It's incredibly important that each of us takes the time to practice self care. Not just a shallow "bubble baths and pedicures" form of self care (though those are both fun, too) — but a meaningful, intentional, thoughtful self care, that actually helps us. When we practice genuine self care, we get the opportunity to understand ourselves better, recharge our batteries before they're empty, and maintain the ability to make a difference for our loved ones and communities.
Want to get started with your self care practice immediately? Check out our other self-care guides: 101 Self-Care Ideas | The Best Self-Care Apps | How To Practice Proactive Self-Care | How To Cheer Yourself Up | How To Build a Self-Care Kit | Self Care Journals & Planners | Self-Care Affirmations | International Self-Care Day | Self-Care Gifts
Explore our curated list of the best quotes about self care:
Inspirational Self-Care Quotes
“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
“You are imperfect, you are wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.”
— Brené Brown
“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
“I have come to believe that caring for myself is not self-indulgent. Caring for myself is an act of survival.”
— Audre Lorde
“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”
— Maya Angelou
“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
“The world would be a paradise of peace and justice if global citizens shared a common definition of love which would guide our thoughts and action.”
— bell hooks
“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
“Rest and self-care are so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.”
— Eleanor Brown
“Faux self-care is a method — in the moment, going for a run might improve your mood, but it does nothing to change the circumstances in your life that led you to feel drained, energy-less, or down. On the other hand, the work of real self-care is about going deeper and identifying the core principles to guide decision-making. When you apply these principles to your life, you don’t just feel relief in the moment, you design a system of living that prevents the problems from coming up in the first place.”
— Pooja Lakshmin, Real Self-Care: A Transformative Program for Redefining Wellness
On Self Care Allowing You To Help Others
“Self-care is giving the world the best of you, instead of what’s left of you.”
— Katie Reed
“In dealing with those who are undergoing great suffering, 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. The point is to have a long-term perspective.”
— The Dalai Lama
“You are in a much better position to serve others when your basis needs are met and your ‘tank is full’.”
— Michael Hyatt
“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
“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
“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
“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.”
— Jack Kornfield
“Every one of us needs to show how much we care for each other and, in the process, care for ourselves.”
— Princess Diana
“If you don’t love yourself, how the hell you gon’ love somebody else?”
— RuPaul
→ Read more quotes about making a difference and quotes about activism
Positive Self-Care Quotes
“Self-care is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation.”
— Audre Lorde
“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
“Honoring your own boundaries is the clearest message to others to honor them, too.”
— Gina Greenlee
“Wherever you are, at any moment, try and find something beautiful. A face, a line out of a poem, the clouds out of a window, some graffiti, a wind farm. Beauty cleans the mind.”
— Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive
“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
“Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.”
— bell hooks
Self Care Isn’t Selfish Quotes
“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
“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 Brownn
“It’s not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority. It’s necessary.”
— Mandy Hale
“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
“The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.”
— Sydney J. Harris
On Self Love
“Love yourself first and everything else falls in line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”
— Lucille Ball
“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance. ”
— Oscar Wilde
"Having the ability to become friends with yourself is a powerful thing."
— Maybell Eequay
"Nothing can dim the light that shines from within."
— Maya Angelou
“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 judgement called it disloyal. Now I see it as self-loving.”
— Kim Mcmillen
“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
“You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.”
— Louise Hay
“The greatest gift you can give yourself is a little bit of your own attention.”
— Anthony J. D’Angelo
“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
“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, Ph.D.
“Bask in the warmth of your own light.”
— Amy Perez
“You can’t build joy on a feeling of self-loathing.”
— Ram Dass
“The real difficulty is to overcome how you think about yourself.”
— Maya Angelou
“Embrace the glorious mess that you are.”
— Elizabeth Gilbert
“Self-love has very little to do with how you feel about your outer self. It’s about accepting all of yourself.”
— Tyra Banks
→ Read more quotes about self love
For Mental Health
“Take a shower, wash off the day. Drink a glass of water. Make the room dark. Lie down and close your eyes. Notice the silence. Notice your heart. Still beating. Still fighting. You made it, after all. You made it, another day. And you can make it one more. You’re doing just fine.”
— Charlotte Eriksson
“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
“Taking care is one way to show your love. Another way is letting people take good care of you when you need it.”
