Four quotes, one message for when you feel self-conscious. “People are crying up the rich and variegated plumage of the peacock, and he is himself blushing at the sight of his ugly feet.” ― Saadi
“Even in social life, you will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you’re making.” ― C.S. Lewis
“I used to care about how other people thought I led my life. But lately I’ve realized that most people are too preoccupied with their own lives to give anybody else even the scantiest of thoughts.” ― Douglas Coupland
Whenever you are self-conscious you are simply showing that you are not conscious of the self at all. You don’t know who you are… Your very self-consciousness indicates that you have not come home yet.” ― Osho
Then there’s Steven Fry’s take on the subject. “It’s not all bad. Heightened self-consciousness, apartness, an inability to join in, physical shame and self-loathing—they are not all bad. Those devils have been my angels. Without them I would never have disappeared into language, literature, the mind, laughter and all the mad intensities that made and unmade me.”
And now, listen to my views in the podcast. What’s yours?