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With confidence you have won even before you have started.

With confidence you have won even before you have started.

If you have no confidence in self you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence you have won even before you have started”

Marcus Garvey — the Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey edited by Amy Jacques Garvey

That is a quote from the Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey edited by Amy Jacques Garvey. It is one of the most widely known quotes by him. It generates nearly 400 results in a verbatim search on Google books and produces nearly 5,000 results on a verbatim search on Google. It is one of many quotes which can be found in the book Emancipated From Mental Slavery: Selected Sayings of Marcus Garvey, the title of which is also another quote from him.

With confidence you have won even before you have started is a quote that can be found in the book Emancipated From Mental Slavery.
Cover for the book Emancipated From mental Slavery Selected Sayings of Marcus Garvey

Emancipated From Mental Slavery: Selected Sayings of Marcus Garvey uses as its sources The Negro World Weekly Newspaper, The Blackman Magazine, and The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey. The title is taken from the speech Garvey gave at Menelik Hall in Sydney, Nova Scotia on October 31, 1937 entitled the Work That Has Been Done and immortalized by Bob Marley in Redemption Song.

Watch video of Redemption Song by Bob Marley where image of Marcus Garvey is shown when the lyrics “we got to fulfill the book” are sung at 2:30.

What’s most intriguing about the “Confidence” quote is how loaded with nuance it is. “Twice defeated” is basically a category for research in itself. Full of meaning, a closer look shows that defeat happens twice which seems to echo Shakespeare:

William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

“A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once. It seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.”

William Shakespeare “Julius Caesar”

The person who lacks confidence suffers two defeats, just the same as the coward. In the case of the self-doubter, their defeat happens first in their mind. Inevitably, that defeat then becomes real, because, their mind makes it so. This also references a quote from Garvey in the epic essay “African Fundamentalism” written while he was held hostage in Atlanta Penitentiary.

“Mind, creates and as much as we desire in nature we can have through the creation of our own minds.” — Marcus Garvey “African Fundamentalism”

Likewise, the confident also have won, because their win is first in their mind and then becomes real. Psychology Today speaks of this as well. Amazing how some people need college degrees and Pee Aitch Dees to get what Garvey gives us for free or at least the price of a book.

By Nnamdi Azikiwe

The Mhotep Corporation uses its Keyamsha The Awakening brand to heighten perceptions and expand awareness. By producing content that engages, entertains and educates we create value for value relationships with our audience for mutual benefit. Mhotep is derived from the name of the architect and builder of the first pyramid in Kemet, so-called ancient Egypt. I formed the Mhotep Corporation in 2003 to produce and distribute 3D animation videos based on traditional African stories. Since then it has evolved to being a media production company including books. In a previous life I worked as a systems analyst developing solutions for government and multinational organizations. Born and educated in Washington, D.C. I have traveled to several places including Haiti, the Bahamas, Mexico, Canada, Nigeria (several times), Ethiopia (several times), Benin, Togo, and South Africa. I am married with three children.

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