Self Kindness Quotes

“I started calling that girl back . . .
The girl who loved living,
the girl who danced instead of walking.
The girl who had sunfl owers for eyes
and fi reworks in her soul.
I started playing music again,
hoping she would come out.
I started looking for beautiful moments to experience,
so she would feel safe enough
to show herself,
because I knew she was in there.
And she needed my kindness
and my eff ort to come
to the surface again.”
― Samantha Lourie, The Power of Mess: A guide to finding joy and resilience when life feels chaotic

“To be self-compassionate is not to be self-indulgent or self-centred. A major component of self-compassion is to be kind to yourself. Treat yourself with love, care, dignity and make your wellbeing a priority. With self-compassion, we still hold ourselves accountable professionally and personally, but there are no toxic emotions inflicted upon and towards ourselves.”
― Christopher Dines, Mindfulness Burnout Prevention: An 8-Week Course for Professionals

“First and foremost, if we maintain healthy emotional boundaries and direct love and kindness inwards, we are taking care of ourselves and secondly we are giving a subliminal message to others about how we wish to be treated. People tend to subconsciously treat us how we treat ourselves.”
― Christopher Dines, Mindfulness Burnout Prevention: An 8-Week Course for Professionals

“You want to lash out at the parts of your self that seem to hold you back. At moments like that, it's important to be able to sit down and speak gently within yourself, as if saying a prayer or reading a poem. Whichever part of you is unhappy, reassure it: accept your many selves, and allow them to speak both to you and to each other.”
― William Sieghart, The Poetry Pharmacy Returns: More Prescriptions for Courage, Healing and Hope

“To stay true to ourselves and remain kind to others is an art. It does require daily vigilance and, at the same time, it’s important to remember that art can often get messy.”
― Christopher Dines, The Kindness Habit: Transforming our Relationship to Addictive Behaviours

“While excellence is a wonderful ideal, perfectionism is a dysfunctional belief system. Many people openly admit that they are perfectionists, which is really an unconscious cry for help. Being a perfectionist is really stating that whatever we attempt to do will never be good enough. This is due to a mistaken belief that we are flawed and unlovable.”
― Christopher Dines, Drug Addiction Recovery: The Mindful Way

“The performer must always be stronger than his task: loads that are too heavy for the bearer are bound to overwhelm him.”
― Seneca, On the Shortness of Life: Life Is Long if You Know How to Use It

“Become a kinder mirror for yourself
Practice liking what you see.”
― Jeanette LeBlanc

“The power of self-kindness can help us to heal our chronic shame and self-loathing. In a world that is often mean-spirited and cruel, a daily practice of kindness and warm-heartedness can make all the difference.”
― Christopher Dines, Drug Addiction Recovery: The Mindful Way

“The solution is to practice replacing self-criticism with self-kindness.”
― Emily Nagoski, Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life

“Circumstances vary; self-kindness does not. It is a constant.”
― David R. Edwards, New You! Who Knew?

“The words you tell yourself are the worst words you'll ever hear.

Henri had tamed his inner bully. Now he had nothing to fear.”
― Samantha Childs, Henri and the Magnificent Snort : A Children's Book about Bullying, Belonging, and Love

“True kindness is kind to both self and others. Whoever insists that kindness come at your own expense, at the exclusion of your needs, boundaries and preferences, is not kind.”
― Pamela Storch

“The world is a better place, when YOUR world is a better place. Speak to yourself with kindness. Treat your body with love. As the light within you radiates, the world becomes brighter, and the lives of others are brightened.”
― Pamela Storch

“Self-love has to include a disregard for how other people might perceive me, and living as though life is in the present, rather than something that will start in earnest once certain thresholds have been passed. I sometimes have to say aloud to myself: you do not agree that life's worth should be measured in this way. Don't give the idea the authority to direct your self-criticism for not measuring up. It feels like a life's work. Repeat it until you mean it. Say it like a friend would.”
― Amy Key, Arrangements in Blue

“I dreamed I called you on the telephone
to say: Be kinder to yourself
but you were sick and would not answer

The waste of my love goes on this way
trying to save you from yourself”
― Adrienne Rich, Diving Into the Wreck