51 Quotes For Self Acceptance

In a world constantly urging us to chase perfection and fit into predefined molds, self-acceptance emerges as a profound and liberating act of defiance. Embracing who we are, with all our intricacies and imperfections, paves the way for genuine happiness and enriched understanding of ourselves and others. Whether you're on a journey of personal growth or seeking a gentle reminder of your worth, these curated quotes for self-acceptance offer insightful reflections and encouragement. Dive deep and let each quote inspire you to embrace the beautifully unique person you are.

1. “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” - Sharon Salzberg

2. “You have peace," the old woman said, "when you make it with yourself.” - Mitch Albom

3. “I laugh at myself. I don't take myself completely seriously. I think that's another quality that people have to hold on to... you have to laugh, especially at yourself.” - Madonna

4. “Often, it’s not about becoming a new person, but becoming the person you were meant to be, and already are, but don’t know how to be.” - Heath L. Buckmaster

5. “Buy or borrow self-improvement books, but don't read them. Stack them around your bedroom and use them as places to rest bowls of cookies.Watch exercise shows on television, but don't do the exercises. Practice believing that the benefit lies in imagining yourself doing the exercises.Don't power walk. Saunter slowly in the sun, eating chocolate, and carry a blanket so you can take a nap.” - SARK

6. “Friendship with oneself is all important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.” - Eleanor Roosevelt

7. “Peace comes from within.  Do not seek it without.” - Siddhārtha Gautama

8. “You're always with yourself, so you might as well enjoy the company.” - Diane Von Furstenberg

9. “The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.” - Mark Twain

10. “It is not worth the while to let our imperfections disturb us always.” - Henry David Thoreau

11. “We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.” - Dalai Lama XIV

12. “If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation.” - J. Krishnamurti

13. “There is darkness inside all of us, though mine is more dangerous than most. Still, we all have it—that part of our soul that is irreparably damaged by the very trials and tribulations of life. We are what we are because of it, or perhaps in spite of it. Some useit as a shield to hide behind, others as an excuse to do unconscionable things. But, truly, the darkness is simply a piece of the whole, neither good nor evil unless you make it so. Ittook a witch, a war, and a voodoo queen to teach me that.” - Jenna Maclaine

14. “You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” - Sharon Salzberg

15. “For once, you believed in yourself. You believed you were beautiful and so did the rest of the world.” - Sarah Dessen

16. “I now see how owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.” - Brené Brown

17. “I don't know if I continue, even today, always liking myself. But what I learned to do many years ago was to forgive myself. It is very important for every human being to forgive herself or himself because if you live, you will make mistakes- it is inevitable. But once you do and you see the mistake, then you forgive yourself and say, 'Well, if I'd known better I'd have done better,' that's all. So you say to people who you think you may have injured, 'I'm sorry,' and then you say to yourself, 'I'm sorry.' If we all hold on to the mistake, we can't see our own glory in the mirror because we have the mistake between our faces and the mirror; we can't see what we're capable of being. You can ask forgiveness of others, but in the end the real forgiveness is in one's own self. I think that young men and women are so caught by the way they see themselves. Now mind you. When a larger society sees them as unattractive, as threats, as too black or too white or too poor or too fat or too thin or too sexual or too asexual, that's rough. But you can overcome that. The real difficulty is to overcome how you think about yourself. If we don't have that we never grow, we never learn, and sure as hell we should never teach.” - Maya Angelou

18. “I’m nothing great. But I’m a rose… I’m a rose whether I’m admired or not, I’m a rose whether anyone’s crazy about me or not… Like I said, nothing great. Just a rose… But, do you know what it means to be a rose, my friend? Being a rose means ‘freedom.’ It means not existing by the praises of Others or not ceasing to exist by their disapproval.” - Serdar Özkan

19. “Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.” - Marilyn Monroe

20. “Omigosh—I'm a squash!” - Dave Horowitz

21. “At 30 a man should know himself like the palm of his hand, know the exact number of his defects and qualities, know how far he can go, foretell his failures - be what he is. And, above all, accept these things.” - Albert Camus

22. “No amount of self-improvement can make up for any lack of self-acceptance.” - Robert Holden

23. “The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.” - C.G. Jung

24. “The difference between my darkness and your darkness is that I can look at my own badness in the face and accept its existence while you are busy covering your mirror with a white linen sheet. The difference between my sins and your sins is that when I sin I know I'm sinning while you have actually fallen prey to your own fabricated illusions. I am a siren, a mermaid; I know that I am beautiful while basking on the ocean's waves and I know that I can eat flesh and bones at the bottom of the sea. You are a white witch, a wizard; your spells are manipulations and your cauldron from hell yet you wrap yourself in white and wear a silver wig.” - C. JoyBell C.

25. “I have known friendship love, parental love, romantic love, family love and unrequited love in my life time, but the only love that made a difference was self love. You don't need confirmation from the world or another person that you matter. You simply do matter. When you finally believe that truth and live it then you can do amazing things with your life!” - Shannon Alder

26. “Being different is a revolving door in your life where secure people enter and insecure exit.” - Shannon L. Alder

27. “Some people walk through a hallway with covered mirrors– the hallway is lined with mirrors but there are blankets covering each of them. They go through life believing in an image of themselves that isn't real, and an image of themselves standing in the world and relative to the world, that isn't real. If you happen to be in that hallway and pull the blankets off the mirrors, they're going to think that you're hurting them; but they're actually just seeing their reflection for the first time. Sometimes the most horrendous thing a person can see, is all the hidden things inside them, the things they've covered, the things they choose not look at. And you're not hurting them, you're setting them free.” - C. JoyBell C.

