---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One is least sure of one's self…"
description: "\"One is least sure of one's self, sometimes, when one is most positive.\" — Conrad Aiken"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/472/conrad-aiken-9766_identity_one-is-least-sure-of-one-s-self-sometime_650091.jpg"
---

#  One is least sure of one's self, sometimes, when one is…

![“One is least sure of one's self, sometimes, when one is most positive.” quote by Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/472/conrad-aiken-9766_identity_one-is-least-sure-of-one-s-self-sometime_650091.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/472/conrad-aiken-9766_identity_one-is-least-sure-of-one-s-self-sometime_650091.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/472/conrad-aiken-9766_identity_one-is-least-sure-of-one-s-self-sometime_650091.jpg)

> “One is least sure of one's self, sometimes, when one is most positive.”

[Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Self‑doubt often surfaces when confidence peaks, revealing inner uncertainty despite outward optimism.

**In simple terms:** Confidence can hide self‑doubt.

Key Takeaway

Recognize hidden doubts.

Themes

self‑awareness confidence uncertainty

Mood

thoughtful introspective

Type

philosophical psychological

When to use this quote

- public speaking
- leadership
- creative work

Key Concepts

psychology self‑reflection

Questions to Reflect On

- When have you felt unsure despite feeling positive?
- How can you check for hidden doubts?

A Different Perspective

Overconfidence may mask real issues.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Positive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positive/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/)

## Related quotes

> [“To be myself (I note) I need the illumination of other people’s eyes, and therefore cannot be entirely sure what is my self.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/to-be-myself-i-note-i-need-the-illumination-of-other-people-s-eyes/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [I am concussed," I announced, entirely sure of my self-diagnosis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-am-concussed-i-announced-entirely-sure-of-my-self-diagnosis/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [If you really want to achieved your dreams you need to believe and trust to your self that you can do anything . Be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thormeliz-andrade/if-you-really-want-to-achieved-your-dreams-you-need-to-believe-and/)

[Thormeliz Andrade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thormeliz-andrade/)

> [Believe in self that you have positive energy within you, will enlighten your life with positive vibe &amp; that is greater than any obstacle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dranil-kr-sinha/believe-in-self-that-you-have-positive-energy-within-you-will/)

[DrAnil Kr Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dranil-kr-sinha/)

> [Life is not a problem to be solved, but a gift meant to be enjoyed. So don't stress your self. Be positive and good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-mae-bautista/life-is-not-a-problem-to-be-solved-but-a-gift-meant-to-be-enjoyed-so/)

[Anna Mae Bautista](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-mae-bautista/)

> [Change your thoughts, change your life. —LAO TZU When I was fighting depression, I remember hearing this expression and not understanding it at first.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demi-lovato/change-your-thoughts-change-your-life-lao-tzu-when-i-was-fighting/)

[Demi Lovato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demi-lovato/)

> [“We don't have to defeat any individual but our own self.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avijeet-das/we-don-t-have-to-defeat-any-individual-but-our-own-self/)

[Avijeet Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avijeet-das/)

> [“I can't be bound by a past self I don't remember.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-beth-durst/i-can-t-be-bound-by-a-past-self-i-don-t-remember/)

[Sarah Beth Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-beth-durst/)

> [In the quiet moments of your day, what do you think and do? When you are with your Self and no one else, how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/in-the-quiet-moments-of-your-day-what-do-you-think-and-do-when-you/)

[Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/)

> [ The self is defined psychologically as the psychic totality of the individual. Anything that a \[person\] postulates as being a greater totality than \[oneself\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/the-self-is-defined-psychologically-as-the-psychic-totality-of-the/)

[Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/)

> [“Do not own negative self-talk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asa-don-brown/do-not-own-negative-self-talk/)

[Asa Don Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asa-don-brown/)

> [“The service of self terminates at our own death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/the-service-of-self-terminates-at-our-own-death/)

[Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/)

> [It's difficult to believe in yourself because the idea of self is an artificial construction. You are, in fact, part of the glorious oneness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-brand/it-s-difficult-to-believe-in-yourself-because-the-idea-of-self-is-an/)

[Russell Brand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-brand/)

> [Our world is drowning in a sea of self-centeredness. You can make yourself quite unique right away by leaving this ocean of selfishness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bytheway/our-world-is-drowning-in-a-sea-of-self-centeredness-you-can-make/)

[John Bytheway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bytheway/)

> [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

## More by Conrad Aiken

> [It is moonlight. Alone in the silence I ascend my stairs once more, While waves remote in pale blue starlight Crash on a white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/it-is-moonlight-alone-in-the-silence-i-ascend-my-stairs-once-more/)

[Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/)

> [The truth--a hideous spectacle!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/the-truth-a-hideous-spectacle/)

[Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/)

> [“It was gentler here, softer, its seethe the quietest of whispers, as if, in deference to a drawing room, it had quite deliberately put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/it-was-gentler-here-softer-its-seethe-the-quietest-of-whispers-as-if/)

[Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/)

> [One cricket said to another - come, let us be ridiculous, and say love! love love love love love let us be absurd, woman,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/one-cricket-said-to-another-come-let-us-be-ridiculous-and-say-love/)

[Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/)

> [I began by doing book reviews on the typewriter and then went over to short stories on the machine, meanwhile sticking to pencil for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/i-began-by-doing-book-reviews-on-the-typewriter-and-then-went-over-to/)

[Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/)

> [“And the mist of snow, as he had foreseen, was still on it - a ghost of snow falling in the bright sunlight, softly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/and-the-mist-of-snow-as-he-had-foreseen-was-still-on-it-a-ghost-of/)

[Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/)

