Have you been looking for some inspirational quotes to strengthen your self-love and nurture your self-care? If so, you’ll be glad to have found this incredible collection of self-compassion quotes!
Best Self Compassion Quotes
1. “You’ve been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” — Louise L. Hay
2. “Self-care is not selfish or self-indulgent. We cannot nurture others from a dry well. We need to take care of our own needs first so that we can give from our surplus, our abundance. When we nurture others from a place of fullness, we feel renewed instead of taken advantage of.” — Jennifer Louden
3. “Painful feelings are, by their very nature, temporary. They will weaken over time as long as we don’t prolong or amplify them through resistance or avoidance. The only way to eventually free ourselves from debilitating pain, therefore, is to be with it as it is. The only way out is through.” — Kristin Neff
4. “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” — Dalai Lama
5. “To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight.” — E.E. Cummings
6. “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 a light from within.” — Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
7. “It’s like a mother, when the baby is crying, she picks up the baby, and she holds the baby tenderly in her arms. Your pain, your anxiety is your baby. You have to take care of it. You have to go back to yourself, to recognize the suffering in you, embrace the suffering, and you get relief.”. — Thich Nhat Hanh
8. “This is a moment of suffering. Suffering is part of life. May I be kind to myself in this moment. May I give myself the compassion I need.” — Kristin Neff
9. “Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others.” — Christopher Germer
10. “Self-compassion is like a muscle. The more we practice flexing it, especially when life doesn’t go exactly according to plan (a frequent scenario for most of us), the stronger and more resilient our compassion muscle becomes.” — Sharon Salzberg
11. “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
12. “I love myself for I am a beloved child of the universe and the universe lovingly takes care of me now.” — Louise Hay
13. “If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” — Jack Kornfield
14. “The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.” — Joseph Campbell
15. “Being human is not about being any one particular way; it is about being as life creates you—with your own particular strengths and weaknesses, gifts and challenges, quirks and oddities.” — Kristin Neff
16. “Chasing a person doesn’t give you value or build values in you. You earn your value by chasing morality and practicing dignity.” — Shannon L. Alder
17. “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
18. “Talk to yourself as you would someone you love.” — Brene Brown
19. “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
20. “It is a beautiful experience being with ourselves at a level of complete acceptance. When that begins to happen, when you give up resistance and needing to be perfect, a peace will come over you as you have never known.” — Ruth Fishel
Inspiring Self Acceptance And Self Compassion Quotes
1. “Having compassion starts and ends with having compassion for all those unwanted parts of ourselves, all those imperfections that we don’t even want to look at.” — Pema Chodron
2. “Taking time to relax every day, spending quality time with friends, and practicing mindfulness are some of the tried and tested ways of developing self-compassion.” — Dr. Prem Jagyasi
3. “Self-approval and self-acceptance in the now are the main keys to positive changes in every area of our lives.” — Louise Hay
4. “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.
5. “Drop the people who do not value you, respect you. Life has infinite horizons. Accept yourself, love yourself, and move forward.” — Amit Ray
6. “There is a magnificent, beautiful, wonderful painting in front of you! It is intricate, detailed, a painstaking labor of devotion and love! The colors are like no other, they swim and leap, they trickle and embellish! And yet you choose to fixate your eyes on the small fly which has landed on it! Why do you do such a thing?” — C. JoyBell C.
