Self-love has been getting a lot of media attention lately and for good reason. It’s one of the most important habits that most people don’t practice.
When most people hear the term “self-love” they often imagine someone who is egocentric or narcissistic. This is not the kind of self-love that I am talking about. I am talking about loving yourself unconditionally for the person that you are and not because of your accomplishments or accolades.
Real self-love has the power to transform and inspire. Have you ever met someone who radiated self confidence but not in an egotistical kind of way? I bet you have. In fact, I would guess that most people know someone like this.
But what makes this person so confident and self-assured? Well, self-love certainly plays a big role. People who practice self-love aren’t desperate for other people’s affection and approval. They don’t need it. They have tapped in to their own internal supply.
They are confident in who they are and they like the person that they see in the mirror. People can pick up on this. The signs are subtle, but humans are good at reading body language.
People find this kind of self confidence attractive. Some people would describe a person with this quality as being magnetic. They feel naturally drawn to them and feel good being around them.
This is the power of self-love.
The person that deserves most of your love is you. This might be a tough pill to swallow but it’s true. If you can’t love yourself then it’s going to be difficult for you to love others.
Think of loving yourself as your moral duty. The more love you have for yourself, the more love you can give to others.
In this article I list 101 quotes to encourage more self-love.
1.“The only person who can pull me down is myself, and I’m not going to let myself pull me down anymore.” – C. JoyBell C.
2. “The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.” – C.G. Jung
3. “If you have the ability to love, love yourself first.” – Charles Bukowski
4. “how you love yourself is how you teach others to love you” – Rupi Kaur
5. “Your time is way too valuable to be wasting on people that can’t accept who you are.” – Turcois Ominek
6. “I now see how owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.” – Brene Brown
7. “Document the moments you feel most in love with yourself – what you’re wearing, who you’re around, what you’re doing. Recreate and repeat.” – Warsan Shire
8. “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” – Buddha
9. “A person learns how to love himself through the simple acts of loving and being loved by someone else.” – Haruki Murakami
10. “The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself.” – Steve Maraboli
11. “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” – Lucille Ball
12. “Self-care is never a selfish act—it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer to others.” – Parker Palmer
13. “So then, the relationship of self to other is the complete realization that loving yourself is impossible without loving everything defined as other than yourself.” – Alan Watts
14. “People who love themselves come across as very loving, generous and kind; they express their self-confidence through humility, forgiveness and inclusiveness.” – Sanaya Roman
15. “The way you think about yourself determines your reality. You are not being hurt by the way people think about you. Many of those people are a reflection of how you think about yourself.” – Shannon L. Alder
16. “When you adopt the viewpoint that there is nothing that exists that is not part of you, that there is no one who exists who is not part of you, that any judgment you make is self-judgment, that any criticism you level is self-criticism, you will wisely extend to yourself an unconditional love that will be the light of the world.” – Harry Palmer
17. “To fall in love with yourself is the first secret to happiness.” – Robert Morley
18. “A healthy self-love means we have no compulsion to justify to ourselves or others why we take vacations, why we sleep late, why we buy new shoes, why we spoil ourselves from time to time. We feel comfortable doing things which add quality and beauty to life.” – Andrew Matthews
19. “Letting ourselves be forgiven is one of the most difficult healings we will undertake. And one of the most fruitful. – Stephen Levine
20. “Celebrate who you are in your deepest heart. Love yourself and the world will love you.” – Amy Leigh Mercree
21. “We can’t be so desperate for love that we forget where we can always find it; within.” – Alexandra Elle
22. “Forget about self-image and self-judgment. It’s about self-love, and no one teaches you that at school. No one teaches you that if you accept and love yourself, nothing and no one can touch you.
