130 Self Love Quotes to Help You Feel Your Best

Looking for a bit of a pick-me-up? Self-love quotes are just the thing to boost your mood and self-confidence. Quotes about self-love are great for reminding yourself that the best things in life start with you. And many of the ones we’re sharing can be used as positive affirmations too.

Practicing self-love is important to our overall happiness and well-being—so these quotes are actually quite powerful tools. “There are many factors that contribute to happiness,” Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, and author of The How of Happiness previously told Prevention. “Happiness really is more internal than external, so it’s how you feel about yourself, other people, and the world around you. It’s how you think, how you behave on a daily basis that influences happiness the most.”

Loving yourself can help you in that internal journey toward happiness. In fact, you can think of self-love as a form of self-care. “Self-care is often underrated in its impact,” Katie Krimer, L.C.S.W., a therapist at Union Square Practice in New York explained in a discussion on self-care routines. “Even the smallest of gestures can help reduce overall stress, make you feel more present amidst anxiety, and remind you that you’re worth taking care of. Over time, self-care practice can improve self-worth, reduce stress, [and] increase motivation.”

From poets like Rupi Kaur to Charles Bukowski to icons like Madonna, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Oprah Winfrey, these powerful self-love quotes are sure to inspire you to be your best self.

1. “If you have the ability to love, love yourself first.”—Charles Bukowski
2. “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
3. “One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.”―Shannon L. Alder
4. “Don’t worry if people think you’re crazy. You are crazy. You have that kind of intoxicating insanity that lets other people dream outside of the lines and become who they’re destined to be.”―Jennifer Elisabeth
5. “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
6. “It is interesting how often we can’t see all the ways in which we are being strong.”—Lena Dunham
7. “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
8. “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”—Buddha
9. “I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am.”―Sylvia Plath
10. “A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.”—Mark Twain
11. “Do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you. Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion. Set your life on fire.”—Rumi
12. “I now see how owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.”—Brené Brown
13. “Your self-worth is determined by you. You don’t have to depend on someone telling you who you are.”—Beyoncé
14. “Once you’ve accepted your flaws, no one can use them against you.”—George R.R. Martin
15. “Find your purpose and fling your life out to it. Find a way or make one. Try with all your might. Self-made or never made.”—Orison Swett Marden
16. “The hardest challenge is to be yourself in a world where everyone is trying to make you be somebody else.”—E.E Cummings
17. “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”—J.K. Rowling
18. “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”—George Bernard Shaw
19. “This self-love is the instrument of our preservation; it resembles the provision for the perpetuity of mankind: it is necessary, it is dear to us, it gives us pleasure, and we must conceal it.”—Voltaire
20. “If you’re not someone who has a natural and effortless love for yourself, it’s hard to let go of your desire to please other people, and that’s really not an ingredient for a happy life.”—Anne Hathaway
21. “My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent.”—Ruth Bader Ginsberg
22. “My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to find peace with exactly who and what I am. To take pride in my thoughts, my appearance, my talents, my flaws and to stop this incessant worrying that I can’t be loved as I am.”―Anaïs Nin
23. “There is you and you. This is a relationship. This is the most important relationship.”―Nayyirah Waheed
24. “Not only do self-love and love of others go hand in hand but ultimately they are indistinguishable.”―M. Scott Peck
25. “I must undertake to love myself and to respect myself as though my very life depends upon self-love and self-respect.”—Maya Angelou
26. “When you take care of yourself, you’re a better person for others. When you feel good about yourself, you treat others better.”—Solange Knowles
27. “Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, as self-neglecting.”—William Shakespeare
28. “For me, self-love is like, ‘Am I sleeping enough? Eating well?’ Not: ‘Am I eating well to be able to fit into my skinny jeans?’ But: ‘Am I eating well to be healthy and strong?’ And to acknowledge the good, because there is always a lot of good.” —Kerry Washington
29. “If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life.”— Marcus Garvey
30. “Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”—Carl Gustav Jung
31. “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

