Read these 75 self-love quotes to encourage your to prioritize yourself and improve your life today! Take some time for self-care regularly.
Choosing to prioritize yourself in life can be hard.
There are so many things in our culture telling us that it’s selfish or lazy.
Plus, living in a world that’s all about productivity can make it feel counter-intuitive to take time off for self-care.
But I cannot even begin to tell you how important it is to take time to prioritize yourself and your personal needs.
Not only is it going to save you time in the long run, but it is also going to enable you to be a more loving and generous person to others.
This post has 75 quotes that are all about the benefits- and the importance- of prioritizing yourself in life.
If you want to learn to prioritize yourself guilt-free today, then keep reading!
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Is it okay to prioritize yourself?
Not only is it okay to prioritize yourself- it is your responsibility to do so!
You will see from the many quotes below that choosing to prioritize yourself will actually help you be a more loving and more productive person overall.
The next time you worry about whether or not you should be taking time for your personal needs read these quotes and remember that it is not selfish to do so.
In fact, it is downright wise!
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How do I put myself first in life?
Once you recognize the importance of prioritizing yourself in life, you need to do something to ensure that you can make it happen.
Here are some tips to help you put yourself first when it matters:
- Learn to say ‘no’ to things you don’t want to do
- Set boundaries with friends and family
- Schedule time each day that will be spent on your needs
- Do something each day that makes you smile
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Self-Care quotes about prioritizing yourself so that you can put energy into others
Prioritizing yourself is not always about you.
We can be inspired to prioritize self-care because it makes us treat others better as a result.
All of these self-love quotes are meant to teach you that prioritizing yourself is a necessary step towards having enough energy to love others properly.
When reading these quotes about prioritizing yourself, consider the times that you have been a more loving person because you took time for yourself first.
- I want to be the best version of myself for anyone who is going to someday walk into my life and need someone to love them beyond reason. -Jennifer Elisabeth
- If you want to have enough to give to others, you will need to take care of yourself first. A tree that refuses water and sunlight for itself can’t bear fruit for others. -Emily Maroutian
- As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others. -Maya Angelou
- 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
- Self-love is the source of all our other loves. -Pierre Corneille
- Self-care is giving the world the best of you, instead of what’s left of you. -Katie Reed
- The perfect man of old looked after himself first before looking to help others. -Chuang Tzu
- 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
- In my own deepening understanding of myself I find my capacity to serve others is deepened as well. The better I am at self-care the more genuinely nurturing of others I am able to be. -Mary Anne Radmacher
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Prioritizing yourself is not selfish
A lot of people choose to opt out of self-care practices because they feel like they are being selfish by demanding time for themselves.
If this sounds like you, then these self-love quotes are just what you need!
The following quotes are meant to remind you that prioritizing yourself is not selfish but is a necessary thing to do in order to be useful to others.
Let these quotes encourage you to prioritize yourself guilt-free!
- 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 others. Anytime we can listen to true self and give the care it requires, we do it not only for ourselves, but for the many others whose lives we touch. -Parker Palmer
- If you don’t workout, sleep, meditate, relax, or do whatever special things you need to do for you, you won’t be the best version of yourself. When you’re not your best version of yourself, you can’t do things for others. In a way, it’s actually selfless to take great care of yourself because it allows you to be more present for your family and friends. -Heather Monahan
- Rest and self-care are so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve others from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel. -Eleanor Brown
- When you start sacrificing yourself for other people, you make them a thief, because they are stealing from you what you need and they don’t even know it. -Iyanla Vanzant
- There is a reason flight attendants tell you to put your mask on first in an emergency…you cannot be important to anyone else if you are not first and foremost important to yourself. Appreciate and love yourself then use that to do the same for others. -Shelley K Wall
- It’s okay to take time for yourself. We give so much of ourselves to others, and we need to be fueled both physically and mentally. If we are in balance, it helps us in all our interactions. -Faith Hill
- Selfishness at the expense of others is bad. Self-care for the betterment of others is good. -Richie Norton
- 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
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Love who you are
To prioritize yourself, you first need to believe that you are worthy of being a priority.
To do this, you need to love yourself for who you are, regardless of what other people say about you.
These self-love quotes are meant to encourage you to do just that!
