Here is a great collection of self-care quotes to serve as a reminder to prioritize your well-being. Let them inspire you and remind you that self-care isn’t selfish; it’s a necessary act of self-love!
10 Self-Care Quotes Picked By Author
1. “Take care of your body as if you were going to live forever; and take care of your soul as if you were going to die tomorrow.” — St. Augustine
2. “You have to create little pockets of joy in your life to take care of yourself.” — Jonathan Van Ness
3. “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
4. “Taking care of yourself isn’t about trying to become perfect. It’s about realizing and honoring, in every moment, that you already are.” — Vironika Tugaleva
5. “If we spent our years nurturing the best of ourselves, heaven would be felt on earth.” ― Nikki Rowe
6. “For those of you who struggle with guilt regarding self-care, answer this question: What greater gift can you give to those you love than your own wholeness?” ― Shannon Tanner
7. “Taking care of yourself is the most powerful way to begin to take care of others.”― Bryant McGill
8. “You aren’t doing “nothing” when you choose to put your well-being first. In fact, this is the key to having everything.” ― Brittany Burgunder
9. “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
10. “I have come to believe that caring for myself is not self-indulgent. Caring for myself is an act of survival.” — Audre Lorde
Inspiring Quotes About Self-Care
1. “As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” — Maya Angelou
2. “Self-care is giving the world the best of you, instead of what’s left of you.” — Katie Reed
3. “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance. ” — Oscar Wilde
4. “Do something every day that is loving toward your body and gives you the opportunity to enjoy the sensations of your body.” — Golda Poretsky
5. “The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself. ” — Steve Maraboli
6. “Our soul is like a soft and gentle flower, it needs to be nurtured, cared for, tended to, with sufficient sunlight, fresh air, and freedom to bloom into its most precious and beautiful form. This, my friend, is self-love.” ― Miya Yamanouchi
7. “Self-care is how you take your power back.” — Lalah Delia
8. “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
9. “It takes a rare person to care the same or more about you than themselves. So, until you find that person, please look after yourself.”― Charles F. Glassman
10. “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
11. “The love and attention you always thought you wanted from someone else, is the love and attention you first need to give to yourself.” ― Bryant McGillns
12. “With every act of self-care your authentic self gets stronger, and the critical, fearful mind gets weaker. Every act of self-care is a powerful declaration: I am on my side, I am on my side, each day I am more and more on my own side.” — Susan Weiss Berry
13. “Find what makes your heart sing and create your own music.” — Mac Anderson
14. “The most important progress and success can’t be seen. If you can validate yourself internally, then external validation becomes a byproduct.”― Brittany Burgunder
See also: 120 Ultimate Best Quotes About Progress To Fuel Your Growth
15. “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
16. “When you can’t find your purpose in a day, make it to look after yourself.” ― Dodie Clark
17. “If we truly loved ourselves, we’d never harm another. That is a truly revolutionary, celebratory mode of self-care.” ― Sharon Salzberg
18. “Maybe if we love ourselves healthy we will all heal?” ― Nikki Rowe
19. “When we give ourselves compassion, we are opening our hearts in a way that can transform our lives.” — Kristin Neff
20. “It really is ok for there to be times when you stop putting everyone else first, and just do what’s best for you.” — Tracey Leech
21. “To me, self-care isn’t really shallow. Showing up for yourself, putting on a little moisturizer, can inspire so many different parts of your life.” — Jonathan Van Ness
22. “Respect, love, and value yourself. Always remember to be good to yourself by taking care of yourself. Make yourself a priority and know that it’s okay. Don’t feel guilty for loving yourself, first! You’re just as important as anybody else.” ― Stephanie Lahart
23. “Self-care is a deliberate choice to gift yourself with people, places, things, events, and opportunities that recharge our personal battery and promote whole health — body, mind, and spirit.” — Laurie Buchanan, PhD