7. “I have found that self-compassion is an essential element in being fully alive and present, as well as the best antidote to despair.” ― Karen Armstrong
8. “It’s the old carrot-and-stick approach – self-judgment is the stick and self-esteem is the carrot.” — Kristin Neff
9. “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
10. “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle and have come out of it.” ― Elisabeth Kubler Ross
11. “The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.” — Mark Twain
12. “Be nice to yourself… It’s hard to be happy when someone is mean to you all the time.” — Christine Arylo
13. “The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.” — Carl Jung
14. “If one is cruel to himself, how can we expect him to be compassionate with others?” — Hasdai ibn Shaprut
15. “It is a lack of love for ourselves that inhibits our compassion toward others. If we make friends with ourselves and realize how amazing we are, then there is no obstacle to opening our hearts and minds to others.” — Unknown
See also: 140 You Are Amazing Quotes To Fall In Love With Yourself
Self-Love Quotes & Affirmations To Inspire Self-Kindness
1. “Speak to yourself with compassion on the inside, and you will radiate peace on the outside.” — Amy Leigh Mercree
2. “Self-compassion is an act of self-kindness, which we practice by resisting the urge to harshly judge or blame ourselves when we make a mistake. It means recognizing our common humanity and shared experience of imperfection. Self-compassion can be practiced at any time—not just in response to painful life circumstances.” ― Dr. Kristin Neff
3. “Once we are honest about our feelings, we can invite ourselves to consider alternative modes of viewing our pain and can see that releasing our grip on anger and resentment can actually be an act of self-compassion.” — Sharon Salzberg
4. “When you say, ‘Yes’ to others, make sure you are not saying ‘No’ to yourself.” — Paulo Coelho
5. “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
6. “Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.” — Malcolm S. Forbes
7. “To be self-compassionate is not to be self-indulgent or self-centered. A major component of self-compassion is to be kind to yourself. Treat yourself with love, care, dignity and make your well-being a priority.” — Christopher Dines
8. “When we practice self-compassion in our lives, we are compelled to be more understanding and accepting toward ourselves.” — Jose Incer
9. “Awakening self-compassion is often the greatest challenge people face on the spiritual path.” — Tara Brach
10. “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. Now I see it as self-loving.” — Kim McMille
11. “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” — Dalai Lama
12. “Self-compassion is approaching ourselves, our inner experience with spaciousness, with the quality of allowing, which has a quality of gentleness. Instead of our usual tendency to want to get over something, to fix it, to make it go away, the path of compassion is totally different. Compassion allows.” — Robert Gonzales
13. “An important aspect of self-compassion is to be able to emphatically hold both parts of ourselves–the self that regrets a past action and the self that took action in the first place.” — Marshall Rosenberg
14. “If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” — Jack Kornfield
15. “Go back and take care of yourself. Your body needs you, your feelings need you, your perceptions need you. Your suffering needs you to acknowledge it. Go home and be there for all these things.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
See also: 210 Killer Self Love Captions For Instagram To Lift You Up
Motivational Self Compassion Quotes
1. “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
2. “For some reason, we are truly convinced that if we criticize ourselves, the criticism will lead to change. If we are harsh, we believe we will end up being kind. If we shame ourselves, we believe we end up loving ourselves. It has never been true, not for a moment, that shame leads to love. Only love leads to love.” — Geneen Roth
3. “My mission in life is not merely to survive but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” — Maya Angelou
4. “Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.” — Pema Chodron
See also: 150 Deep Dark Quotes About Life, Death, Pain & Love
5. “To accept ourselves as we are means to value our imperfections as much as our perfections.” — Sandra Bierig
6. “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.” — Buddha
7. “When you are compassionate with yourself, you trust in your soul, which you let guide your life.” — John O’Donohue
8. “A moment of self-compassion can change your entire day. A string of such moments can change the course of your life.” — Christopher Germer
9. “Be kinder to yourself, and then let your kindness flood the world”. — Pema Chodron
10. “Most unhappy people need to learn just one lesson: how to see themselves through the lens of genuine compassion and treat themselves accordingly.” — Martha Beck
11. “… you always seem to think you have to change, you think you have to improve yourself, to be like everyone else, to fit in, but can’t you see you’re perfect just the way you are?” — Rebecca Raisin
12. “Self-compassion is critical in accountability. We often overcorrect by shaming and blaming ourselves or under correct by avoiding ways to face accountability directly. Using self-compassion does not mean letting yourself off the hook for missteps but owning them and still holding space to love yourself. Adding compassion to accountability processes decreases shame and isolation and increases growth and connection.” — Gina Senarighi
13. “Our sorrows and wounds are only healed when we touch them with compassion.” — Buddha
14. “When the norm is decency, other virtues can thrive: integrity, honesty, compassion, kindness, and trust.” — Raja Krishnamoorthi
15. “With mindfulness, loving kindness, and self-compassion, we can begin to let go of our expectations about how life and those we love should be.” — Sharon Salzberg
16. “Our uniqueness, our individuality, and our life experience molds us into fascinating beings. I hope we can embrace that. I pray we may all challenge ourselves to delve into the deepest resources of our hearts to cultivate an atmosphere of understanding, acceptance, tolerance, and compassion. We are all in this life together.” — Linda Thompson
17. “The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself.” — Steve Maraboli
18. “Once we start basing our self-esteem purely on our performance, our greatest joys in life can start to seem like so much hard work, our pleasure morphing into pain.” — Kristin Neff
19. “There’s no amount of self-improvement that can make up for lack of self-acceptance.” — Robert Holden
20. “Genuine self-acceptance is not derived from the power of positive thinking, mind games, or pop psychology. It is an act of faith in the God of grace.” — Brennan Manning
Wrapping It Up
I hope my collection of self compassion quotes has inspired you to start seeing yourself through the eyes of love.
Until next time!
