Carol S. Dweck Quotes

With a fixed mindset, you believe you are who you are and you cannot change. This creates problems when you're challenged because anything that appears to be more than you can handle is bound to make you feel hopeless and overwhelmed.

People's beliefs about their abilities have a profound effect on those abilities. Ability is not a fixed property; there is huge variablitiy in how you perform.

To learn you need a certain degree of confidence, not too much and not too little. If you have too little confidence, you will think you can't learn. If you have too much, you will think you don't have to learn.

I was smart, to tell you the truth. I'm not really bright, but I'm not stupid.

I didn't do very well at school, and I suppose I've always had this sense, you know that, of being average, so I've been a bit low on self-confidence in my ability.

What we can or cannot do, what we consider possible or impossible, is rarely a function of our true capability. It is more likely a function of our beliefs about who we are.

What we found was that the greater proportion of process praise, the more likely the child was to have a mindset five years later that welcomed challenges and that represented traits as malleable, not a label you were stuck with.

I don't really think of myself as stupid - but then, who does?

Excuses are your lack of faith in your own power.

I always feel like I can do anything. That's the main thing people are controlled by: thoughts and perceptions of yourself... If you're taught you can't do anything, you won't do anything

The only thing holding us back is ourselves.

Westerners often laud their children as 'talented' or 'gifted', while Asian parents highlight the importance of hard work. And in fact, research performed by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck has found that the way parents offer approval affects the way children perform, even the way they feel about themselves.

Nobody can stop you but you. And shame on you if you're the one who stops yourself.

I suppose it's the feminist in me, but I didn't always associate modelling with an intelligent career. I used to put myself down for doing it.

I think that somewhere deep inside of me, I feel, if it's not something I believe in, then I probably won't be very good at it. And I have a fear of that. Not that I'm good in everything, but I try.

Competitiveness only comes with insecurity.

I've always thought my strengths were I'm smart, and I have a good sense of humor. I definitely struggle with feeling confident.

I'm not talented enough to drop everything and become somebody different.

If there's a stereotype that you're not supposed to be good at something, that still gets so badly in your way of concentrating.

I used to be smart.

When I was 19, 20, 21, I wasn't extremely thick.

When I'm away from sport and not doing something I have much self-belief in, I can lack self-confidence at times.

I never thought I was an achiever and was always low on confidence.

I sang in the glee club and church choir, but I never sang a solo. I never thought of myself as a singer, and that might have crossed your mind, too.

I never had a preconceived notion about what I should do or what I should take up… I am not that intelligent.