A Quote by Paul Watzlawick

A self-fulfilling prophecy is an assumption or prediction that, purely as a result of having been made, cause the expected or predicted event to occur and thus confirms its own 'accuracy.'

Paul Watzlawick

Quote Topics

Accuracy Assumption Been Cause Event Expected Fulfilling Having Made Occur Own Predicted Prediction Prophecy Purely Result Self Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Thus

Quote Author

Paul Watzlawick
Austrian - Psychologist
July 25, 1921 - March 31, 2007

The self-fulfilling prophecy is, in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the originally false conception come true. The specious validity of the self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuates a reign of error. For the prophet will cite the actual course of events as proof that he was right from the very beginning.

Robert K. Merton

The only thing I hate worse than prophecy is self-fulfilling prophecy

Bill Maher

Pessimism is not only unwarranted, it is also a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you think the cause is lost, it will be. No one works hard for a cause they think will lose.

Lawrence Reed

Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy.

Brian Tracy

Positive self-expectancy is the first, most outwardly identifiable quality of a top-achieving, winning human being. Positive self-expectancy is pure and simple optimism: real enthusiasm for everything you do... [while] expecting the most favorable result from your own actions. There never was a winner who didn't expect to win in advance. Winners understand that life is a self-fulfilling prophecy. And they know that you usually get what you expect in the long run.

Denis Waitley

Skepticism about the potential to achieve the kinds of breakthroughs we need has been a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Ted Nordhaus

I believe that only short-term price swings can be predicted with any precision. The accuracy of a prediction drops off dramatically, the more distant the forecast time. I'm a strong believer in chaos theory.

Linda Bradford Raschke

In our own lives, having a mind-set of expecting to win increases our odds of winning. It helps us get better results. And better results help us increase our credibility and self-confidence, which leads to more positive self-expectancy, and more winning - and the upward cycle continues. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.