This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
All confidence which is not absolute and entire, is dangerous. There are few occasions but where a man ought either to say all, or conceal all; for, how little so ever you have revealed of your secret to a friend, you have already said too much if you think it not safe to make him privy to all particulars.
Affliction is a school of virtue; it corrects levity, and interrupts the confidence of sinning.
George McGovern, fully George Stanley McGovern
Politics is an act of faith; you have to show some kind of confidence in the intellectual and moral capacity of the public.
Capacity | Confidence |
Haim Ginott, fully Haim G. Ginott, orignially Ginzburg
Concerned adults serve best when with confidence they stand and wait.
Every great anthropologic and paleontologic discovery fits into its proper place, enabling us gradually to fill out, one after another, the great branching lines of human ascent and to connect with the branches definite phases of industry and art. This gives us a double means of interpretation, archaeological and anatomical. While many branches and links in the chain remain to be discovered, we are now in a position to predict with great confidence not only what the various branches will be like but where they are most like to be found.
Confidence | Discovery | Industry | Means | Position | Will | Discovery |
All confidence which is not absolute and entire is dangerous; there are few occasions but where a man ought either to say all or conceal all; for how little soever you have revealed of your secret to a friend, you have already said too much if you think it not safe to make him privy to all particulars.
It is so often true that whether a person carries with him an atmosphere of gloom and depression or one of confidence and courage depends on his individual outlook.
Confidence | Courage | Depression | Gloom | Individual |
There is no worse screen to block out the Spirit than confidence in our own intelligence.
Confidence | Spirit |
Jean Paul, born Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, aka Jean Paul Richter
If a child tells a lie, tell him that he has told a lie, but don't call him a liar. If you define him as a liar, you break down his confidence in his own character.
Confidence | Child |
More than anything else, followers want to believe that their leaders are ethical and honest. When your people see that you are not only competent to lead but also have a track record of successes, they will have confidence in following you, even when they don't understand all the details. As a leader, it's your job to get your people excited about what their work will accomplish; it’s a natural motivator.
Confidence | People | Will | Work | Following | Understand |
Calvin Coolidge, fully John Calvin Coolidge, Jr.
The world has had enough of the curse of hatred and selfishness, of destruction and war. It has had enough of the wrongful use of material power. For the healing of the nations there must be good will and charity, confidence and peace. The time has come for a more practical use of moral power, and more reliance upon the principle that right makes its own might. Our authority among the nations must be represented by justice and mercy. It is necessary not only to have faith, but to make sacrifices for our faith. The spiritual forces of the world make all its final determinations. It is with these voices that America should speak. Whenever they declare a righteous purpose there need be no doubt that they will be heard. America has taken her place in the world as a Republic--free, independent, powerful. The best service that can be rendered to humanity is the assurance that this place will be maintained.
Authority | Confidence | Doubt | Enough | Good | Humanity | Justice | Nations | Need | Purpose | Purpose | Right | Service | Time | Will | World |
Language is evidently one of the principle instruments or helps of thought; and any imperfection in the instrument, or in the mode of employing it, is confessedly liable, still more than in almost any other art, to confuse and impede the process, and destroy all ground of confidence in the result.
Confidence | Destroy | Imperfection |
Karl Popper, fully Sir Karl Raimund Popper
Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.
Confidence | Day | Failure | Problems | Failure |
Kurt Hahn, fully Kurt Martin "the rod" Hahn
Without self-discovery, a person may still have self confidence, but it is a self confidence built on ignorance and it melts in the face of heavy burdens. Self discovery is the end product of a great challenge mastered, when the mind commands the body to do the seemingly impossible, when courage and strength are summoned to extraordinary limits for the sake of something outside the self--a principle, an onerous task, another human life.
Body | Challenge | Confidence | Courage | Discovery | Ignorance | Mind | Self | Strength | Discovery |
Lao Tzu, ne Li Urh, also Laotse, Lao Tse, Lao Tse, Lao Zi, Laozi, Lao Zi, La-tsze
Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Non-being is the greatest joy.
Learned Hand, fully Billings Learned Hand
The mutual confidence on which all else depends can be maintained only by an open mind and a brave reliance upon free discussion.
Confidence | Mind |
Although we must keep all our confidence in our science,we must not blindly believe in its actual almightiness.
Lester Pearson, fully Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson
We must keep on trying to solve problems, one by one, stage by stage, if not on the basis of confidence and cooperation, at least on that of mutual toleration and self-interest.
Confidence | Toleration |
In healthy families, children discover (through being listened to) that what they have to say is important and that their experiences and ideas (and they themselves) have worth. They are encouraged to think for themselves, express opinions, and make decisions for themselves. Parents supporting them in standing on their own two feet and doing what they think is right. Trusting and gaining confidence in themselves, they develop an inner locus of control.
Children | Confidence | Ideas | Important | Parents | Think |
Body work must be approached with the same respect and attentiveness that one gives to dreams. The body has a wisdom of its own. However slowly and circuitously that wisdom manifests, once it is experienced it is a foundation, a basis of knowing that gives confidence and total support to the ego. To reach its wisdom requires absolute concentration: dropping the mind into the body, breathing into whatever is ready to be released, and allowing the process of expression until the negative, dammed energy is out, making room for the positive energy, genuine Light, to flood in.
Absolute | Attentiveness | Body | Confidence | Energy | Knowing | Mind | Respect | Wisdom | Work | Respect |