There’s always a lot of talk about being kind and loving others, when in fact, there needs to be more talk about being kind and loving ourselves. There are so many people out there who would rather be somebody else, instead of themselves. It’s a shame really, because we are all beautiful in our own ways; we should always be ourselves and be proud of who we are! This may sound a little cliché, but it’s true. We forever strive for a perfection that doesn’t really exist, because perfection is created by individual perception. We need to accept ourselves as we are; every single bit of us. We need to practise more self-love.

A lot of the time, we don’t treat ourselves with the kindness and respect we deserve. We become insecure and it affects our confidence and even our health & attitude. This also results to us not being able to show love to others in the way we should, and creates a barrier to receiving love. People tend to fall in love with us, when we love ourselves – not from ego, but from the heart.

A person that accepts themself as they are, is a very inspirational being. These individuals show the world that we can be happy with who we are, despite our imperfections. We don’t need to be scared, embarrassed, insecure, angry, sad, etc. We can be perfectly content being ourselves. As a result, we will also be more understanding and compassionate to others. We’ve perused the internet and found 40 great self-love quotes which will hopefully inspire and help you love yourself a little bit more:

In no particular order…

1. “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection”Buddha

2. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”Eleanor Roosevelt

3.Self-love has very little to do with how you feel about your outer self. It’s about accepting all of yourself.”Tyra Banks

4. “A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.”Mark Twain

5. “We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light.”Mary Dunbar

6. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”Ralph Waldo Emerson

7. “I am so beautiful, sometimes people weep when they see me. And it has nothing to do with what I look like really, it is just that I gave myself the power to say that I am beautiful, and if I could do that, maybe there is hope for them too. And the great divide between the beautiful and the ugly will cease to be. Because we are all what we choose.”Margaret Cho

8. “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

9. “When people believe in themselves they have the first secret of success.”Norman Vincent Peale

10. “To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.”  – Thich Nhat Hanh

11. “Lend yourself to others, but give yourself to yourself.”Montaigne

12. “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

13. “Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.”Harvey Fierstein

14. “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”Ralph Waldo Emerson

15. “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”Lucille Ball

16. “I’ve come to the conclusion that people who wear headphones while they walk, are much happier, more confident, and more beautiful individuals than someone making the solitary drudge to work without acknowledging their own interests and power.”Jason Mraz

17. “Do your thing and don’t care if they like it.”Tina Fey

18. “If only you could sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.”Fred Rogers

19. “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

20. “It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else’s eyes.”Sally Field

21. “Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-break on.”Maxwell Maltz

22. “One of the best guides to how to be self-loving is to give ourselves the love we are often dreaming about receiving from others. There was a time when I felt lousy about my over-forty body, saw myself as too fat, too this, or too that. Yet I fantasized about finding a lover who would give me the gift of being loved as I am. It is silly, isn’t it, that I would dream of someone else offering to me the acceptance and affirmation I was withholding from myself. This was a moment when the maxim “You can never love anybody if you are unable to love yourself” made clear sense. And I add, “Do not expect to receive the love from someone else you do not give yourself.” Bell Hooks

23. “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

24. “Why should we worry about what others think of us, do we have more confidence in their opinions than we do our own?”Brigham Young

25. “I had to grow to love my body. I did not have a good self-image at first. Finally it occurred to me, I’m either going to love me or hate me. And I chose to love myself. Then everything kind of sprung from there. Things that I thought weren’t attractive became sexy. Confidence makes you sexy.”Queen Latifah

26. “You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” Louise L. Hay

27. “You’re always with yourself, so you might as well enjoy the company.” Diane Von Furstenberg

28. “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

29. “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

30. “The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself.”Steve Maraboli

31. “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

32. “Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.”Malcolm S. Forbes

33. “Believing in our hearts that who we are is enough is the key to a more satisfying and balanced life.”Ellen Sue Stern

34. “Love is the great miracle cure. Loving ourselves works miracles in our lives.”Louise L. Hay

35. “Loving yourself…does not mean being self-absorbed or narcissistic, or disregarding others. Rather it means welcoming yourself as the most honored guest in your own heart, a guest worthy of respect, a lovable companion.”Margo Anand

36. “Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in one’s own sunshine.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

37. “The better you feel about yourself, the less you feel the need to show off.” Robert Hand

38. “You are very powerful, provided you know how powerful you are.” Yogi Bhajan

39. “It ain’t what they call you, it’s what you answer to.”  W.C. Fields

40. “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

If you have any incredible self-love quotes that you’d like to share with us, please leave them in the comments section below!

Author: Vex King

I am the founder and owner of the Bon Vita lifestyle brand. I could give myself a title and call myself a lifestyle entrepreneur, personal mentor, writer, designer, innovator, CEO, or anything else I see as fitting. However no title can define me as an individual. I’m just an optimist, a visionary, a philanthropist and jack of many trades. I’m using my positive influence to redefine the creative industries using Good Vibes Only #GVO so that people can fulfil their dreams, purposefully, and enjoy The Good Life #TGL. My daily words of intent are to make people… Think, look & feel GOOD!

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