We often put ourselves last. We take care of our family and friends, and even work first, leaving no time for ourselves.
These empowering and inspiring self care quotes make it easy to remind yourself that taking care of yourself should be top priority. Read on for some positive words to help you stop neglecting your own needs!
As a parent, it can be easy to forget that you need to take time for yourself and your own self-care.
Self care is so important to maintain physical and mental health, but let’s face it: When you’ve got kids pulling on your shirt-tails or running around the house all day, it can be hard to find the time or motivation to actually take care of yourself.
That’s why I thought I’d put together some inspiring quotes specifically designed with parents in mind; To give you another reminder of why self-care for moms and dads is an essential part of keeping up with day-to-day life as a parent!
Self Care Quotes to Make You Feel Better
Taking some time for yourself and making sure you’re healthy mentally and physically can have unending rewards.
Remember, you can’t pour from an empty cup! Self care is essential in order to become the best version of you! It may sound trite, but sometimes self love and even following a self care checklist is necessary before selflessness even becomes possible.
Here are some of my favorite self care quotes.
“One person’s self-care isn’t necessarily another’s—there is going to be a lot of individuality.”
Gail Saltz, M.D.
“An empty lantern provides no light. Self-care is the fuel that allows your light to shine brightly.”
Unknown
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
Rumi
“I think I deserve something beautiful.”
Elizabeth Gilbert
“I think I deserve something beautiful.”
Elizabeth Gilbert
“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
“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
“Accept yourself. Love yourself as you are. Your finest work, your best movements, your joy, peace, and healing comes when you love yourself. You give a great gift to the world when you do that. You give others permission to do the same: to love themselves. Revel in self-love. Roll in it. Bask in it as you would sunshine.”
Melody Beattie
“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”
Maya Angelou
Radical self-care is quantum, and radiates out into the atmosphere, like a little fresh air. It is a huge gift to the world. When people respond by saying, “Well, isn’t she full of herself,” smile obliquely, like Mona Lisa, and make both of you a nice cup of tea.
Anne Lamott
“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
“It’s not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority. It’s necessary.”
Mandy Hale
“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 others. Anytime we can 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 Palmer, Let Your Life Speak
“I lied and said I was busy. I was busy; but not in a way most people understand. I was busy taking deeper breaths. I was busy silencing irrational thoughts. I was busy calming a racing heart. I was busy telling myself I am okay. Sometimes, this is my busy – and I will not apologize for it.” - Brittin Oakman
“Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.”
Hermann Hesse
“You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.”
Eckhart Tolle
“If you have the ability to love, love yourself first.”
Charles Bukwoski
Self compassion quotes
Self-compassion is a powerful tool to ease the journey of life. So why not acknowledge it with quotes that you can carry around with you?
As cheesy as it sounds, self-compassion quotes remind us that even our toughest moments don’t last forever and that sometimes, a little self-love can get us through anything.
Forgive yourself, you are not perfect. Show yourself grace; you are still learning. Show yourself patience; you are on a journey.” Shannon Yvette Tanner
“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.”
Jack Kornfield, Buddha’s Little Instruction Book
“Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.”
Brené Brown
“If you want to help her, you need to help yourself first. No one serves their friends by grinding themselves into dust on the altar of compassion.”
Seanan McGuire, In an Absent Dream
Self care is sometimes hard quotes
Sometimes self care is exactly what you’d think: spa days with the girls, an ice cream sundae bar with mini cheesecakes, or candles lit by a bubble bath. But self care can also be making a hard decision, and truly prioritizing your needs. Self care can be about setting healthy boundaries with toxic family members, and doing hard things like exercise and therapy.
Here are some of my favorite quotes for when self care is about the difficult things.
“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
“If you want to live an authentic, meaningful life, you need to master the art of disappointing and upsetting others, hurting feelings, and living with the reality that some people just won’t like you. It may not be easy, but it’s essential if you want your life to reflect your deepest desires, values, and needs.”
Cheryl Richardson, The Art of Extreme Self-Care
“Self-care should include the cold shower as well as the scented tub.”
Mary Catherine Bateson
“Overextending myself is not stretching myself. I had to accept how difficult it is to monitor the difference. Necessary for me as cutting down on sugar. Crucial. Physically. Psychically. Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
Audre Lorde, in A Burst of Light
“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
Sometimes you just need to be selfish to be self-sufficient.”
Lois P. Frankel
“Self-care is especially hard for those who grew up in dysfunctional families and/or developed codependent traits. Codependents struggle with self-care because they tend to focus on other people’s feelings, needs, and problems, and take care of others, often at their own expense. Part of changing these patterns is shifting from taking care of others to taking care of yourself and tuning into your own feelings and needs.”
Dr. Sharon Martin
“Self care isn’t about pleasure; self care is about doing what’s best for you. It’s not focused on your immediate comfort. Rather, it’s focused on your long term well-being.”
Christina Enevoldsen
Inspiring self care quotes
“Self-care is giving the world the best of you instead of what’s left of you.”