28. “What would happen if you stopped fighting, and gave yourself permission to feel? Not just the good things, but everything?” - R.J. Anderson

29. “And lose my cock, balls and prostate? Are you kidding me? Honey, I’m still all man. I’m just a man with decoration,” Tommy had explained before turning with a flounce and practically floating out of the room in his heels.” - Vicktor Alexander

30. “You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful.” - Amy Bloom

31. “Where would we have been without the discoveries of our predecessors, and where are we going without your discoveries?” - Ogwo David Emenike

32. “To be given permission to be confused -- and remain confused -- for as long as it takes would have been a huge gift.” - JANET JACKSON

33. “Self-acceptance is a way of viewing oneself compassionately, without condemnation or justification. It is a starting point in life which makes other things possible. It celebrates the fullness of joy of being alive and of being who we are: accepting ourselves, however, does not mean embracing our neuroses or bad habits and celebrating them as if they were virtues. On the contrary, self-acceptance involves loving ourselves enough to accept painful truths about ourselves. . . . Self-acceptance is, at its simplest, the experience of one's self, here and now, as a complete human being, with all the glories and problems that condition entails.” - Don Richard Riso

34. “The peak of happiness is attained when a person has accepted to be what he is.” - Ogwo David Emenike

35. “You were what you were and you are what you are. Fuck that regrets bullshit.” - Irvine Welsh

36. “How easily we accept the fact that this is a varied world, with many races, cultures, and mores. In America we rejoice in this diversity, this pluralism, which makes up the rich pattern of our national being. We should learn to accept this pluralism in ourselves, to rejoice in the truth that we human being consist of a variety of moods, impulses, traits, and emotions … If we become pluralistic in thinking about ourselves, we shall learn to take the depressed mood or the cruel mood or the uncooperative mood for what is, one of many, fleeting, not permanent. As pluralists we take ourselves for worse as well as for better, cease demanding a brittle perfection which can lead only to inner despair. There are facets of failure in every person’s makeup and there are elements of success. Both must be accepted while we try to emphasize the latter through self-knowledge.” - Joshua Loth Liebman

37. “Recognize that there's something AMAZING about you. Everyone has something that comes very natural for them - natural gifts and talents. That gift/talent is that thing or things that comes easy for you, but hard for most. The greatness that is stored within was given to you, because it was meant to be used. Whether you've been running from it or haven't discovered it yet, it's there. It's your job to discover and master it. It wasn't given to you in vain, it's part of your purpose.” - Yvonne Pierre

38. “The mistake ninety-nine percent of humanity made, as far as Fats could see, was being ashamed of what they were; lying about it, trying to be somebody else.” - J.K. Rowling

39. “We fitted together like the two halves of an oyster-shell. I was Narcissus, embracing the pond in which I was about to drown. However much we had to hide our love, however guarded we had to be about our pleasure, I could not long be miserable about a thing so very sweet. Nor, in my gladness, could I quite believe that anybody would be anything but happy for me if only they knew.” - Sarah Waters

40. “The way you think about yourself determines your reality. You are not being hurt by the way people think about you. Many of those people are a reflection of how you think about yourself.” - Shannon L. Alder

41. “There comes a time in each life like a point of fulcrum. At that time you must accept yourself. It is not any more what you will become. It is what you are and always will be. You are too young to know this. You are still becoming. Not being.” - John Fowles

42. “I am here. I am in the present tense. I'm not always here, and sometimes here is a very difficult place. Sometimes it is a labyrinth, or a Minotaur, or a rope I can neither let go of nor follow. It's hard to find the right words, but I guess I would say that it's something like feeling the floor. And that it is my privilege to feel it.” - Meg Howrey

43. “Know yourself fearlessly (even quietly) for all the things you are.” - Aberjhani

44. “Genuine self-acceptance is not derived from the power of positive thinking, mind games or pop psychology. IT IS AN ACT OF FAITH in the God of grace.” - Brennan Manning

45. “To love, and be loved, this is the greatest challenge that any of us face in our lives.” - T. Scott McLeod

46. “If you go to war with your mind, you will always be at war.” - T. Scott McLeod

47. “People will ask you the question 'how is life treating you?' But my question is 'how are you treating life?' On that your happiness rests” - Rasheed Ogunlaru

48. “Thoughts will lead you in circles. Silence will bring you back to your centre.” - Rasheed Ogunlaru

49. “Sometimes in life there's no problem and sometimes in there is no solution. In this space - between these apparent poles - life flows.” - Rasheed Ogunlaru

50. “The deceptive, glossy media images of faces, bodies and social lifestyles, make us hate ourselves so we will buy a solution to love ourselves once again.” - Bryant McGill

51. “How do I structure my life to be at peace with who I am, & comfortable with what I’m doing & not doing?” - Elizabeth Grace Saunders