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# Good quote about self esteem and talent
- URL: https://katecarruthers.com/good-quote-about-self-esteem-and-talent/
- Published: 2003-12-28T01:20:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-01T03:52:26.000Z
- Author: Kate Carruthers
- Tags: ideas, career, people, quotation, #Migrated-1775015344493, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-04-01 14:49

Found a great quote about self esteem yesterday:

> "Where talent is a dwarf, self-esteem is a giant." (J. Petit-Senn, Conceits and Caprices)

This seems to encapsulate my feelings about the current obsession with building up self esteem even in the face of indubitable evidence as the individual's incompetence in a particular area. We are so busy building up self esteem at the expense of true self knowledge.

There is no point having good self esteem if (a) it has no basis in fact, and (b) you know in your heart it is not true.

Is it not better to teach people to understand and value what they are good at and to build on and improve the other stuff?