Last post, I wrote about five career quotes I thought were overrated, and why I felt that way about them. To balance it out, this week I’m writing about five underrated career quotes, and why I’m such a big fan of these ones. All of the quotes I’ve chosen today made the cut as underrated because they’re either uncommon or underused. So let’s jump in!

If you hear a voice inside you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.

Vincent Van Gogh

This is one of my all-time favourite quotes, because it speaks to a phenomenon that almost all of us have dealt with at least once in our lives. How often do we self-censor? How often does negative self-talk keep you from doing or trying something you’ve been interested in?

It’s human nature to want to be good at things. It’s what society values, and it’s deeply ingrained in us. Wanting to be good at something is healthy. But being afraid of sucking at something gets in the way of becoming good at it. Everyone starts at “suck” at works their way up.

Funny enough, for me one of the things this applied to was literally painting. I’ve always liked the idea of painting, but never considered myself good at it. I don’t have any natural talents for it; just an appreciation for the finished product. It took years and years for me to finally say “you know what, screw it – I’m going for it.” Am I a great painter because I did? Nope… but I’m a lot better than my first painting, and that’s the point of this quote.

The same is true for work. So often, we talk ourselves out of going for that job, or making that career pivot, because a voice in our head tells us we can’t do it; that we’ll fail if we try.

This quote reminds us that, often, that little voice doesn’t know shit.

All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.

Mark Twain

I love this quote for how it relates to expertise. When we hear the word “expert,” so often we conjure up images of someone who knows just about all there is to know about a particular subject. And that’s not wrong, for sure.

But let me offer another perspective.

What if, to be considered an expert, you just have to know a little more than your audience? Take me, for example. I have delivered financial literacy 101 seminars to family, friends, and friends of friends. Am I an expert?

It depends.

To hotshot portfolio managers who lead the world’s biggest mutual funds, absolutely not. I’m not even intermediate. But to my friends and family? Expert.

To me, what this quote is saying is that, when you stop thinking of knowledge, skills and expertise as sitting on an absolute spectrum, and start thinking about them as relative things, you’ll be able to get out of your own way on a great many things.

This one is about disregarding the fact that there are those out there who are better than you at what you do; except for one person, there always will be. Instead, be confident that you can do some things better than many, and focus on creating value for those individuals. If you do, success will follow.

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.

Alice Walker

I witness this often, both at work and outside of it. In psychology, this one is called “locus of control.” It’s the difference between someone who believes that life happens to them, and there’s nothing they can do about it, versus someone who believes that they have the power to influence how events in their life play out.

Personally, I fall firmly into the latter category, which is why I identify so strongly with this quote.

One way I see this manifest often in my line of work is in setting personal boundaries. I can’t express how many times I’ve heard stories of colleagues being mistreated by others, and feeling like they were powerless to do anything about it. “That’s just part of the job,” they would say.

Well not for me it isn’t. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect in the workplace, and while I can’t assure that for everyone, I can certainly fight vigorously to protect those rights for myself. I’ve been mistreated in my career too, and while I used to think it was “just part of the job,” I’ve come to see how wrong that was. Now, I will call out anyone who mistreats me… and some of the strongest working relationships I’ve built are with folks with whom I’ve had those conversations.

Point is, whether you think you have power or not, you’re spot-on about it.

The best revenge is massive success.

Frank Sinatra

Wishing for revenge on someone who did you wrong can become all-consuming, and it isn’t healthy. How I Met Your Mother did a great job of illustrating this with Barney Stinson. There was an episode where, through a series of flashbacks, Barney recalled a schoolyard bully who belittled Barney and bragged to him about how he slept with 100 women.

Barney went on to dedicate most of his adult life to beating that record, sleeping with 200 women just to get revenge on that bully. When he finally confronted the person all those years later, the guy was absolutely repulsed by the fact Barney had slept with so many women, revealing that he had made up the 100 women number when they were younger. He then pitied Barney for focusing on this, saying he had a problem (he wasn’t wrong).

This example illustrates the toxicity of dedicating too much headspace to the notion of getting revenge. Instead, I love ol’ Blue Eyes’ approach: take that energy and channel it into being really, really good at what you do. When you focus everything you have on living your very best life, that becomes its own revenge. Whatever wrongs you experience on your journey just become fuel for your fire.

And by the way, to any trolls out there who consider sleeping with 200 women massive success… seek help 🙂

When your work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt.

Henry J. Kaiser

The reason I think this quote is underrated is that, in my corner of the world, I feel we place too much emphasis on advocating for ourselves, publicly and visibly. As a result, promotions and rewards don’t always go to whoever is doing the most valuable work; they go to those who are perceived as doing the most valuable work.

I hate this.

It rewards the braggarts and the narcissists of the world far more often than they deserve. Don’t get me wrong; there are plenty of deserving people who also know how to advocate for themselves. But there are even more deserving people who don’t.

These are the unsung heroes that this quote celebrates and advocates for. This quote represents the true spirit of meritocracy the way it would ideally present itself. That, if you focus on delivering truly spectacular work, others will take notice and advocate for you on your behalf.

As someone who tries very hard not to be seen as a bragging, self-absorbed schmuck, I would love for my work to speak for itself. This quote also reminds me of the kind of leader I strive to be: one that speaks on behalf of their team’s work, so that their team doesn’t have to as much.

Call me old-fashioned, but I hold modesty as an ideal when it comes to work. Take pride, but don’t brag about it. Let others do that for you, and it will come across so much more powerfully.

Wrapping it Up

These quotes are some of my favourite ones that I feel are underused and underrated. I’d love to hear your thoughts though: what quotes would you add to this list, and why? Share them with the world in the comments section!