23. “This is the only face and body you’re ever going to get, so be comfortable and happy in it. Own it. Own every aspect of who you are and present it to the world with the utmost pride.” – Connor Franta
24. “Self love is the elixir of an immortal heart.” – Amy Leigh Mercree
25. “Do you love yourself enough to BE what you love yourself enough to WANT?” – Steve Maraboli
26. “If you don’t love yourself, you won’t be happy with yourself. If you can’t love yourself, you can’t love anyone else. You can’t give the love you do not have. You can’t make anyone love you without loving yourself first.” – Kemi Sogunle
27. “Don’t rely on someone else for your happiness and self-worth. Only you can be responsible for that. If you can’t love and respect yourself – no one else will be able to make that happen. Accept who you are – completely; the good and the bad – and make changes as YOU see fit – not because you think someone else wants you to be different.” – Stacey Charter
28. ”If you don’t love yourself, nobody will. Not only that, you won’t be good at loving anyone else. Loving starts with the self.” – Wayne Dyer
29. “Loving yourself isn’t vanity. It’s sanity.” – Katrina Mayer
30. “Self-love is an ocean and your heart is a vessel. Make it full and any excess will spill over into the lives of the people you hold dear. But you must come first.” – Beau Taplin
31. “Be you, love you. All ways, always.” – Alexandra Elle
32. “If you do not respect your own wishes, no one else will. You will simply attract people who disrespect you as much as you do.” – Vironika Tugaleva
33. “When we fulfill our function, which is to truly love ourselves and share love with others, then true happiness sets in.” – Gabrielle Bernstein
34. “To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance” – Oscar Wilde
35. “Forgiving yourself, believing in yourself and choosing to love yourself are the best gifts one could receive.” – Brittany Burgunder
36. “People who love themselves, don’t hurt other people. The more we hate ourselves, the more we want others to suffer.” – Dan Pearce
37. “Love is the great miracle cure. Loving ourselves works miracles in our lives.” – Louise Hay
38. “It took many years of vomiting up all the filth I’d been taught about myself, and half-believed before I was able to walk on the earth as though I had a right to be here.” – James Baldwin
39. “Find the love you seek, by first finding the love within yourself. Learn to rest in that place within you that is your true home.” – Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
40. “Love yourself enough to set boundaries. Your time and energy are precious. You get to choose how you use it. You teach people how to treat you by deciding what you will and won’t accept.” – Anna Taylor
41. “There are days I drop words of comfort on myself like falling leaves and remember that it is enough to be taken care of by myself.” – Brian Andreas
42. “Because one believes in oneself, one doesn’t try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn’t need others’ approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.” – Lao-Tzu
43. “People who want the most approval get the least and the people who need approval the least get the most.” – Wayne Dyer
44. “When you stop living your life based on what others think of you real life begins. At that moment, you will finally see the door of self-acceptance opened.” – Shannon L. Alder
45. “Did your mom ever tell you, ‘If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything’? She was right–and talking nicely also applies when you’re talking to yourself, even inside your head.” – Victoria Moran
46. “If you aren’t good at loving yourself, you will have a difficult time loving anyone, since you’ll resent the time and energy you give another person that you aren’t even giving to yourself.” – Barbara De Angelis
47. “When I loved myself enough, I began leaving whatever wasn’t healthy. This meant people, jobs, my own beliefs and habits – anything that kept me small. My judgement called it disloyal. Now I see it as self-loving.” – Kim McMillen
48. “I have known friendship love, parental love, romantic love, family love and unrequited love in my life time, but the only love that made a difference was self-love. You don’t need confirmation from the world or another person that you matter. You simply do matter. When you finally believe that truth and live it then you can do amazing things with your life!” – Shannon Alder
49. “I like myself. when I am myself.” – Nayyirah Waheed
50. “Other than the love of God; the greatest love is self love. You have to love yourself more than you love someone else in order to succeed in a prosperous life.” – Barbara Hart
51. “Sometimes you need to take a break from everyone and spend time alone, to experience, appreciate and love yourself.” – Robert Tew
52. “Make a pledge to yourself right now, to declare that you are worth your time and energy.” – Deborah Day
53. “If you’re capable of despising your own behavior, you might just love yourself.” – Criss Jami
54. “Not only do self-love and love of others go hand in hand but ultimately they are indistinguishable.” – M. Scott Peck
55. “You are magnificent beyond measure, perfect in your imperfections, and wonderfully made.” – Abiola Abrams
56. “All love begins with the love within.” – Vironika Tugaleva
57. “True love begins when you accept yourself in your totality. Then, and only then, can you completely love another.” – Amy Leigh Mercree
58. “The greatest rebellion is loving yourself in a world trying to sabotage your light.” – Nikki Rowe
59. “A rose doesn’t know It’s beautiful, but everyone else knows. Self-love is not easy, but remember you are just like the rose.” – Nancy Omar
60. “Drop the people who do not value you, respect you. Life has infinite horizons. Accept yourself, love yourself, and move forward.” – Amit Ray
61. “Love thy neighbor yes, but love thyself first.” – Solange Nicole
62. “Self-love is not the process of ignoring your flaws. Self-love is expanding your awareness to include your flaws and your strengths.” – Vironika Tugaleva
63. “Your self-care is your superpower, cultivate the heck out of it – love yourself up.” – Anese Cavanaugh
