your net more widely, you could try appealing to Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, too.”
― Sarah Waters

“I'm not saying the plot doesn't have holes.”
― Vernon D. Burns

“Become a kinder mirror for yourself
Practice liking what you see.”
― Jeanette LeBlanc

“Self-criticism is associated with worse health outcomes, both mental and physical, and more loneliness.”
― Emily Nagoski, Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life

“Sometimes people resist letting go of self-criticism--"I suck!"--because it can feel like giving up hope that you could become a better person, but that's the opposite of how it works. How it really works is that when you stop beating yourself up, you begin to heal, and then you grow like never before.”
― Emily Nagoski, Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life

“Consider, for example, how people often criticize themselves in front of others: “I look like a cow in this dress,” “I’m hopelessly inept with computers,” “I have the worst sense of direction of anyone I know!” It’s as if we’re saying, “I’m going to beat you to the punch and criticize myself before you can. I recognize how flawed and imperfect I am so you don’t have to cut me down and tell me what I already know.”
― Kristin Neff, Self Compassion / The Compassionate Mind

“For it is an undoubted truth that unless virtue is accompanied by severe self-criticism, it always runs the risk of turning against its own most dearly held convictions.”
― Marc Bloch, Strange Defeat

“Being aware of this inner critic and its ability to limit you is an important part of silencing it.”
― HUMAIRA SYED, 55 Habits for Mindset Mastery: A Perfect Collection of Everyday Simple HABITS to Change Your Life Forever

“For all his arrogance, the opinions of his friends, his family, mattered deeply. None of them would ever chide him for his failure, but he'd punish himself for it.

Nesta brushed her fingers against Cassian's in silent understanding. HIs own curled against hers, meeting her stare as if to say, See? We're the same after all.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A ​Court of Silver Flames

“Refusing to be self-critical in order to solve conflicts enhances the power of the state.”
― Sarah Schulman, Conflict Is Not Abuse: Overstating Harm, Community Responsibility, and the Duty of Repair

“Я винен у складанні жахливих віршів, і вимордувані одинадцятискладові рядки рясніли «стиглими плачами», «розчахнутими небесами» та «кришталевими зорями».”
― Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, La plus secrète mémoire des hommes

“Some underachieving students may express persistent dissatisfaction with their grades, occasionally resigning to low grades with rebellious or on-and-off interest in improvement. Recognizing this dissatisfaction and addressing their self-critical tendencies are essential for fostering a positive learning environment.”
― Asuni LadyZeal

“After all, I messed up, doesn’t that mean I should be punished? Well, do you punish your friends or your family when they mess up? Okay, maybe sometimes a little, but do you feel good about it?”
― Kristin Neff, Self Compassion By Kristin Neff & Radical Compassion By Tara Brach 2 Books Collection Set

“Я не був собою. Хоча мені ніколи не подобалася ця фраза. Як це — не бути собою? Ти — це завжди ти. Просто іноді ти лайно.”
― Taylor Jenkins Reid, Daisy Jones & the Six

“Self-love has to include a disregard for how other people might perceive me, and living as though life is in the present, rather than something that will start in earnest once certain thresholds have been passed. I sometimes have to say aloud to myself: you do not agree that life's worth should be measured in this way. Don't give the idea the authority to direct your self-criticism for not measuring up. It feels like a life's work. Repeat it until you mean it. Say it like a friend would.”
― Amy Key, Arrangements in Blue

“Often, we try to drag ourselves forward with harsh discipline and force. We admonish ourselves to do better, be faster, get stronger. But what if, instead, we enticed ourselves toward growth with kindness and curiosity? ... Shame drains energy; it rarely fuels sustainable change. On the other hand, inviting ourselves forward with compassion... creates a different dynamic. We move because we want to, not because we fear”
― Ajmal, from the book "Borders of the Inner World"

“My sin was arrogance, hidden by success, driven by ambition.”
― Nick Kyme