We are our own worst critics. It can be hard for the normal everyday person to live up to a perceived standard set by the perfect-looking people with perfect-seeming lives we see everywhere in the media. Therefore, one of the challenges in life for us is to know ourselves and embrace that person, including shortcomings.

When we can develop the courage to look in the mirror and love what we see, it can start a domino effect that will lead to us becoming more caring and supportive of our loved ones, and more empathetic regarding the entire world and everything living in it. First, though, we must love ourselves.

Below are some quotes to help us along the path to self-love.

On Developing Knowledge of the Self:

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“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 light from within.” – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

“You are very powerful, provided you know how powerful you are.” – Yogi Bhajan

“Becoming acquainted with yourself is a price well worth paying for the love that will really address your needs.” – Daphne Rose Kingma

“Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” – Carl Jung

“It ain’t what they call you, it’s what you answer to.” – W.C. Fields

“The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself.” – Steve Maraboli

On Accepting One’s Self:

“I’ve finally stopped running away from myself. Who else is there better to be?” – Goldie Hawn

“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

“Your problem is you’re … too busy holding onto your unworthiness.” – Ram Dass

“Believing in our hearts that who we are is enough is the key to a more satisfying and balanced life.” – Ellen Sue Stern

“Scarcity of self value cannot be remedied by money, recognition, affection, attention or influence.” – Gary Zukav

“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.” – Malcolm S. Forbes

“The hardest challenge is to be yourself in a world where everyone is trying to make you be somebody else.” – E.E. Cummings

“She lacks confidence, she craves admiration insatiably. She lives on the reflections of herself in the eyes of others. She does not dare to be herself.” – Anais Nin

“Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

On Loving One’s Self:

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love & affection.” – Buddha

“Your task is not to seek for Love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” – Rumi

“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

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself.” – Walt Whitman

“Love is the great miracle cure. Loving ourselves works miracles in our lives.” – Louise L. Hay

“Whatever you are doing, love yourself for doing it. Whatever you are feeling, love yourself for feeling it.” – Thaddeus Golas