It is a good thing to know one's own powers sufficiently well to
undertake only such tasks as are certainly within the scope of one's
abilities.

To believe oneself more capable than one really is, is a fault that is
far too common. It is, nevertheless, less harmful in the long run than
the failing which is its exact antithesis. Lack of confidence in one's
own powers is the source of every kind of feebleness and of all
unsuccess.

It is for this reason that poise never can exist without another
quality, that correctness of judgment which, in giving us the breadth of
mind to know exactly how much we are capable of, permits us to undertake
our tasks without boasting and without hesitation.

Soundness of judgment is the faculty of being able to appreciate the
merits of our neighbors without cherishing any illusions as to our own,
and of being able to do this so exactly that we can with assurance carry
out to its end any undertaking, knowing that the result must be, barring
accidents, precisely what we have foreseen.

This being the case, what possible reason can we have for depreciating
ourselves or for lacking poise?

Timid people suffer without recognizing their own defects in the matter
of insight.

They torture themselves by building their judgments upon indications and
not upon facts.