The Connection Joyce Brothers Made Between Self-Image and Success Still Applies Today

Often credited with being one of the first people to normalize what we’d now call “pop” (or “popular”) psychology, bringing these concepts to the American public in a mainstream manner, Joyce Brothers had a long life with many interesting side quests that led to a pretty robust career. She was an American psychologist, television personality, advice columnist, as well as a writer.

According to the Jewish Women’s Archive (JWA), Brothers earned her doctorate in psychology in 1953, but she made her “big break,” so to speak, two years later when she first appeared in the popular game show, The $64,000 Question. She made waves because she correctly answered hard boxing questions, which she knew thanks to her husband’s love of the sport.

She went on to spend seven weeks on the show, becoming the second person—and the only woman—to win the top prize, per JWA. This led to many more television appearances and all of the things she’s known best for. Our quote of the day is from Brothers and highlights some good advice about having a positive self-image and how it can lead to success. 

As the Cornell University Library reported, Brothers was born Joyce Diane Bauer on Oct. 21, 1927, in Queens, NY, to two attorney parents. She went on to attend Cornell at just the young age of 16, in 1944, graduating with a double major in psychology and home economics; then she received her PhD in psychology from Columbia University. 

They also reported that after she won it big on The $64,000 Question, she appeared in their spin-off show, The $64,000 Challenge, and won the top prize there as well. She got her own afternoon talk show in 1958, per JWA, and then a late-night show, where she would talk about children, love, sex and more—including “taboo” subjects that weren’t discussed on TV, let alone by a female host.

She appeared on national radio programs as well, and had syndicated columns in newspapers and magazines. Brothers even went on to act, appearing in shows like The Nanny (as herself) and movies like National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1. In Kathleen Collins’s 2016 book, Dr. Joyce Brothers: The Founding Mother of TV Psychology, she calls her “a conduit for learning about particularly American problems and fixations,” per Publishers Weekly. And with her reach, that was absolutely true. 

With such an illustrious career, today’s quote about success through confidence in yourself seems to really be something Brothers took to heart, considering all that she accomplished before she died in 2013 at the age of 85. 

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Quote of the Day by Joyce Brothers

“A strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success.”

This quote appears in the 2006 book, Wisdom for the Soul: Five Millennia of Prescriptions for Spiritual Healing, compiled and edited by Larry Chang. It’s a book of quotes that stand as affirmations. The book is broken down into 220 themes, with the “primary aim of the collection [being] self-help…” though it can be helpful for even speechwriters, quotation collectors and general readers, per the book’s description. 

Brothers’s quote appears under the section titled “Affirmation/Approval,” so all of these quotes have to do with self-love, how you see yourself and how you should be kind to yourself. The full quote reads as follows:

“An individual’s self-concept is the core of his personality. It affects every aspect of human behavior; the ability to learn, the capacity to grow and change, the choice of friends, mates and careers. It is no exaggeration to say that a strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success in life.”

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Deeper Meaning of Joyce Brothers’s Quote—Self-Image and Success

Joyce Brothers’s quote is a great reminder that when you think highly of yourself, you can tackle so many more things that come your way. If you trust your gut and your decision-making skills, if you have a strong self-image and know your worth, life is not only more pleasant—even in the face of adversity—but you are more well-equipped to handle tough situations.

It’s not good to be cocky, of course, but confidence isn’t inherently tied to arrogance. Being self-assured has everything to do with how you view yourself and your skills, rather than how you compare to others. 

If you are confident and have a “strong, positive self-image,” you are certainly more prepared to overcome obstacles and succeed, in the end.

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More Quotes from Joyce Brothers

• “Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success.”
• “Trust your hunches… Hunches are usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level.”
• “If you change nothing, nothing changes.”
• “Happiness hides in life’s small details. If you’re not looking, it becomes invisible.”
• “Studies indicate that the one quality all successful people have is persistence.”
• “The only people who don’t make mistakes are the people who don’t do anything.”

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