"We cannot perform our tasks to the best of our power, unless we think well of our own capacity"
About this Quote
Godwin isn’t offering a self-help mantra so much as smuggling a political premise into a sentence about psychology: competence is inseparable from confidence, and confidence is not evenly distributed by nature. “We cannot” is doing heavy lifting. It turns what sounds like advice into a constraint, a quiet indictment of any society that trains people to doubt themselves and then blames them for underperforming.
The line’s force comes from its plain, almost mechanical logic. “Tasks,” “power,” “capacity” read like terms from moral philosophy rather than romantic inspiration. Godwin, writing in the wake of the French Revolution and in the thick of Enlightenment debates about reason and education, treats the self as something shaped by environment. If people are made timid, deferential, or ashamed, that isn’t a private failing; it’s the predictable output of institutions that reward obedience and punish initiative.
The subtext is anti-hierarchical. In an age when class and gender were often defended as destiny, “think well of our own capacity” becomes a quiet rebuttal to inherited inferiority. It also anticipates Godwin’s broader belief in perfectibility: improvement isn’t a miracle or a gift; it’s what happens when a person is allowed to regard themselves as an agent rather than an object.
There’s a sting here for modern work culture, too. Organizations love the language of “performance” while starving workers of autonomy, security, or respect. Godwin’s sentence suggests you can’t spreadsheet your way around morale: dignity is an input, not a perk.
The line’s force comes from its plain, almost mechanical logic. “Tasks,” “power,” “capacity” read like terms from moral philosophy rather than romantic inspiration. Godwin, writing in the wake of the French Revolution and in the thick of Enlightenment debates about reason and education, treats the self as something shaped by environment. If people are made timid, deferential, or ashamed, that isn’t a private failing; it’s the predictable output of institutions that reward obedience and punish initiative.
The subtext is anti-hierarchical. In an age when class and gender were often defended as destiny, “think well of our own capacity” becomes a quiet rebuttal to inherited inferiority. It also anticipates Godwin’s broader belief in perfectibility: improvement isn’t a miracle or a gift; it’s what happens when a person is allowed to regard themselves as an agent rather than an object.
There’s a sting here for modern work culture, too. Organizations love the language of “performance” while starving workers of autonomy, security, or respect. Godwin’s sentence suggests you can’t spreadsheet your way around morale: dignity is an input, not a perk.
Quote Details
| Topic | Confidence |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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