--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: With the confidence and peace of mind…" description: "\"“With the confidence and peace of mind native to true genius, I lay my life story before the world, so that the reader may learn how to educate himself..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c1/e-t-a-hoffmann-2-31616_books_with-the-confidence-and-peace-of-mind-na_323020.jpg" --- # With the confidence and peace of mind native to true… ![“With the confidence and peace of mind native to true genius, I lay my life story before the world, so that the reader may learn how to educate himself to be a great tomcat, may recognize the full extent of my excellence, may love, value, honour and admire me- and worship me a little. Should anyone…” quote by E.T.A. Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c1/e-t-a-hoffmann-2-31616_books_with-the-confidence-and-peace-of-mind-na_323020.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c1/e-t-a-hoffmann-2-31616_books_with-the-confidence-and-peace-of-mind-na_323020.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c1/e-t-a-hoffmann-2-31616_books_with-the-confidence-and-peace-of-mind-na_323020.jpg) > ““With the confidence and peace of mind native to true genius, I lay my life story before the world, so that the reader may learn how to educate himself to be a great tomcat, may recognize the full extent of my excellence, may love, value, honour and admire me- and worship me a little. Should anyone be audacious enough to think of casting doubt on the sterling worth of this remarkable book, let him reflect that he is dealing with a tomcat possessed of intellect, understanding, and sharp claws.”” [E.T.A. Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author boasts his genius, demanding admiration while warning against doubt. **In simple terms:** He flaunts his brilliance and expects reverence. Key Takeaway Recognize humility alongside confidence. Themes pride confidence self‑promotion Mood cynical playful Type satire literary commentary When to use this quote - public speaking - self‑promotion - leadership Key Concepts ego self‑esteem literary satire Questions to Reflect On - Do you value humility over bragging? - When is confidence appropriate? A Different Perspective Excessive self‑praise can alienate others. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Confidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confidence/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-story/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Peace of mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace-of-mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [True genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-genius/) ## Related quotes > [ “Initially, you grasp \[knowledge\] through the ‘light’ of the intellect and then the understanding arises, and thereafter a state in which there is absence of anger-pride-deceit-greed and attachment-abhorrence… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/initially-you-grasp-knowledge-through-the-light-of-the-intellect-and/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [“Inexperience people think that books will lead the one of intellect to understanding. 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Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/) > [“So true it is, that even the shortest step out of the immediate circle of one's best friends, is equal, in effect, to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/so-true-it-is-that-even-the-shortest-step-out-of-the-immediate-circle/) [E.T.A. Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/) > [“We believed in another world, but we admitted the feebleness of our senses. Then came 'enlightenment,' and made everything so very clear and enlightened,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/we-believed-in-another-world-but-we-admitted-the-feebleness-of-our/) [E.T.A. Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/) > [“It may be, after all," said the Student Anselmus to himself, "that the superfine stomachic liqueur, which I took somewhat freely in Monsieur Conradi's,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/it-may-be-after-all-said-the-student-anselmus-to-himself-that-the/) [E.T.A. Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/) > [“But if, like a bold painter, you had first sketched in a few audacious strokes the outline of the picture you had in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/but-if-like-a-bold-painter-you-had-first-sketched-in-a-few-audacious/) [E.T.A. Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/) > [“None but a poet can understand a poet; none but a romantic spirit transported with poetry and consecrated in the Holy of Holies an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/none-but-a-poet-can-understand-a-poet-none-but-a-romantic-spirit/) [E.T.A. Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/) > [“If there is a dark and hostile power, laying its treacherous toils within us, by which it holds us fast and draws us along…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/if-there-is-a-dark-and-hostile-power-laying-its-treacherous-toils/) [E.T.A. Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/) > [“She was not too tall, and of a voluptuous build, so that my eyes wandered amid many charms that hitherto had been strangers to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/she-was-not-too-tall-and-of-a-voluptuous-build-so-that-my-eyes/) [E.T.A. Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/) > [“Perhaps, too, you will then believe that nothing is more wonderful, nothing more fantastic than real life, and that all that a writer can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/perhaps-too-you-will-then-believe-that-nothing-is-more-wonderful/) [E.T.A. Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/) > [“There are... otherwise quite decent people who are so dull of nature that they believe that they must attribute the swift flight of fancy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/there-are-otherwise-quite-decent-people-who-are-so-dull-of-nature/) [E.T.A. Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/) [Explore all 11 E.T.A. Hoffmann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-t-a-hoffmann-2/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. 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