Sherman Alexie Quotes

Poor people put a low value on themselves and their efforts.

A man guilty of poverty easily believes himself suspected.

Oh, God, I struggle with low self-esteem all the time! I think everyone does. I have so much wrong with me, it's unbelievable!

I had no confidence at school. I was not a good student and I really thought I was pretty stupid. Just dumb.

I'm not a beautiful person and I never have been.

All my life, men have told me I wasn't pretty enough - even the men I was dating. And I'd be like, 'Well, why are you with me, then?' It's always been men putting me down just like my dad. To this day when someone says I'm cute, I can't see it. I don't see it no matter what anybody says.

Of all afflictions, the worst is self-contempt.

I often think you bring unhappiness on yourself, because if you don't like yourself very much, you allow yourself to be influenced by people who reinforce that.

I had gotten to a place where I truly believed everything I was called: 'not sexy,' 'not funny,' 'too intense,' desperate.' All those labels they gave me, I took them because there wasn't a trace of my true self left.

Over the years, I've interviewed thousands of people, most of them women, and I would say that the root of every dysfunction I've ever encountered, every problem, has been some sense of a lacking of self-value or of self-worth.

I grew up as a child who felt she was very inferior to everyone else.

If you feel like the beginning of your history is rooted in slavery, that really, I think, messes with your sense of self, your self-esteem, and your self-worth.

A lot of black women still carry a lot of pain when they see black men with women who aren't black, and that's really unfortunate that that could make us so upset. It has to do with self esteem.

Feeling 'ugly' or 'unattractive' seeps into your life like poison, and it affects everything. Feeling worthless does the same. We internalise these limitations, and it takes an internal revolution to get rid of them.

So many people can tell me, 'You're amazing,' rather, but I don't think it. You know, so, I don't go around thinking this. I'm really hard on myself. I think that's quite good.

I've had a lot of self-esteem issues.

I used to think I was stupid and slow.

I have struggled with self-esteem issues since my teens, but it's clear in my first long-ago diary that I didn't start out that way. I acquired my low self-esteem. I learned it.

I was made to believe there's something wrong with me.

Low self-esteem comes from who you assess yourself to be. It's about who you are, and I didn't think I was anything or anybody.

I often stood in front of the mirror alone, wondering how ugly a person could get.

Seems like the only one who doesn't see your beauty is the face in the mirror looking back at you.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you tell kids they're stupid--directly or indirectly--sooner or later they start to believe it.

I don't like myself. I'm not vain at all. I hate looking at myself - I always think I look ugly. Honest.

I don't like my voice. I don't like the way I look. I don't like the way I move. I don't like the way I act. I mean, period. So, you know, I don't like myself.