Don’t be afraid to assert yourself, have confidence in your abilities and don’t let the bastards get you down.

The line is a blunt piece of motivational advice: advocate for yourself, trust your competence, and resist discouragement from critics, rivals, or institutional pressures (“the bastards”). Its force comes from pairing self-assertion (“assert yourself”) with inner assurance (“confidence in your abilities”) and emotional resilience (“don’t let…get you down”). The phrasing echoes a long tradition of workplace and political toughness-talk, where success is framed as persistence amid opposition. Even without a verified occasion, the sentiment fits a pragmatic, competitive ethos: progress often requires pushing past intimidation and refusing to internalize others’ attempts to diminish you.