“For this reason the gentleman will employ a man on a distant mission and observe his degree of loyalty, will employ him close at hand and observe his degree of respect. He will hand him troublesome affairs and observe how well he manages them, will suddenly ask his advice and observe how wisely he answers. He will exact some difficult promise from him and see how well he keeps it, turn over funds to him and see with what benevolence he dispenses them, inform him of the danger he is in and note how faithful he is to his duties. He will get him drunk with wine and observe how well he handles himself, place him in mixed company and see what effect beauty has upon him. By applying these nine tests, you may determine who is the unworthy man.”
― Confucius

“Sometimes we self-sabotage just when things seem to be going smoothly. Perhaps this is a way to express our fear about whether it is okay for us to have a better life. We are bound to feel anxious as we leave behind old notions of our unworthiness. The challenge is not to be fearless, but to develop strategies of acknowledging our fears and finding out how we can allay them.”
― Maureen Brady, Beyond Survival: A Writing Journey for Healing Childhood Sexual Abuse

“Don't let society fool you into believing that if you don't have a girlfriend or boyfriend then you're destined for a life of misery. The Dalai Lama has been single for the last 80 years and he is one of the happiest people on earth. Stop searching for happiness in places outside of yourself, and start finding it where it has always been: within you.”
― Miya Yamanouchi, Embrace Your Sexual Self: A Practical Guide for Women

“In general I lacked principally the ability to provide even in the slightest detail for the real future. I thought only of things in the present and their present condition, not because of thoroughness or any special, strong interest, but rather, to the extent that weakness in thinking was not the cause, because of sorrow and fear – sorrow, because the present was so sad for me that I thought I could not leave it before it resolved itself into happiness; fear, because, like my fear of the slightest action in the present, I also considered myself, in view of my contemptible, childish appearance, unworthy of forming a serious, responsible opinion of the great, manly future which usually seemed so impossible to me that every short step forward appeared to me to be counterfeit and the next step unattainable.”
― Franz Kafka, Diaries, 1910-1923

“... there are other proud people who have low self-esteem. They feel they haven't lived up to their potential. They feel unworthy. They want to hide and disappear, to fade into the background and nurse their own hurts. We don't associate them with pride, but they are still, at root, suffering from the same disease. They are still yoking happiness to accomplishment; it's just that they are giving themselves a D- rather than an A+. They tend to be just as solipsistic, and in their own way as self-centered, only in a self-pitying and isolating way rather than in an assertive and bragging way.”
― David Brooks, The Road to Character

“Shy, what is it?
I say it is intrigued by pride
and hesitated by
a feeling of being unworthy.”
― ferrrer joey palomar fesico

“But a generation that does not aspire to seriousness, to meaning, is unworthy to walk in the shadow of those who have gone before, I mean those who have struggled and surmounted, I mean those who have aspired, I mean Rembrandt, I mean Turner, I mean Michelangelo and Matisse … I mean obviously Rothko.”
― John Logan, Red

“The empty chair in your heart should remain empty forever rather than someone unworthy sitting in there”
― Munia Khan, Fireclay

“Stop giving the best part of you to those unworthy of that gift.”
― Carlos Wallace, Life Is Not Complicated-You Are: Turning Your Biggest Disappointments into Your Greatest Blessings

“Often the circumstances in which we lost our self-esteem were relationships distinguished by a steeply unequal power balance.
Our spellcasters were parents. Teachers. Bullies. So-called friends. Strangers. Romantic partners. Cliques. Coworkers. Your spellcaster was the mean first grader. Or the psycho in the dark. Or the town, school, Scout troop, spiritual community, family, neighborhood that did not understand your type, whatever that type was. Your spellcaster could even be society at large, that nameless, faceless "them" with boundless power and a thousand biases.
And it became unbearable to be the bullied one, the hounded one, the outcast and excluded one. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, the old saying goes. Others hated us, or appeared to. We joined 'em.”
― Anneli Rufus, Unworthy: How to Stop Hating Yourself

“No one can touch us. We are unbelievable.”
― Ljupka Cvetanova, The New Land

“Nothingness is the most peaceful state of mind. There’s no unworthiness or inferiority. There’s only pure love.”
― Yong Kang Chan, Empty Your Cup: Why We Have Low Self-Esteem and How Mindfulness Can Help

“Sometimes I think about Cardan when I am lying there. I think about what it must have been like to grow up as an honoured member of the royal family, powerful and unloved. Fed on cat milk and neglect, To be arbitrarily beaten by the brother you most resembled and who most seemed to care for you.