24. “Take care of yourself as if you’re the most awesome person you’ve ever met.” — Jen Sincero
25. “To be a good parent, you need to take care of yourself so that you can have the physical and emotional energy to take care of your family.” — Michelle Obama
26. “One way to feel good about yourself is to love yourself… to take care of yourself.” — Goldie Hawn
27. “I feel like knowledge is power: If you know how to take care of yourself, you can be a better version of yourself.” — Miranda Kerr
28. “I think it’s when you take care of yourself, you love yourself that you truly bloom and look your most beautiful.” — Heart Evangelista
29. “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.” — Marcus Aurelius
30. “Pamper yourself into alignment with who you really are and then face your day.” ― Abraham Hicks
31. “We both were traveling for our own self-care and to feed our wandering souls…existing in other places so that we could remember who we were and then come home to ourselves.” ― Candy Leigh
32. “Selfishness at the expense of others is bad. Self-care for the betterment of others is good.” — Richie Norton
33. “Self-care refers to a meaningful self-investment.” ― Melissa Steginus
34. “We shouldn’t just think about mammograms and self-exams and self-care once a year. It should be an ongoing thing.” ― Suzy Nakamura
35. “It’s not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority. It’s necessary.” — Mandy Hale
36. “Discovering the truth of who you are is the only way to love and care for yourself.” ― Vironika Tugaleva
37. “Each positive thought, every vibrant attitude, all purposeful activities water the seeds for success along your path. You will encounter many seeds for success today. Pay attention to these and feed them appropriately. Then maintain their beautiful growth through conscious self-care.” ― Rebecca Gordon
38. “A person who is humble would never be abusive or selfish; so don’t abuse yourself or withhold self-love or self-care.” ― Bryant McGill
39. “You have to protect the purity of your happiness and the innocence of your joy. People WILL try to take it away. Don’t go there, don’t let them. Keep what is yours.” ― C. JoyBell C.
40. “Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others. ” — Christopher Germer
See also: 70 Self Compassion Quotes To Help You Love Yourself More
Self-Care Quotes On Why Taking Care Of Yourself Is Important
1. “Any time we 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 L. Palmer
2. “An empty lantern provides no light. Self-care is the fuel that allows your light to shine brightly.” — Unknown
3. “By taking care of myself I have so much more to offer the world than I do when I am running on empty.” — Ali Washington
4. “When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water.” — Benjamin Franklin
5. “You can’t take care of anyone else unless you first take care of yourself.”― Michael Hyatt
6. “You can’t pour from an empty cup. Take care of yourself first.” — Unknown
7. “Remember that this is YOUR LIFE, and nothing is more important than YOU.” ― Miya Yamanouchi
8. “Self-care is the number one solution to helping somebody else. If you are being good to yourself and your body and your psyche, that serves other people better, because you will grow strong enough to lift someone else up.” — Mary Lambert
9. “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
10. “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
11. “I believe that the greatest gift you can give your family and the world is a healthy you.” — Joyce Meyer
12. “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
13. “Honoring your own boundaries is the clearest message to others to honor them, too.”― Gina Greenlee
14. “Though we all make mistakes, don’t handicap yourself in difficult tasks; self-sabotage is not a strategy. Sometimes all you need to do is protect yourself from your own self.” ― Efrat Cybulkiewicz
See also: 90 Self-Sabotage Quotes To Free You From Your Own Mind
15. “If we don’t take care of ourselves, if we don’t put on the oxygen mask first, we don’t have the capacity to help those people we care so much about.” — Megan McCormick
16. “Self-care equals success. You’re going to be more successful if you take care of yourself and you’re healthy.”— Beth Behrs
17. “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
18. “Self-care sometimes is doing the things that will make your next 2 hours difficult, but your next 10 years easier.” — Ema Xu
19. “The best health care plan is a self-care plan.” — Nina Leavins
20. “Every time you make a commitment to your own self-care, self-love, and self-respect and then follow through, you build trust in yourself.” — Miranda J. Barrett