1. “And you? When will you begin that long journey into yourself?”—Rumi
2. “Be faithful to that which exists within yourself.”—André Gide
3. “Be the love you never received.”—Rune Lazuli
4. “Treat yourself like someone you love.”―Glennon Doyle
5. “Our first and last love is self-love.”—Christian Nestell Bovee
6. “Wherever you go, go with all your heart.”—Confucius
7. “Talk to yourself like someone you love.” – Brené Brown
8. “Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”—Dolly Parton
9. “Do your thing and don’t care if they like it.”—Tina Fey
10. “This life is sweeter than fiction.”—Taylor Swift
11. “We accept the love we think we deserve.”—Stephen Chbosky
12. “Gonna love myself. No, I don’t need anybody else.”—Hailee Steinfeld
13. “Keep taking time for yourself until you’re you again.”—Lalah Delia
14. “Keep watering yourself. You’re growing.”—E.Russell
15. “You change the world by being yourself.” —Yoko Ono
16. “I celebrate myself, and sing myself.”—Walt Whitman
17. “The universe took its time on you.”—Rupi Kaur
18. “Be bold, be brave enough to be your true self.”—Queen Latifah
19. “All love begins with the love within.”—Vironika Tugaleva
20. “Beauty comes from a life well lived”— Jennifer Garner
21. “Turn your wounds into wisdom.”—Oprah Winfrey
22. “All lights turned off can be turned on.”—Noah Kahan
23. “Plant hope in your heart’s wounds.”—Alexandra Vasiliu
24. “If you wish to be loved, love.”—Hecaton of Rhodes
25. “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.”—Michael Altshuler
    
26. “Be a voice for change.”—Justice Sonia Sotomayor
27. “Every exit is an entrance to someplace else.”—Patti LaBelle
28. “Love. Laugh. And live it up!”—Christie Brinkley

1. “Love yourself. Be clear on how you want to be treated. Know your worth. Always.” – Maryam Hasnaa
2. “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.
3. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”—Eleanor Roosevelt
4. “Be healthy and take care of yourself, but be happy with the beautiful things that make you, you.”—Beyoncé
5. “How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you.”—Rupi Kaur
6. “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
7. “I am my own experiment. I am my own work of art.”―Madonna
8. “Lighten up on yourself. No one is perfect. Gently accept your humanness.”―Deborah Day
9. “Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical.”—Sophia Loren
10. “Self-love has very little to do with how you feel about your outer self. It’s about accepting all of yourself.”—Tyra Banks
11. “It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else’s eyes.”—Sally Field
12. “To fall in love with yourself is the first secret to happiness.”—Robert Morely
13. “Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.”—Marilyn Monroe
14. “Just do what works for you, because there will always be somebody who thinks differently.”—Michelle Obama
15. “You will belong here. . .You will make anywhere beautiful.”―Jasmine Warga
16. “Choose, every day, to forgive yourself. You are human, flawed, and most of all worthy of love.”—Alison Malee
17. “The same light you see in others is shining within you, too.”—Morgan Harper Nichols
18. “Don’t chase people. Be yourself, do your own thing, and work hard. The right people—the ones who really belong in your life—will come to you. And stay.”—Will Smith
19. “Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you! Shout loud, ‘I am lucky to be what I am!...’”—Dr. Seuss
20. “When you say ‘yes’ to others make sure you are not saying ‘no’ to yourself.”—Paulo Coelho
21. “You must find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible.”—Deepak Chopra
22. “Tell yourself how wonderful you are, how great you are. Tell yourself how much you love yourself.”—Don Miguel Ruiz
23. “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”—Henry Thoreau
24. “Stay true to yourself. An original is worth more than a copy.”―Suzy Kassem
25. “Nourishing yourself in a way that helps you blossom in the direction you want to go is attainable, and you are worth the effort.”—Deborah Day
26. “You’ve got to love yourself first. You’ve got to be okay on your own before you can be okay with somebody else.”—Jennifer Lopez
27. “Remember, you have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.”—Louise L. Hay
28. “At 54, I am still in progress, and I hope that I always will be.”—Michelle Obama
29. “Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”—Toni Morrison
30. “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.”—Emily Bronte
31. “Look inward—the loving begins with you.”—Oprah Winfrey
32. “But I sort of refuse to be an outsider, even though I know that I very much look like one to a lot of people, and I refuse to view myself in such terms.”—Mindy Kaling
33. “At the end of the day, I stand by who I am. I’m a good person.”—Taraji P. Henson
34. “I am a strong and capable person.”—Unknown
35. “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’m possible!’”—Audrey Hepburn

