It’s always easier to see when someone else is suffering or not feeling good about themselves. You can tell by the way they walk, talk, and express themselves. If it is someone you love, your first instinct is to comfort them and help them see themselves differently. But, what if that person is yourself? Do you know how to comfort yourself and treat yourself with enough respect to turn those feelings around? That is self-compassion. It’s a skill you and I need. I put together some quotes on self-compassion to help you understand it better and apply it to your life.
What is Self Compassion?
Before we define self-compassion, let’s define compassion. Compassion is having sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others and doing what we can to comfort them. So, if you turn that compassion inward, it is being sympathetic for your own suffering. Not judging it, but acknowledging our perceived failures and inadequacies and learning how to comfort and care for ourselves.
The definition of self-compassion is showing kindness to yourself in ways that are similar to how you would be kind to others. Self-compassion includes treating yourself with dignity, understanding that difficulties are part of being human, and holding yourself accountable without judging yourself harshly for past mistakes.
If you practice self-compassion, you will feel more inner peace and less anxiety or depression. It also causes better sleep, improved relationships with others, better physical health because it relieves stress. All of that is because you have stopped the thoughts of unworthiness or criticism of yourself. Instead, you allow yourself to enjoy life just as it is—schedule time for yourself each day to do something you enjoy.
I’ve found 25 quotes on self-compassion. Sometimes it is easier to understand how to apply ideas to your life when you hear them in different ways. Find a quote that speaks to you and post it somewhere you see it every day. Having self-compassion and peace within can be a catalyst for your marvelous life!
Inspiring Quotes on Self Compassion
“If you want to soar in life, you must first learn to F.L.Y. — First love yourself.” – Mark Sterling
“I have come to believe that caring for myself is not indulgent. Caring for myself is an act of survival.” – Audre Lorde
“Self-love, self-respect, self-worth: There’s a reason they all start with self. You can’t find them in anyone else.”– Rob Liano
“Lighten up on yourself. No one is perfect. Gently accept your humanness.” – Deborah Day
“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” – Jack Kornfield
” No one in the world was ever you before, with your particular gifts and abilities and possibilities.” – Joseph Campbell
“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
I am joyfully creating a new relationship with my inner critic.
“Self-compassion encourages mindfulness, or noticing your feelings without judgment; self-kindness, or talking to yourself in a soothing way; and common humanity, or thinking about how others might be suffering similarly.” -Rachel Simmons
“You have no choice about what gets poured into your cup, but you have a choice as to what you accept and believe.”― Yong Kang Chan
“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 be an act of self-compassion.”― Sharon Salzberg
“You’re already stuck with yourself for a lifetime. Why not improve this relationship?”― Vironika Tugaleva
“Speak to yourself with compassion on the inside, and you will radiate peace on the outside.”― Amy Leigh Mercree
“When we practice self-compassion in our lives, we are compelled to be more understanding and accepting toward ourselves.”― Jose Incer
“A moment of self-compassion can change your entire day. A string of such moments can change the course of your life.”― Christopher K. Germer
“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
“Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others.”-Christopher Germer
I love and accept myself, exactly as I am.
“Self-compassion is key because when we can be gentle with ourselves in the midst of shame, we’re more likely to reach out, connect and experience empathy.” -Brene Brown
“Our sorrows and wounds are healed only when we touch them with compassion.” -Jack Kornfield
“You have been criticizing yourself for years, try approving of yourself and see what happens.” -Louise Hay
“Self-compassion is remembering that everyone makes mistakes and experiences difficulties at times. We are not alone.”
Kristin Neff Quotes on Self Compassion
Kristin Neff, Ph.D., is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on self-compassion, being the first to operationally define and measure the construct almost twenty years ago. She is the author of the book Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself. It wouldn’t be right not to include quotes from her.
“Unlike self-criticism, which asks if you’re good enough, self-compassion asks what’s good for you.”
“Whenever I notice something about myself, I don’t like, or whenever something goes wrong in my life, I silently repeat the following phrases: 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.”
“It becomes understood that happiness is not dependent on circumstances being exactly as we want them to be, or on ourselves being exactly as we’d like to be. Rather, happiness stems from loving ourselves and our lives exactly as they are, knowing that joy and pain, strength and weakness, glory and failure are all essential to the full human experience.”
“Remember that if you really want to motivate yourself, love is more powerful than fear.”
“The serenity prayer – made famous by Alcoholics Anonymous and other twelve-step programs – captures this idea beautifully: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
“By giving ourselves unconditional kindness and comfort while embracing the human experience, difficult as it is, we avoid destructive patterns of fear, negativity, and isolation.”
“Being human is not about being any one particular way; it is about being as life creates you – with your particular strengths and weaknesses, gifts and challenges, quirks and oddities.”
Which quotes can you apply to your life? Throughout the day, catch yourself when you are critical or self-judging. Stop it in its tracks and find a way to comfort yourself. Remember the truths of who you are. A loved, beautiful, blessed, divine spiritual being having a human experience. Have self-compassion.
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