Top 32 Overconfidence Quotes & Sayings

Overconfidence is a powerful source of illusions, primarily determined by the quality and coherence of the story that you can construct, not by its validity.

Courage is willingness to take the risk once you know the odds. Optimistic overconfidence means you are taking the risk because you don't know the odds. It's a big difference.

Doubt is not the enemy of justice; overconfidence is.

Except for some effects that I attribute mostly to age, my intuitive thinking is just as prone to overconfidence, extreme predictions, and the planning fallacy as it was before I made a study of these issues.

Incompetence is certainty in the absence of expertise. Overconfidence is certainty in the presence of expertise.

I've been asked a lot lately what message is there in the Lusitania for the modern day. To be honest, not much. Except that maybe hubris and overconfidence are always dangerous things.

I am scared of my overconfidence.

That's one of the real dangers of leader selection in many organizations: leaders are selected for overconfidence.

Sometimes it's difficult to accept, to recognise one's own mistakes, but one must do it. I was guilty of overconfidence and arrogance, and I was punished for that.

My biggest problem is overconfidence.

When sharing your ideas, overconfidence is a killer. You don't want your male coworkers to think you're getting all uppity. Instead, downplay your ideas as just 'thinking out loud,' 'throwing something out there,' or sharing something 'dumb,' 'random,' or 'crazy.'

In their leaders, advisers, and experts, people much prefer overconfidence, total certainty, to any kind of doubt.

Every woman knows what I'm talking about. It’s the presumption that makes it hard, at times, for any woman in any field; that keeps women from speaking up and from being heard when they dare; that crushes young women into silence by indicating, the way harassment on the street does, that this is not their world. It trains us in self-doubt and self-limitation just as it exercises men’s unsupported overconfidence.

I don't think there is a thing like overconfidence in chess. It's always better to be too confident than too reluctant.

... overconfidence in one's own ability is the root of much evil. Vanity, egoism, is the deadliest of all characteristics. This vanity, combined with extreme ignorance of conditions the knowledge of which is the very A B C of business and of life, produces more shipwrecks and heartaches than any other part of our mental make-up.

Self esteem is not the same as being self centered, self absorbed or selfish. Self esteem is also not complacency or overconfidence, both of which and set us up for failure. Self esteem is a strong motivator to work hard. Self esteem is related to mental health and happiness.

Incompetence annoys me. Overconfidence terrifies me.

Doubt is often better than overconfidence, for it leads to inquiry, and inquiry leads to invention.

I lull them into a false sense of security by watching me pitch... If overconfidence can cause the Roman Empire to fall, I ought to be able to get a ground ball.

Overconfidence has never been my problem.

In strategic decisions, I'd be really concerned about overconfidence.

Overconfidence comes from fear and doubt, and you boast an ego when you're feeling less than.

A certain death of an artist is overconfidence.

I'm very confident in what I do, but I'd like to think I don't ever show any kind of cockiness or overconfidence.

Companies selling a product play down its vulnerability and emphasize its robustness. But only after technology leaves the dock is it really tested. For human operators in control of a supposedly infallible system, complacency and overconfidence can take over, and caution may be thrown to the wind.

People exaggerate their confidence in their plans - something we call the planning fallacy... The existence of the plan tends to induce overconfidence.

If overconfidence can cause the Roman Empire to fall, I ought to be able to get a ground ball.

The hedge fund known as "Long Term Capital Management" collapsed last fall through overconfidence in its highly leveraged methods, despite I.Q.'s of its principals that must have averaged 160. Smart people aren't exempt from professional disasters from overconfidence. Often, they just run aground in the more difficult voyages they choose, relying on their self-appraisals that they have superior talents and methods.

To a winner, complacency and overconfidence can be destructive. To losers, desperation and despondency are just as harmful.

There's a lot of overconfidence about this bill. We're going to expose it. It will not pass.

Sometimes its difficult to accept, to recognise ones own mistakes, but one must do it. I was guilty of overconfidence and arrogance, and I was punished for that.

The illusion that we understand the past fosters overconfidence in our ability to predict the future.