1. “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” – Oprah Winfrey
2. “You’ve got to love yourself first. You’ve got to be OK on your own before you can be OK with somebody else. You’ve got to value yourself and know that you’re worth everything.”—Jennifer Lopez
3. “As I began to love myself I stopped craving for a different life, and I could see that everything that surrounded me was inviting me to grow.”—Charlie Chaplin
4. “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”—Ralph Waldo Emerson
5. “To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.”—Oscar Wilde
6. “Love yourself unconditionally, just as you love those closest to you despite their faults.”—Les Brown
7. “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”—Lucille Ball
8. “In your own life it’s important to know how spectacular you are.”—Steve Maraboli
9. “You have to believe that your ideas, and your hope, and your being, deserve to take up space.”―Bianca Sparacino
10. “And I said to my body, ‘I want to be your friend.’ It took a long breath. And replied, ‘I have been waiting my whole life for this.”—Nayyirah Waheed
11. “I remind myself to be kind to myself, and as slightly ridiculous as it may sound, to treat myself in the same gentle way I’d want to treat a daughter of mine. It really helps.”—Emma Stone
12. “If we all did the things we are capable of doing we would literally astound ourselves.”—Thomas Edison
13. “By doing the work to love ourselves more, I believe we will love each other better.”—Laverne Cox
14. “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
15. “I’m safe inside this container called me.”―Haruki Murakami
16. “May you choose yourself, always!”―Malebo Sephodi
17. “I like me. I like my story and all the bumps and bruises. That’s what makes me uniquely me.”—Michelle Obama
18. “I am sure of myself as a person. I am sure of my talent. I’m sure of my love for life and that sort of thing. I am very content, I like the kind of person that I am.” —Dolly Parton
19. “The things that make me different are the things that make me.”—A.A. Milne
20. “Be a master at loving yourself and people will follow.”—Kim Guerra
21. “One of the most important things you can accomplish is just being yourself.”—Dwayne Johnson
22. “If you are happy, you can give happiness. If you don’t love yourself and if you are unhappy with yourself, you can’t give anything else but that.”—Gisele Bündchen
23. “Embrace the glorious mess that you are.”—Elizabeth Gilbert
24. “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
25. “Sometimes I pretend to be normal. But it gets boring. So I go back to being me.”—Ain Eineziz
26. “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”—Oscar Wilde
27. “The more I like me, the less I want to pretend to be other people.”—Jamie Lee Curtis
28. “I don’t want everyone to like me; I should think less of myself if some people did.”—Henry James
29. “I’ve finally stopped running away from myself. Who else is there better to be?”—Goldie Hawn
30. “Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself.”—Coco Chanel
31. “Friendship with oneself is all-important because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.”—Eleanor Roosevelt
32. “I’m all about body positivity and self-love because I believe that we can save the world if we first save ourselves.”—Lizzo
33. “Keep your face to the sunshine, and you cannot see a shadow.”—Helen Keller
34. “I am stepping right into where I am with no shame, and it feels good.”—Andie MacDowell
35. “Instead of drifting along like a leaf in a river, understand who you are and how you come across to people, and what kind of an impact you have on the people around you and the world, so that when you go out, you can feel you have made a positive difference.”—Jane Fonda
36. “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”—Mahatma Gandhi

Shannen Zitz

Assistant Editor

Shannen Zitz is an Assistant Editor at Prevention, where she covers all things lifestyle, wellness, beauty, and relationships. Previously the Editorial Assistant at Prevention, she graduated from the State University of New York at Cortland with a bachelor's degree in English. If she’s not reading or writing, you can probably find her frequenting the skincare and makeup forums on Reddit or hogging the squat rack at the gym.