64. “Never underestimate the fact that loving others is a choice but loving yourself is a responsibility.” – Germany Kent
65. “Self-awareness is crucial for the simple reason that you cannot love someone you do not know.” – Nicola Jane Hobbs
66. “Self love and self acceptance is always urgent. It is also the fastest path to peace… for everyone who embraces it no longer wages war upon themselves or others.” – Rasheed Ogunlaru
67. “Connecting with myself is more important than anything else!” If this is how you feel, you’re already starting to commune with yourself. Consider that attitude precious. And go within yourself; everything begins with you.” – Ilchi Lee
68. “you are a natural phenomenon—not a natural disaster.” – K.Y. Robinson
69. “Self-love rather than rendering us self-centered makes us open-hearted and more loving. Self-love and arrogance are not equal. Arrogance is not self-love. It is low self-esteem robed in boastfulness. It is a barricade, not love.” – Florence Witt
70. “It’s easy to be hard on yourself, but true self-love also lies in forgiving yourself when your plans get disrupted—life happens. Surrender and keep pushing.” – Martika Shanel
71. “You do yourself and those who could love you a disservice when you make yourself smaller; when you eat your words or use less of your light.” – Upile Chisala
72. “It’s easy to be hard on yourself, but true self-love also lies in forgiving yourself when your plans get disrupted—life happens. Surrender and keep pushing.” – Martika Shanel
73. “If you can’t be with the one you love, be the one you love.” – Alan Cohen
74. “Self-love seems so often unrequited.” – Anthony Powell
75. “Love yourself unconditionally, just as you love those closest to you despite their faults.” -Les Brown
76. “To love yourself right now, just as you are, is to give yourself heaven. Don’t wait until you die. If you wait, you die now. If you love, you live now.” -Alan Cohen
77. “I don’t like myself, I’m crazy about myself.” – May West
78. “It’s all about falling in love with yourself and sharing that love with someone who appreciates you, rather than looking for love to compensate for a self-love deficit.” – Eartha Kitt
79. “Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.” – M. Scott Peck
80. “People may flatter themselves just as much by thinking that their faults are always present to other people’s minds, as if they believe that the world is always contemplating their individual charms and virtues.” – Elizabeth Gaskell
81. “Love yourself for what you are, instead of hating yourself for what you are not.” – Faraaz Kazi
82. “self-love is the best love” – Londrelle
83. “People think that what’s important is that the world sees them, understands them, values them. That’s not what’s important. What’s important is that you see yourself, you understand yourself, and that you value yourself. A rainbow would still be a rainbow even if nobody looked up into the sky. Same goes for the stars, the Moon, and Saturn too far away for any of us to see still wears her rings! Be Saturn, be Moon, be stars, be rainbow. See yourself.” – C. JoyBell C.
84. “When you have the capacity to respect, love, and appreciate yourself, you have the capacity to respect, love, and appreciate other people.” – Oscar Auliq-Ice
85. “If you’re not careful, you will identify yourself through the eyes of those who don’t see you how you see yourself. This is the importance of self-love, the path to knowing yourself so deeply that it’s almost laughable when someone tries to tell you who you are or who you should be.” – Nikki Rowe
86. “Existence is One Self-Loving Event. This is who you are, this is what all is, we are this One-Self-Experiencing Reality that is Love itself. We are Love, We are this One that is Love itself.” – Wald Wassermann
87. “This year taught me that my loneliness has more to do with myself than anyone else. The loneliest I will ever be is when I do not have the strength to love myself.” – Marianna Paige
88. “People learn how to treat us based on how they see us treating ourselves. If I don’t put value on my work or my time, neither will the person I’m helping. Boundaries are a function of self-respect and self-love.” – Brené Brown
89. “Don’t ever say bad things about yourself in front of others. But when alone you should be able to see yourself in the mirror and say, ‘I love you but I think we can work on that habit.” – Parul Prashar
90. “I have to learn to love myself more before anyone else. When I look at myself in the mirror, I got to like myself for who I am and for who I have become as a person!” – Avijeet Das
91. “To Live is to For-Give. Love Yourself. Accept Yourself. Forgive Yourself.” – Wald Wassermann
92. “Self love is the seed from which inner peace, fulfilment and appreciation blossoms.” – Rasheed Ogunlaru
93. “You are the only person in the world , who loves you more than anyone else …. treat your self well .” – bachir hadji
94. “Self-love and compassion for other people commences with accepting responsibility for the harm caused by our own misconduct and by forgiving other people for their individual trespasses.” – Kilroy J. Oldster
95. “When finding fault is your focus, there’s a lack of love within. When forgiveness is your focus, you can understand love completely.” – Kristy Ferretti
96. “The value of self-care and self-love is often underestimated. It starts with you. You can’t give what you don’t have.” – Izey Victoria Odiase
97. “I love me more than we, but I can still make room for we if it is going to help me be more of me.” – Olawale Daniel
98. “Fighting for yourself is another way of loving yourself.” – K. Ancrum
99. “Embracing Your Greatness is about loving yourself and your life now with no preconditions, no ifs, ands or buts. I’s about not waiting for things to change before you can be happy with yourself and your life!”
100. “This is true freedom, to love oneself enough not to care what others think.” – Emiko Jean
101. “To truly love ourselves, we must open to our wholeness, rather than clinging to the shivers of ourselves represented by old stories. Living in a story of a limited self – to any degree – is not love.” – Sharon Salzberg