Imagine all those courtiers bowing to you, allowing you to hiss and slap at them. But no matter how many of them you humiliated or hurt, you would always know someone had found them worthy of love, when no one had ever found you worthy.
...
I would be stupid to think I knew Cardan's heart from his story. But I wonder at it.

I wonder what would have happened if I'd admitted he wasn't out of my system.”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“There are people who know where they want to be, and also have a roadmap in their mind, about how to get there. But something stops them! They either keep waiting for better circumstances, or simply lack the courage to give up the comfort of a secure life. For them, the pursuit of their purpose is a risky proposition. Often, those are the same people that die with the weight of regrets. Those are the people who feel unfulfilled or unworthy at the end of their journey. They bury their dreams for the sake of a safe life, without ever venturing into the world of possibilities. But the truth is that if you risk nothing for the pursuit of your passion, you risk more. An even deeper reality is that there’s never a perfect time; the most ideal and opportune time is the time when YOU choose to begin your journey. Find courage to take the first step today. Your age, your pace, or your handicap doesn’t matter. Nothing is insurmountable if you have passion and persistence – your heart knows this. You simply have to convince your mind to play along. Find your moments of courage – the times when you feel strong, able, and energized. Tap those moments to launch yourself; the world beckons!”
― Manprit Kaur

“If you are going to stop the world you must claim your power, but no man can claim his power if he feels unworthy of it.”
― Théun Mares, Cry of the Eagle: The Toltec Teachings Volume 2

“Maybe you’re not perfect, but you certainly are not unworthy. You are beautiful. A flower with a petal still unfurled does not lack in fragrance.”
― Mona Soorma, Soul Food And Instant Karma

“I'm totally unworthy of this love which you are offering to me.”
― Iris Murdoch, The Black Prince

“Sometimes I regret being nice, apologizing when I didn't do anything wrong, and for making unworthy people a priority in my life.”
― Nitya Prakash

“Without the mind, the idea of worthiness would not exist.”
― Yong Kang Chan, Empty Your Cup: Why We Have Low Self-Esteem and How Mindfulness Can Help

“You have no choice about what gets poured into your cup, but you have a choice as to what you accept and believe.”
― Yong Kang Chan, Empty Your Cup: Why We Have Low Self-Esteem and How Mindfulness Can Help

“The life becomes unworthy, and even alone if one breaks the trust.”
― Ehsan Sehgal

“I had known always that he was in love with her. Why did he just not say he loved her? He could have; to me. Was I not his best friend? Perhaps he knew that he was not worthy of her.”
― Mukta Singh-Zocchi, Game of Big Numbers

“Taking pride in your own worthiness makes you unworthy! Beware.” ”
― Ramana Pemmaraju

“Blessed are you who speaks to the unworthy.”
― Leonard Cohen, Book of Mercy

“Life becomes unworthy and even alone if one breaks the trust.”
― Ehsan Sehgal

“Don’t be so foolish as to deny a destructive outcome because you’ve become convinced of the worthiness of an unworthy cause.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“But was I purposely pushing the envelope and happy-dancing over the line in hopes of being found unworthy and stripped of my status?

That was... that would be incredibly irrational.

I could be quite irrational.

Like when I saw a spider, I behaved as if it were the size of a horse with the cold calculation of an assassin. That was irrational.”
― Jennifer L. Armentrout, From Blood and Ash

“I'm so incredibly unworthy of you,' ...”
― Jennifer L. Armentrout, A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire

“Every time I look at you, I see a gift I'm not worthy of.'

My breath caught as my heart swelled. It wasn't new- him saying things like that. What was new was me believing him. 'You are worthy,' I told him. 'Most of the time.'

He cracked a grin. 'I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me.”
― Jennifer L. Armentrout, A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire

“No matter how low life has put you, no matter how deep the pain sits, never believe that you are unworthy and unloved. God doesn't make mistakes; He makes miracles.”
― Allene vanOirschot, I TALKED TO GOD TODAY: 4 Week Devotional Prayer Journal Pain, Suffering and Daily Living