Underestimation Quotes & Sayings

Underestimation has its uses. — Sherry Turkle

His eyes slink over me. "I forgot to tell you- you look lovely."
Lovely. I want to laugh at his words. "You shouldn't have bothered with the compliment," I say, "I'm many things, and the least impressive of them is lovely."
.... Lovely. What a load of bullshit. — Laura Thalassa

Anxiety is sort of the opposite of ego. You're so sure you'll do everything wrong you're afraid to do anything at all. It results from over-motivation- leading to errors that lead to an underestimation of one's self. Work out your anxieties on paper and read. This calms the mind. — Robert M. Pirsig

I did not believe I was superior to him. Perhaps the chief reason for his defeat was the overestimation of his own powers arising out of his overwhelming victory in New York, 1927, and his underestimation of mine. — Alexander Alekhine

Hitler knew nothing about his enemies and even refused to use the information that was available to him. Instead, he trusted his inspirations, no matter how inherently contradictory they may be and these inspirations were governed by extreme contempt and underestimation of the others. — Albert Speer

Because one has to be an optimist to begin an ambitious project, it is not surprising that underestimation of completion time is the norm. — Fernando J. Corbato

Impatience is close to boredom but always results from one cause: an underestimation of the amount of time the job will take. — Robert M. Pirsig

Underestimation of nonconventional units or a guerrilla enemy by regular forces is a cardinal military sin. — Howard R. Simpson

But that's the thing about Outs. They are so far on the periphery that people underestimate them. And people don't realize that they've underestimated them until it's too late. — Roseanne Cheng

Our human race is affected by a chronic underestimation of the possibility of the future straying from the course initially envisioned (in addition to other biases that sometimes exert a compounding effect). To take an obvious example, think about how many people divorce. Almost all of them are acquainted with the statistic that between one-third and one-half of all marriages fail, something the parties involved did not forecast while tying the knot. Of course, "not us," because "we get along so well" (as if others tying the knot got along poorly). — Nassim Nicholas Taleb

We are whiplashed between an arrogant overestimation of ourselves and a servile underestimation of ourselves. — Parker J. Palmer

In contradistinction to the underestimation in the field of rocket science and the aerospace industry, Parsons' accomplishments in the arcane sciences have been highly overrated and grossly exaggerated. As a magician he was essentially a failure. As a Thelemite he learned the hard way what was required. He loved Crowley's 'Law' but couldn't adhere to it - though he tried harder than most. He violated the rules, undertook unauthorized and unorthodox magical operations, and claimed the grade of Magister Templi without first completing all the grades below it. He couldn't handle working under authority - his ego was too big. His record of failure is valuable in that regard. He was a great promulgator of thelemic ideals in his essays, but as an idealist his elitism ruined his work. Indeed, some would say he was guilt of hubris, which the gods always punish. — John Carter

I think inevitably over the course of my lifetime there's been an underestimation of the American people, and I believe they are really the ones that give me hope. There's so much of "they don't know this, and they don't know that," and they're always denigrating. — Lewis Black

Those who intend to destroy me, underestimate my ability to regenerate. — Aleksandra Ninkovic

You must consider that the librarian (if not overworked or neurotic) is happy when he can demonstrate two things: the quality of his memory and erudition and the richness of his library, especially if it is small. The more isolated and disregarded the library, the more the librarian is consumed with sorrow for its underestimation. A person who asks for help makes the librarian happy. — Umberto Eco

I mean, really: He called me 33 percent lesbian, which was a gross underestimation of my lesbian-ness. — Reese Witherspoon

There's always an element of self delusion among people who believe they ought to be President. There's an underestimation of your opponent and an overestimation of your own abilities. This is compatible with being rich and powerful, the idea that we were blessed by God because we deserve to be blessed. — Jimmy Carter

Across the board at the office there was a belief, an unproved theorem, about Coinman's blind faith in Ratiram; that if one thought Coinman could willingly sip a cup of Botulinum if Ratiram wished so, it still underestimated the reverence that dwelt in Coinman's heart for Ratiram. — Pawan Mishra

'Two things.'
'Name them. I am instructing you to name them.'
'I don't think you've been in love. Not recently, anyway. I'm not sure you remember what it's like. It compromises you. It takes over your body. Like a bareword. I think love is a bareword. That's the first thing.' Yeats didn't react. If anything, he seemed baffled. 'The second thing is I wouldn't characterize Harry as indecisive and untrained with weapons.' — Max Barry

If in the earlier part of the century, middle-class children suffered from overattentive mothers, from being "mother's only accomplishment," today's children may suffer from an underestimation of their needs. Our idea of what a child needs in each case reflects what parents need. The child's needs are thus a cultural football in an economic and marital game. — Arlie Russell Hochschild

The power of an idea is never to be underestimated. Many a thought has survived long after its host has ceased to be. It is the power of an idea that no shield can defend against, nor sword divide, nor poison infect. As such, we must aspire to create ideas, rather than preserve life. In a sense, this is how we achieve true immortality and live on past our time. — A.J. Darkholme