21. “Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” — Jim Rohn
22. “Your finest work, your best movements, your joy, peace, and healing come when you love yourself.” — Melodie Beattie
23. “If you don’t love yourself, how the hell you gon’ love somebody else?” — Ru Paul
24. “Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.” ― Ovid
25. “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
26. “Self-care is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation.” — Audre Lorde
27. “When you take care of yourself, you will improve the length and quality of your life as well as increase the quality of your business and add more years to its life.” — Pooja Agnihotri
28. “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
29. “Effective health care depends on self-care; this fact is currently heralded as if it were a discovery.” ― Ivan Illich
30. “But this revolutionary act of treating ourselves tenderly can begin to undo the aversive messages of a lifetime.” ― Tara Brach
31. “Exactly what are you wanting to teach your children? -How to love and care for themselves, or how to neglect and abandon themselves? Self-sacrifice is NOT setting a good example.” ― Miya Yamanouchi
32. “In most families, caregiving becomes the woman’s responsibility. While caregiving can enrich you, it can also deplete you if you don’t have support or make time for self-care.” ― Kathleen Kendall-Tackett Ph.D
33. “Much of your strength as a woman can come from the resolve to replenish and fill your own well and essence first, before taking care of others.” ― Miranda J. Barrett
34. “You have a great body. It is an intricate piece of technology and a sophisticated super-computer. It runs on peanuts and even regenerates itself. Your relationship with your body is one of the most important relationships you’ll ever have. And since repairs are expensive and spare parts are hard to come by, it pays to make that relationship good.” ― Steve Goodier
35. “You are in a much better position to serve others when your basic needs are met and your “tank is full”.” ― Michael Hyatt
36. “As you consciously choose to give yourself the gifts of self-care, they become an integral part of your rhythm and the vital tools that you will tap into for the rest of your life.” ― Miranda J. Barrett
37. “Love yourself. Care for your body. You are God’s image.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita
38. “If I was going to put myself into a situation wherein I had no one to depend on, I needed to step up and be the one to actually take good care of myself. The universe wouldn’t simply do it for me.” ― Aspen Matis
39. “By honoring and responding to your natural and essential requirements for sleep, food, water, and movement, you will rise out of the realm of survival into the world of fulfillment.” ― Miranda J. Barrett
40. “How we care for ourselves gives our brain messages that shape our self-worth. So we must care for ourselves in every way, every day.” — Sam Owen
See also: 130 Self Worth Quotes To Remind You Of Your Greatness
Take Time For Yourself Quotes
1. “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
2. “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
3. “Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” — Edward Stanley
4. “Take the time today to love yourself. You deserve it.” ― Avina Celeste
5. “Self-care is not a waste of time. Self-care makes your use of time more sustainable.” — Jackie Viramontez
6. “Take time to do what makes your soul happy.” — Unknown
7. “Self-care is allowing yourself to appreciate the moment for what it is, instead of wishing it was something else.” ― Sharon Pearson
8. “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
9. “I believe that self-care is a daily practice that should involve your interests, needs, and preferences. And it should have room to evolve with you over time.” — Portia Jackson-Preston
10. “Carve out and claim the time to care for yourself and kindle your own fire.”― Amy Ippoliti
11. “Learning self-care is like building your own lifeboat, plank by plank. Once you’ve got your boat, you’ll still be rocked by the waves of life, but you’ll have a feeling of safety, and stability that means you can pick other people up on your way.” — Nadia Narain
12. “When admiring other people’s gardens, don’t forget to tend to your own flowers.”― Sanober Khan
13. “Self-love is asking yourself what you need — every day — and then making sure you receive it.” — Unknown
14. “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
