Why should we worry about what others think of us, do we have more confidence in their opinions than we do our own?

The saying urges independence of judgment and a disciplined indifference to social approval. By framing the issue as a question of “confidence,” it suggests that anxiety about reputation often rests on an implicit belief that other people’s assessments are more reliable than one’s own conscience and reason. Read this way, the line functions as a moral and psychological corrective: self-respect and principled self-evaluation should outweigh fluctuating public opinion. It also implies a hierarchy of authority—personal integrity (and, in a religious context, one’s accountability before God) should govern conduct more than the crowd’s praise or blame.