Last Updated on July 30, 2019
You might know that I’m obsessed with inspirational quotes. Here I share with you 57 of the most inspiring, uplifting and thought-provoking quotes about self-love and self-acceptance. Contrary to what many believe self-love is neither selfish nor self-indulgent but healthy and important for a happy life.
A great exercise!
It influences your habits, how you cope with problems in your life, who you pick for a mate, and how you behave at work. Following the picture quotes on worthiness and self-respect is an exercise to help you better know and accept yourself.
Make sure to read and scroll until the end of this blog post to learn 7 additional tips for more compassion. I’ll give you also a hint about where to find more of these mottos for life.
Feel good about yourself
Oscar Wilde
“You’re always with yourself, so you might as well enjoy the company.”
Diane Von Furstenberg
“People who want the most approval get the least and the people who need approval the least get the most.”
Wayne Dyer
Take care for yourself
Leo Tolstoy
“Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.”
Benjamin Spock
“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.”
Malcolm S. Forbes
“Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in one’s own sunshine.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
Anaïs Nin
Value yourself
Buddha
“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
“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
Approve yourself
Unknown“
A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.”
Mark Twain
“Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-break on.”
Maxwell Maltz
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
“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
Further Reading: 85 best quotes about being grateful
Come alive and act
William James
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.”
George Eliot
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
Howard Washington Thurman
Make yourself happy
Unknown
“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
You can’t hate yourself happy. You can’t criticize yourself thin. You can’t shame yourself worthy. Real change begins with self-love and self-care.
Jessica Ortner
Further Reading: 100 cute happy quotes and sayings
Love yourself
Lucille Ball
“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 judgment called it disloyal. Now I see it as self-loving.”
Kim McMillen
“My willingness to be intimate with my own deep feelings creates the space for intimacy with another.”
Shakti Gawain
“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
Forgive yourself
Unknown
“To establish true self-esteem we must concentrate on our successes and forget about the failures and the negatives in our lives.”
Denis Waitley
“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
Further Reading: 77 never stop learning quotes and education sayings.
Be true to yourself
Unknown
“One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.”
Shannon L. Alder
“She lacks confidence, she craves admiration insatiably. She lives on the reflections of herself in the eyes of others. She does not dare to be herself.”
Anais Nin
“Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the face.”
Helen Keller
“I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have.”
Abraham Lincoln
Love your life
Unknown
“The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours – it is an amazing journey – and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.”
Bob Moawad
Get to know yourself
Jennifer Aniston
“When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.”
Jean Shinoda Bolen
“I think everybody’s weird. We should all celebrate our individuality and not be embarrassed or ashamed of it.”
Johnny Depp
Believe in yourself
Unknown
“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
“There is nothing noble about being superior to some other man. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.”
Hindu Proverb
Further Reading: Unlock your power with a famous motto in life and positive affirmations.
Have faith in yourself
André Gide
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within.”
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Respect yourself
Unknown
“It ain’t what they call you, it’s what you answer to.”
W.C. Fields
“Our self-respect tracks our choices. Every time we act in harmony with our authentic self and our heart, we earn our respect. It is that simple. Every choice matters.”
Dan Coppersmith
“Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, but you also have an obligation to be one.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
Further Reading: 91 positive change quotes for better habits
Accept yourself
Unknown
“It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else’s eyes.”
Sally Field
“You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.”
Louise L. Hay
“To accept ourselves as we are means to value our imperfections as much as our perfections.”
Sandra Bierig
“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
Loving yourself quotes and tips for emotional eaters
Especially emotional eaters are at a risk of overeating to curb hunger caused by low self-esteem. These types of eaters are also called “harmony eaters”. They have often a hidden craving for compassion and recognition. A powerful step to breaking cycles with overeating and eating on autopilot is to work on their self-esteem. Loving yourself is a required condition for transforming low self- esteem and boosting self-confidence.
7 Additional Tips and Inspirations
- Ban all harsh self-criticism and practice self-compassion
Refuse to criticize and belittle yourself. Learn to accept who you are with all your flaws. If a critic within yourself talks to you then reply: “Thank you for your opinion, I see it different”. Sympathize with your flaws and weaknesses. Self-compassion is important. - Don’t scare yourself with negative thoughts
Strengthen yourself and encourage you, when you are in doubt or despair.
Further Reading: 39 positive attitude quotes to stop negative thoughts. - Be patient when you learn something new
Give yourself time when you learn something new and you don’t understand it or it doesn’t work immediately. - Praise yourself
Give yourself a compliment even for the smallest progression on your way to more self-love. Criticism drags you down while praise is uplifting. - Be patient with your weaknesses
Be aware that we all have our weaknesses and flaws. They won’t get better or go away if we criticize ourselves. Be more tolerant of you, your flaws and weaknesses. - Gift yourself a smile more often
Whenever you look in the mirror, smile at you with appreciation and say “Hello”. - Be a good friend to you
Good friends help and support each other, good friends encourage and motivate, they have an open ear for your worries and troubles. Be a good friend who supports you. When you appreciate yourself, then you free yourself from everything that doesn’t make you feel good or drags you down emotionally. Stay away from toxic people, bad habits and situations.
You can call this attitude healthy egoism or self-respect. Self-love doesn’t mean to be egoistic and a narcissus, who looks full of yourself in the mirror without interest in others. To appreciate yourself means to treat yourself as you would treat a friend.
Further Reading: 130 best friendship quotes and inspirational sayings.I hope that these motivating sayings including the 7 tips will help you blossom into your highest self.
Do you need more inspiration?
- Related words of wisdom: 78 cute love quotes for her and him
- Some of these colorful quotations you’ll find in my motivational book about love quotations (see image above). This book which is also an amazing gift offers you a great way for self-reflection and includes blank pages for your favorite life mottos.
- For more uplifting sayings checkout my handpicked collection of 101+ picture quotes and cute motivational images.
- Did you know that the words of wisdom and affirmations above with white background can be found in my Etsy shop and downloaded immediately as a digital print? Pick your favorite quote, print it out and hang it as poster visible on your wall. Click here to enter the Leanjumpstart Etsy Shop!