Each quote reminds you that love and compassion need to start with yourself before you can extend them to others.
As you read these self-love quotes, reflect on your own treatment of yourself. Do you love yourself for who you are?
- How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you. -Rupi Kaur
- You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection. -Buddha
- If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete. -Jack Kornfield
- If you have the ability to love, love yourself first. -Charles Bukowski
- In solitude, listen to your heart, for at that moment, it speaks nothing but the truth. -Michael Bassey Johnson
- Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world. -Lucille Ball
- 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
- Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself. -Hermann Hesse
- Loving yourself isn’t vanity. It’s sanity. -Katrina Mayer
- Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners. -William Shakespeare
- Love yourself, again and again and again. -Michael Bassey Johnson
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Don’t count on others to love you. Love yourself first
These self-love quotes remind us to make ourselves responsible for our own attention. Sometimes we prioritize other people because we believe that it is our job to love them above all else.
But that’s not true.
It is every person’s own responsibility to make sure that they are taken care of and loved first. From there, we can all extend that love to others.
It is important that you recognize this and prioritize yourself instead of expecting other people to prioritize you.
It is good to receive love and care from others but you need it from yourself more than anyone else.
Let these quotes be a reminder to you to prioritize yourself and recognize that other people shouldn’t expect you to make them your number one priority.
- Don’t sacrifice yourself too much, because if you sacrifice too much there’s nothing else you can give and nobody will care for you. -Karl Lagerfeld
- It is so important to take time for yourself and find clarity. The most important relationship is the one you have with yourself. -Diane Von Furstenberg
- It’s not selfish, but selfless to be first, to be as good as possible to you, to take care of you, to keep you whole and healthy, that doesn’t mean that you disregard everything and everyone, but you gotta keep your cup full. -Iyanla Vanzant
- 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
- Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option. -Maya Angelou
- Women in particular need to keep an eye on their physical and mental health, because if we’re scurrying to and from appointments and errands, we don’t have a lot of time to take care of ourselves. We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own ‘to do’ list. -Michelle Obama
- You can’t pour from an empty cup. Take care of yourself first. -Unknown
- You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level. -Eckhart Tolle
- When you say ‘yes’ to others, make sure you are not saying ‘no’ to yourself. -Paulo Coelho
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Take time for yourself now so you don’t have to do it later
If you are someone who lives a busy life, you might be feeling like prioritizing yourself is a waste of time.
These quotes all argue the opposite.
It may feel backwards, but prioritizing yourself now actually saves you a lot of time later.
Self-care helps to prevent lots of mental and physical health problems that will take away your time later on if you ignore them.
As you read these quotes, think about times when you actually ended up losing time because you didn’t prioritize yourself earlier.
- Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness. – Edward Stanley
- Time spent in self-reflection is never wasted – it is an intimate date with yourself. -Paul TP Wong
- Don’t become too preoccupied with what is happening around you. Pay more attention to what is going on within you. -Mary-Frances Winters
- There is enough time for self-care. There is not enough time to make up for the life you’ll miss by not filling yourself up. -Jennifer WIlliamson
- If you feel “burnout” setting in, if you feel demoralized and exhausted, it is best, for the sake of everyone, to withdraw and restore yourself. -Dalai Lama
- Don’t take your health for granted. Don’t take your body for granted. Do something today that communicates to your body that you desire to care for it. Tomorrow is not promised. -Jada Pinkett Smith
- Your soul needs time for solitude and self-reflection. In order to love lead, heal and create you must nourish yourself first. -Linda Joy
- Self-care is not a waste of time; self-care makes your use of time more sustainable. -Jackie Viramontez
- Honestly, self-care is not fluffy. It’s something we should take seriously. -Kris Carr
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Prioritizing yourself makes you more productive
In the same vein as the previous collection of quotes, these self-care quotes make it clear that prioritizing yourself can be a good thing for your overall productivity in life.
It may seem backwards but taking time off for yourself can sometimes be exactly what you need in order to keep you productive, energetic, and inspired in the future.
As you read these quotes, consider examples of this happening in your own life.
- Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you. -Anne Lamott
- Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop. -Ovid
- Self-care equals success. You’re going to be more successful if you take care of yourself and you’re healthy. -Beth Behrs
- Self-care is your fuel … Whatever the road ahead or the path you’ve taken, self-care is what keeps your motor running and your wheels turning. -Melissa Steginus
- Your solitude will be a support and a home for you, even in the midst of very unfamiliar circumstances, and from it you will find all your paths. -Rainer Maria Rilke
- 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
- One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important. -Bertrand Russell
- The soul usually knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind. -Caroline Myss
- Solitude will teach you how to navigate your inner dialogue. In the space of silence you hear clearly, the voice of your own soul. -Nikki Rowe
- We can climb mountains with self-love. -Samira Wiley
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What it means to prioritize yourself
Oftentimes, people have different definitions of what it actually looks like to prioritize yourself.
Some think it is all about pampering while others feel that it is about isolation. Others still believe it is about caring for all aspects of your life.
These quotes are a compilation of different opinions regarding self-care.
As you read through these quotes, consider which ones resonate with you and create your own definition of what prioritizing yourself means to you.
- I have come to believe that caring for myself is not self-indulgent. Caring for myself is an act of survival. -Audre Lorde
- Self-care is so much more than a beauty regimen or an external thing you do. It has to start within your heart to know what you need to navigate your life. A pedicure doesn’t last, but meditating every day does. -Carrie-Anne Moss
- Self-care means giving yourself permission to pause. -Cecilia Tran
- Solitude is a chosen separation for refining your soul. Isolation is what you crave when you neglect the first. -Wayne Cordeiro
- One person’s self-care isn’t necessarily another’s—there is going to be a lot of individuality. -Gail Saltz, M.D.
- Caring for your body, mind, and spirit is your greatest and grandest responsibility. It’s about listening to the needs of your soul and then honoring them. -Kristi Ling
- Self-care has become a new priority – the revelation that it’s perfectly permissible to listen to your body and do what it needs. -Frances Ryan
- I found in my research that the biggest reason people aren’t more self-compassionate is that they are afraid they’ll become self-indulgent. They believe self-criticism is what keeps them in line. Most people have gotten it wrong because our culture says being hard on yourself is the way to be. -Kristen Neff
- Women need real moments of solitude and self-reflection to balance out how much of ourselves we give away. -Barbara De Angelis
- 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
- Self-care means considering yourself a worthwhile person and presenting yourself as valuable, capable, and deserving. In other words, self-care seeks to redress an imbalance that develops when you don’t take proper care of yourself, whether by inattention or by choice. -Arin Murphy-Hiscock
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Quotes that encourage you to prioritize yourself
This final collection of self-love quotes are simply there to get you inspired to prioritize yourself!
Simply read them and let the message encourage you to get out there and spend some time on yourself today!
Remember, it’s not a matter of whether or not you deserve it; it’s necessary!
- Keep good company, read good books, love good things and cultivate soul and body as faithfully as you can. -Louisa May Alcott
- Do something nice for yourself today. Find some quiet, sit in stillness, breathe. Put your problems on pause. You deserve a break. -Akiroq Brost
- 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
- Do something every day that is loving toward your body and gives you the opportunity to enjoy the sensations of your body. -Golda Poretsky
- Our lives are so busy, and for many of us the demands are overwhelming. Some of us focus so much on the needs of others, we lose sight of ourselves. Stop, for one moment. Take a deep breath. Be still. Refocus. Concentrate on improving your life. One situation at a time. You can’t be much good to others if you’re no good to yourself. If they love you, they’ll understand. -Carlos Wallace
- Carve out and claim the time to care for yourself and kindle your own fire. -Amy Ippoliti
- You should endeavor to give your body what it needs to be healthy, your mind what it needs to be peaceful and focused, and your soul what it needs to feel content. -Dedeker Winston
- Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time. -John Lubbock
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I hope that these self-care quotes were able to encourage you to prioritize yourself today!
Remember, it is your job alone to care for you, so you need to make it a priority and expect others to do the same for themselves.
If someone tries to make you feel bad for putting yourself first, it is not your problem.
That person needs to figure out how to rely on themselves and widen their net of support so that they don’t become the sole responsibility of another person.
Whatever it is you decide to do to prioritize yourself, I hope that you do it without guilt, knowing that it is not selfish to take time for self-care.
What do you do to prioritize yourself each day?
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