— Fred Rogers
“Allow yourself the things you need right now. Whether that’s space, rest, support, or something else, know that you are not a burden for taking care of yourself.”
— TWLOHA
→ Read more mental health quotes
On Inner Strength
“It is not the load that breaks you down. It’s the way you carry it.”
— Lena Horne
“If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.”
— Banksy
“Growth is necessary but don't convince yourself that those past versions of you were worthless. You wouldn't be here without them.”
— Megan Jayne Crabbe
“It's good to do uncomfortable things. It's weight training for life.”
— Anne Lamott
“Some days are going to be more of a struggle than others. That is okay and you need to forgive yourself in order to keep going — and growing.”
— Sara Ahmed
“We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.”
— Carlos Castaneda
→ Read more quotes about staying strong and quotes about resilience
For Moms
“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
“I believe that the greatest gift you can give your family and the world is a healthy you.”
— Joyce Meyer
Taking care of yourself doesn't mean me first; it means me too.”
— L.R. Knost
“If we give our children sound self-love, they will be able to deal with whatever life puts before them.”
— bell hooks
“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
For Women
“No woman can control her destiny if she doesn’t give to herself as much as she gives of herself.”
— Suze Orman
“Do something every day that is loving toward your body and gives you the opportunity to enjoy the sensations of your body.”
— Golda Poretsky
“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
→ Read more quotes for Women's History Month and quotes to empower women
For Teachers
“You are strong enough to handle whatever this week brings. Get some rest knowing you are capable.”
— TWLOHA
“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
“Carve out and claim the time to care for yourself and kindle your own fire.”
— Amy Ippoliti
“Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others.”
— Christopher Germer
“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
Funny Self-Care Quotes
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”
— Anne Lamott
“The world won’t get more or less terrible if we’re indoors somewhere with a mug of hot chocolate.”
— Kamila Shamsie
“Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.”
— Edward Stanley
Short Self-Care Quotes
“Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.”
— Brené Brown
“Keep good company, read good books, love good things, and cultivate soul and body as faithfully as you can.”
— Louisa May Alcott
“Self-care is how you take your power back.”
— Lalah Delia
“Be you, love you. All ways, always.”
— Alexandra Elle
“Choose, every day, to forgive yourself. You are human, flawed, and most of all worthy of love.”
— Alison Malee
“When you feel like you can’t fight anymore — don’t give up. Just take some time to rest.”
— TWLOHA
“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.”
— Henry David Thoreau
“And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.”
— John Steinbeck
“You have to create little pockets of joy in your life to take care of yourself.”
— Jonathan Van Ness
“Every small positive change we make in ourselves repays us in confidence in the future.”
— Alice Walker
“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.”
— Etty Hillesum
“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.”
— Jim Rohn
“Adopt the pace of nature: Her secret is patience.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Self-care isn't selfish; it's essential.”
— Dr. Jamie Aten
More Self-Care Quotes
“Self-care is not a waste of time. Self-care makes your use of time more sustainable.”
— Jackie Viramontez
“Doing nothing has become one of the lost luxuries in these hectic times. But doing nothing, even for five minutes, can be rejuvenating. Go for it: You”
— Joan Marques
“I believe in manicures. I believe in overdressing. I believe in primping at leisure and wearing lipstick.”
— Audrey Hepburn
“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
“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
“It is said that we can’t attain enlightenment, let alone feel contentment and joy, without seeing who we are and what we do, without seeing our patterns and our habits. This is called maitri — developing loving-kindness and an unconditional friendship with ourselves.”
— Pema Chödrön
“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
“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
“When you do something noble and beautiful and nobody noticed, do not be sad. For the sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle and yet most of the audience still sleeps.”
— John Lennon
“Pause for a moment. Pay attention to what your body is telling you. Listen to your needs and your boundaries. Don’t forget to take care of yourself, too.”
— TWLOHA
“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”
— Maya Angelou
“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
“Life should be touched, not strangled. You've got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it.”
— Ray Bradbury
“The only one you should compare yourself to is you. Your mission is to become better today than you were yesterday. You do that by focusing on what you can do today to improve and grow.”
— John Maxwell
“If you want to feel loving, I coached myself, do something loving. This is basic soul care.”
— Anne Lamott
By the way, you might also like these self-care resources: The Best Self-Care Apps | Self Care Quotes | How To Practice Proactive Self-Care | How To Cheer Yourself Up | 100+ Self Care Ideas
