Lord Byron on how to develop self-confidence

    Lord Byron once advised a young writer:   

The first thing a young writer must expect, and yet can least of all suffer, is criticism. I did not bear it – a few years, and many changes have since passed over my head, and my reflections on that subject are attended with regret. I find, on dispassionate comparison, my own revenge more than the provocation warranted. It is true, I was very young, - that might be an excuse to those I attacked - but to me it is none. The best reply to all objections is to write better, and if your enemies will not then do you justice, the world will. On the other hand, you should not be discouraged; to be opposed is not to be vanquished, though a timid mind is apt to mistake every scratch for a mortal wound. There is a saying of Dr. Johnson’s, which it is as well to remember, that “no man was ever written down except by himself.” I hope you will meet with as few obstacles as yourself can desire; but if you should, you will find that they are to be stepped over; to kick them down is the first resolve of a young and fiery spirit, a pleasant thing enough at the time, but not so afterwards. . . . (Quoted from The Life of the Creative Spirit, p. 296.)

    For a brief biography of Lord Byron, click here.