15. “You are worth the quiet moment. You are worth the deeper breaths and you are worth the time it takes to slow down, be still, and rest.” — Morgan Harper Nichols
16. “Keep taking time for yourself until you’re you again.” — Lalah Delia
17. “Take time off. The world will not fall apart without you.” — Malebo Sephodi
18. “Sometimes all we need is a little pampering to help us feel better…” ― Charles M. Schulz
19. “Take time for self. It is a source of empowerment.” — Dixie L. Nichols
20. “Self-care is one of the active ways that I love myself. When you can and as you can, in ways that feel loving, make time and space for yourself.” — Tracee Ellis Ross
21. “If I take care of my character, my reputation will take care of me.” — Dwight L. Moody
22. “Self-care means giving yourself permission to pause.” — Cecilia Tran
23. “The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.” — Sydney J. Harris
24. “It’s okay to do nothing if you can once in a while. It’s okay to not be perfect, to not get it all done…take care of yourself. Do what recharges you. Lessons I’m learning in my old age.” ― Leah Remini
25. “As important as it is to have a plan for doing work, it is perhaps more important to have a plan for rest, relaxation, self-care, and sleep.” ― Akiroq Brost
26. “Setting boundaries is a way of caring for myself. It doesn’t make me mean, selfish, or uncaring because I don’t do things your way. I care about me too.” ― Christine Morgan
27. “How can a falling dove turn again into a flying dove once again? It really takes the eyes of someone who sees you for the beauty that you really are. And if there are no other eyes there to see you in that way, then you had better be those pair of eyes, for yourself, to see yourself with!” ― C. JoyBell C.
28. “The world won’t get more or less terrible if we’re indoors somewhere with a mug of hot chocolate.” ― Kamila Shamsie
29. “I also learned what I and many other wives were doing wrong. We were neglecting ourselves. We were born women yet were taking care of our roles as mom, employee, or wife before we took care of ourselves. But in order to adequately fulfill those roles, we have to put ourselves first.” ― Elona Washington
30. “Make time daily to nurture your physical, mental, and emotional health.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita
Motivational Quotes About Taking Care Of Yourself
1. “Learning to love yourself is like learning to walk — essential, life-changing, and the only way to stand tall.” — Vironika Tugaleva
2. “Doing something nice for myself is not selfish.” ― Christine Morgan
3. “I am my own experiment. I am my own work of art.” — Madonna
4. “The only person you shouldn’t be able to live without is you.” ― Chris McGeown
5. “Put yourself at the top of your to-do list every single day and the rest will fall into place.” — Unknown
6. “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 Thurman
7. “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
8. “Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.” — Brené Brown
9. “Be kinder to yourself. And then let your kindness flood the world.” ― Pema Chodron
10. “Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it’s holy ground. There’s no greater investment.” — Stephen Covey
11. “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
12. “Practice self-rescue first before you ‘help’ someone else” ― Maureen Joyce Connolly
13. “When the body forces you to STOP it’s saying, hey buddy, you’ve gone too far.” ― Jacqueline Escolme
14. “Be you, love you. All ways, always.” ― Alexandra Elle
15. “When you say ‘yes’ to others make sure you are not saying ‘no’ to yourself.” — Paulo Coelho
16. “You owe yourself the love that you so freely give others.” — Unknown
17. “My mother always says people should be able to take care of themselves, even if they’re rich and important.” ― Frances Hodgson Burnett
18. “Taking care of myself doesn’t mean ‘me first.’ It means ‘me, too.” ― L.R. Knost
19. “If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” — Jack Kornfield
20. “Every one of us needs to show how much we care for each other and, in the process, care for ourselves.” — Princess Diana
21. “Guard the doors of your temple, do not let anyone pollute it with there mess.” ― Patricio Telman Chincocolo
22. “Accept yourself, love yourself, and keep moving forward. If you want to fly, you have to give up what weighs you down.” — Roy T. Bennett
23. “If you’re feeling tired and run-down rest, look after yourself, the world can wait.” — Akiroq Brost
24. “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.