Katie Reed
“We can climb mountains with self-love.”
Samira Wiley
“If you celebrate your differentness, the world will, too. It believes exactly what you tell it—through the words you use to describe yourself, the actions you take to care for yourself, and the choices you make to express yourself. Tell the world you are one-of-a-kind creation who came here to experience wonder and spread joy. Expect to be accommodated.”
Victoria Moran, Lit From Within
“Just when you feel you have no time to relax, know that this is the moment you most need to make time to relax.”
Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive
“If you aren’t good at loving yourself, you will have a difficult time loving anyone, since you’ll resent the time and energy you give another person that you aren’t even giving to yourself.”
Barbara De Angelis
Funny self care quotes
“Busy is not a badge of honor and exhaustion is not a sign of excellence.”
Omolara Thomas Uwemedimo
“A wise woman once said, “f**k this shit” and lived happily ever after.”
Unknown
“Busy is not a badge of honor and exhaustion is not a sign of excellence.”
Omolara Thomas Uwemedimo @DrOmolara (on Twitter)
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”
Anne Lamott
“Self-care is the greatest middle finger of all time.”
Unknown
“If it costs you your peace of mind, you’ve overpaid.”
Rigel J. Dawson
“Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says, “Oh crap, she’s up!’”
Unknown
“You’re always with yourself, so you might as well enjoy the company.”
Diane Von Furstenberg
“Just in case no one told you today: Hello. Good morning. You’re doing great. I believe in you. Nice butt.“
Unknown
Take care of your body quotes
It might seem like an impossibility to take time out for yourself, but taking care of your body should be a priority in everyday life.
As cheesy as it sounds, physical self care quotes have never been more true. Take a chance to treat yourself and take care of your body! Whether you want to take an impromptu yoga class or catch some extra sleep, don’t forget that physical self care exists to give you the energy you need to stay on top of your game.
“Our bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are gardeners.”
William Shakespeare, Othello
“Self-love has very little to do with how you feel about your outer self. It’s about accepting all of yourself.”
Tyra Banks
“Self-care is the non-negotiable. That’s the thing that you have to do. And beauty is the thing that can be the benefit of the self-care. Beauty is not the point. Beauty is just a cute side-effect from self-care.”
Jonathan Van Ness
“Self-care doesn’t necessarily mean jogging!”
Sandra Oh
“Self-love has very little to do with how you feel about your outer self. It’s about accepting all of yourself.”
Tyra Banks
Self Care and Solitude Quotes
“Solitude is where I place my chaos to rest and awaken my inner peace.”
Nikki Rowe
“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
Certain springs are tapped only when we are alone. Women need solitude in order to find again the true essence of themselves; that firm strand which will be the indispensable center of a whole web of human relationships.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
“Spending time alone in your own company reinforces your self-worth and is often the number-one way to replenish your resilience reserves.”
Sam Owen, Resilient Me: How to Worry Less and Achieve More
“Do something nice for yourself today. Find some quiet, sit in stillness, breathe. Put your problems on pause. You deserve a break.”
Akiroq Brost
Self Care Quotes for Moms
As a mom, it can be easy to forget about your own needs when you’re so focused on caring for everyone else.
Life can be tricky for all parents, but it can be a unique challenge for the so-called sandwich generation, who are coping with raising kids and caring for aging parents at the same time.
To help remind us of the importance of taking time for ourselves and give us all a needed boost, here are some special self-care quotes for parents.
“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
“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
People who smack you down by saying that “parenting isn’t about you” are mostly wrong.
Parenting isn’t JUST about you, but some of it is: Your health. Your happiness. Those are still important.
Take care of you, too, or the whole damn thing falls apart.
Arianna Bradford @thearibradford on Twitter
“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, Embrace Your Sexual Self: A Practical Guide for Women
“There is no grater burden on a child than the unlived life of a parent.”
Carl Jung
“Self-reflection – based on experiences, principles and goals that we have gathered across our lifetime – allows us to course-correct. This is constantly required as we muddle along, gradually learning better ways for us to parent over time.”
Leon Levitt, What Do I Do Now?
“Whatever emotional state you’re in while you’re parenting conveys more to your child than the content of what you’re doing with them, no matter how perfect your intervention looks “on paper.” In other words, to paraphrase Marshall McLuhan, “your emotional state is the message.”
Michael Y. Simon, The Approximate Parent
“Real self-care is stepping outside of caring about what others think is the real you. It’s ending the chase to be like so many others…and instead easing into all those things that you truly love and adore about you.”
Kristin Hackman, Just Breathe Mama
“Never attempt to cover true feelings. Don’t expect it from your children and don’t expect it from other adults. There are no right feelings and no wrong feelings. To be human, one must feel the full range of emotions, not just preferred ones, not just tolerated ones. Do not raise your children feeling like they need to fight for the freedom to feel.”
C. JoyBell C.
“The way you feel directly impacts the wellbeing of your family—as well as you. Take care of yourself first so you can take care of your family.”
Chantelle Lambert, Life as a Mother