“I didn’t feel beautiful, like for real, not just ‘Hey, I’m pretty’ but actually believing in it until about 2016. If you’ve been beat down mentally by someone, you’re never pretty enough. Nothing’s ever good enough. It’s not just the hairstyles and the clothing and the skin. It’s how I reinvent myself through trials and perseverance. Am I going to quit? No, I’m going to go to the next level because change is hard. But people see me come out and they think, ‘It’s just her skin or her hair.’ No, it’s her. It’s me. I’m really choosing to be a better, stronger person. During Mudbound and when I was married, I was feeling so low. I had to pay myself the highest compliments, even if I didn’t believe it, just so I could build myself up. I would do it in the morning, because that’s the time when your hair is not done and you don’t have on makeup. You’re just kind of dealing with yourself for real. Good morning, gorgeous. I love you. I got you. I need you.” -People
Category: Self Worth & Esteem
LeAnn Rimes
“Since I was a child, my self-confidence was based on what others thought of me. So the public shaming penetrated on a deep level. There was such a weight on my marriage and my friendships because I was looking to them to help me. I needed to be by myself and figure my issues out on my own. I wouldn’t trade anything I’ve been through. Every time I sink back into depression. I think, ‘What’s the lesson here?’ There is always something good, if we look for it.” -People
Jessica Alba
“I’ve been wildly insecure throughout my life about various things, but I was never so insecure that I’m not going to try something. The fact that people didn’t believe that I was capable of something probably drove me to fully realize what I had in my head and hit goals. I think the resistance fired me up and gave me energy to prove to myself that I could do it. But that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t still insecure about myself physically. I was really shy in a lot of ways and a late bloomer.” -People
Akira Akbar
“Act confident, even if you’re not. When I was younger, I was bullied because I was small. And that made me act small. One day, a girl who I thought was my friend actually picked me up and put me in a trash can, Literally. And then I told my mom about it, she was like, ‘What? That is unacceptable.’ That’s when I decided I wasn’t going to act small anymore. I started sticking up for myself and built up my confidence. Now that’s a superpower.” – GL
Zoe Kravitz
“The fact that people don’t think what they say affects a celebrity because you’re not a person to them is crazy. I’m a human being. I want to f***ing defend myself. The fact that I’m like, ‘Should I have not worn that?’ No, I do what I want to do, and I make what I want to make, and if I’m now starting to be afraid of what other people are going to say or think, I’m no longer doing my job as an artist. I’m not experiencing the world and putting that into art. I’m walking on eggshells. F*** that. So, I needed to take a minute” – ELLE
Winona Ryder
“I remember I was playing this character who ends up getting tortured in a Chilean prison in the 1994 drama The House of Spirits. I would look at these fake bruises and cuts on my face from the shoot, and I would struggle to see myself as this little girl. ‘Would you be treating this girl like you’re treating yourself?’ I remember looking at myself and saying, ‘This is what I’m doing to myself inside.’ Because I just wasn’t taking care of myself.” – BAZAAR
Michael J. Fox
MICHAEL J. FOX Quote on Optimism in People Magazine
“Optimism is really rooted in gratitude. Optimism is sustainable when you keep coming back to gratitude, and what follows from that is acceptance. Accepting that this has happened, and you accept it for what it is. It doesn’t mean that you can’t endeavor to change. It doesn’t mean you have to accept it as a punishment or a penance, but just put it in its proper place. Then see how much the rest of your life you have to thrive in, and then you can move on.”
Zendaya
“I think my parents instilled in me at a very young age the ability to stick up for myself. If you don’t like something, you say it. If something makes you uncomfortable, you tell somebody. I’ve always had a good handle on that.” -InSTYLE
Sally Field
“They told me I’m not pretty enough, not good enough. I’ve learned if you can hold your own hand, you’re okay.” -People
Chloe Bailey
“I’ll never shy away from talking about my insecurities. I don’t have my sh** together, and that’s okay. No matter how many times I break, I’ll put myself back together.” -People