25. “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
26. “Real change will come when you focus on yourself.” — Ritu Ghatourey
27. “Looking after yourself is the greatest act of kindness you can give the world. Loving yourself first is the best way to spread love.” — Holly Bourne
28. “The care, therefore, of every man’s soul belongs unto himself.” — John Locke
29. “You’ve sacrificed too much for others. Now do the same for yourself.” — Mitta Xinindlu
30. “Every morning, look in the mirror and affirm positive words into your life.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita
See also: 130 Morning Affirmations To Set You Up For A Fabulous Day
Mental Health Self-Care Quotes
1. “Your mind has been working so hard. Be gentle with it. Let it take a much-needed break.” — Emma Xu
2. “Do something nice for yourself today. Find some quiet, sit in stillness, breathe. Put your problems on pause. You deserve a break.” ― Akiroq Brost
3. “For us to feel good emotionally, we have to look after ourselves.” ― Sam Owen
4. “Give your stress wings, and let it fly away.” — Terri Guillemets
5. “Your subconscious mind is paying attention to how you treat yourself.” ― Sam Owen
6. “Self-care is taking all the pressures you are facing right now, and deciding to which you will respond, and how.” ― Imani Shola
7. “Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions.” — Pema Chodron
8. “To meditate means to go home to yourself. Then you know how to take care of the things that are happening inside you, and you know how to take care of the things that happen around you.” — Thich Nhat Han
9. “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” — Anne Lamott
10. “We need to replace your vicious stress cycle with a vicious cycle of self-care.” — Sara Gottfried
11. “My brain and my heart are really important to me, I don’t know why I wouldn’t seek help to have those things be as healthy as my teeth. I go to the dentist. So why wouldn’t I go to a shrink?” — Kerry Washington
12. “Stepping out of the busyness, stopping our endless pursuit of getting somewhere else, is perhaps the most beautiful offering we can make to our spirit.” — Tara Brach
13. “Harmony begins within. If we are to influence the world around us, even in minor ways, the real work begins inside and emanates outwards.” ― Gudjon Bergmann
14. “I always give myself Sundays as a spiritual base of renewal — a day when I do absolutely nothing. I sit in my jammies or take a walk, and I allow myself time to BE — capital B-E — with myself.” — Oprah Winfrey
See also: 90 Sunday Motivation Quotes For A Relaxed Weekend
15. “To heal ourselves from stress and emotional burnout we must give ourselves full permission to slow down and rest.” — Esther Marie Yoga
16. “Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.” — Etty Hillesum
17. “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
18. “When we self-regulate well, we are better able to control the trajectory of our emotional lives and resulting actions based on our values and sense of purpose.” — Amy Leigh Mercree
19. “Your brain is like a computer, you have to refresh or it’s going to crash. I don’t [care] how great you are, you have to take a second.” — Missy Elliot
20. “Care for your psyche…know thyself, for once we know ourselves, we may learn how to care for ourselves.” — Socrates
21. “Saying no can be the ultimate self-care.” — Claudia Black
22. “Take care of your inner, spiritual beauty. That will reflect in your face.” — Dolores del Rio
23. “Honestly, self-care is not fluffy. It’s something we should take seriously.” — Kris Carr
24. “Self-discipline is self-caring.” — M. Scott Peck
25. “Our bodies are our gardens to which our wills are gardeners.” — William Shakespeare
26. “It is possible to stop the mental chatter, regain your emotional balance, and live free of stress and anxiety when you create a new habit of daily energetic self-care using the four powerful tools in Nurturing Wellness through Radical Self-Care.” ― Janet Gallagher Nestor
27. “Self-care is non-negotiable. That’s the thing that you have to do. And beauty is the thing that can be the benefit of self-care. Beauty is not the point. Beauty is just a cute side-effect from self-care.” — Jonathan Van Ness
28. “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
29. “If you want to feel loving, I coached myself, do something loving. This is basic soul care.” — Anne Lamott
30. “Your self-care is your superpower, cultivate the heck out of it — love yourself up.” ― Anese Cavanaugh
Final Words
May these self-care quotes serve as reminders to nurture yourself and prioritize your well-being in the days, weeks, and years ahead!
