Thin Skin and Thick Skin

As a child and being in possession of a shy temperament wary of strangers and new social situations my parents would often childe me with the phrase "you need to have a thicker skin". That is to have stronger armour against the vagaries of life, of other's opinions. The reason that this phrase has floated to the surface of my consciousness is because quite recently a dear friend mentioned that the reason why some men were more confident than others was because "they really didn't care that much" not because they were necessarily inherently better, wittier or more beautiful...but just simplistically because they cared less, had a thicker skin and therefore appeared more confident. Thinking about it, I have to agree ~