> [I think it's very useful to be insulated from your surrounds, because it gives you your inviolate privacy, without pressures, so that you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/i-think-it-s-very-useful-to-be-insulated-from-your-surrounds-because/)

[Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/)

> [Death is one dream out of another flowing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/death-is-one-dream-out-of-another-flowing/)

[Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/)

> [The wind shrieks, the wind grieves; It dashes the leaves on walls, it whirls then again; And the enormous sleeper vaguely and stupidly dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/the-wind-shrieks-the-wind-grieves-it-dashes-the-leaves-on-walls-it/)

[Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/)

> [Death is never an ending, death is a change; Death is beautiful, for death is strange; Death is one dream out of another flowing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/death-is-never-an-ending-death-is-a-change-death-is-beautiful-for/)

[Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/)

> [As poetry is the highest speech of man, it can not only accept and contain, but in the end express best everything in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/as-poetry-is-the-highest-speech-of-man-it-can-not-only-accept-and/)

[Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/)

> [Youth yearns to youth, full blood loves full blood only.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/youth-yearns-to-youth-full-blood-loves-full-blood-only/)

[Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/)

> [For in this walk, this voyage, it is yourself, the profound history of your 'self,' that now as always you encounter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/for-in-this-walk-this-voyage-it-is-yourself-the-profound-history-of/)

[Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/)

> [Life is the thing--the song of life-- The eager plow, the thirsty knife!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/life-is-the-thing-the-song-of-life-the-eager-plow-the-thirsty-knife/)

[Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/)

> [Music I heard with you was more than music, and bread I broke with you was more than bread. Now that I am without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/music-i-heard-with-you-was-more-than-music-and-bread-i-broke-with-you/)

[Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/)

[Explore all 70 Conrad Aiken quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/)

## More Identity quotes

> [I don't doubt that straight white men have identity issues and identity complexes and struggle with defining themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-simien/i-don-t-doubt-that-straight-white-men-have-identity-issues-and/)

[Justin Simien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-simien/)

> [In the hearing world, I'm constantly having to lip-read and trying to understand what's going on. Sign language is so beautiful. It gives you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-ayling-ellis/in-the-hearing-world-i-m-constantly-having-to-lip-read-and-trying-to/)

[Rose Ayling-Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-ayling-ellis/)

> [I think the next 50 years are going to present the human race with challenges that so far exceed the limitations of geopolitical boundaries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-quinto/i-think-the-next-50-years-are-going-to-present-the-human-race-with/)

[Zachary Quinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-quinto/)

> [You have expressive nationalism, I mean very identity driven, which shaped each other a lot of that in the Middle East.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/you-have-expressive-nationalism-i-mean-very-identity-driven-which/)

[Subrahmanyam Jaishankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/)

> [Family over friends, because real friends are family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/family-over-friends-because-real-friends-are-family/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I think everybody, or the great majority of human beings, have this aspiration to become other: to live a different identity, at least for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/i-think-everybody-or-the-great-majority-of-human-beings-have-this/)

[Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/)

> [The language we share is at the core of our identity as citizens, and our ticket to full participation in American political life. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-i-hayakawa/the-language-we-share-is-at-the-core-of-our-identity-as-citizens-and/)

[S. I. Hayakawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-i-hayakawa/)

> [Tell me how much a nation knows about its own language, and I will tell you how much that nation knows about its own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/tell-me-how-much-a-nation-knows-about-its-own-language-and-i-will/)

[John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/)

> [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“In the worldly life, due to maadakta (intoxication of the ego of ‘I am Chandubhai’), one has completely lost awareness of everything about one’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/in-the-worldly-life-due-to-maadakta-intoxication-of-the-ego-of-i-am/)

[Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/)

> [“At the moment, then, of Man’s victory over Nature, we find the whole human race subjected to some individual men, and those individuals subjected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/at-the-moment-then-of-man-s-victory-over-nature-we-find-the-whole/)

[C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/)

> [She might be without country, without nation, but inside her there was still a being that could exist and be free, that could simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-maas/she-might-be-without-country-without-nation-but-inside-her-there-was/)

[Sharon Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-maas/)

> [“Self-realization or self-knowing or awakening is about knowing/ becoming conscious of our true nature and living in harmony with the universe in an ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-vazhakunnathu/self-realization-or-self-knowing-or-awakening-is-about-knowing/)

[Thomas Vazhakunnathu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-vazhakunnathu/)

> [“There are some things that one individual can do for another, and there are some things that one race can do for another. But,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/there-are-some-things-that-one-individual-can-do-for-another-and/)

[Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/)

> [“Why were there no words that spoke positively about being concerned about the self? Why was there only negative connotation in terms like "selfish",…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-dalton/why-were-there-no-words-that-spoke-positively-about-being-concerned/)

A.J. Dalton

[Browse all 11,949 Identity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "One is least sure of one's self, sometimes, when one is most positive.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Conrad Aiken"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/one-is-least-sure-of-one-s-self-sometimes-when-one-is-most-positive/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Identity"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/one-is-least-sure-of-one-s-self-sometimes-when-one-is-most-positive/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/472/conrad-aiken-9766_identity_one-is-least-sure-of-one-s-self-sometime_650091.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/472/conrad-aiken-9766_identity_one-is-least-sure-of-one-s-self-sometime_650091.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/472/conrad-aiken-9766_identity_one-is-least-sure-of-one-s-self-sometime_650091.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“One is least sure of one's self, sometimes, when one is most positive.” — Conrad Aiken",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Conrad Aiken",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "One is least sure of one's...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/one-is-least-sure-of-one-s-self-sometimes-when-one-is-most-positive/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/one-is-least-sure-of-one-s-self-sometimes-when-one-is-most-positive/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
