Bell Hooks Quotes

You're able to love others, to give to others, and do for others by giving and doing for yourself first.

Take time off to give to yourself, in a sense to fill yourself up to fullness, to where now you can overflow in giving.

I think you're put here on earth to enjoy yourself. And I'm doing that.

What do I mean by loving ourselves properly? I mean first of all, desiring to live, accepting life as a very great gift and a great good, not because of what it gives us, but because of what it enables us to give to others.

If you want to feel happy, do something for yourself. If you want to feel fulfilled, do something for someone else.

May we understand that joy is not a sin, sacrifice is not a virtue.

The greatest value comes from loving yourself for who you are. I've been teaching myself this for years, so I hope that by showing what I've learned, others can find the same freedom and joy I have.

Whatever you want that others in your life can't give you, ask yourself how you can give it to yourself.

By surviving passages of doubt and depression on the vocational journey, I have become clear about at least one thing: 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 to others. Anytime we can listen to true self and give it the care it requires, we do so not only for ourselves but for the many others whose lives we touch.

It's only when we give to ourselves as passionately as we give of ourselves that we create the life we want and deserve.

In order to help people, you have to first learn how to help yourself.

The most satisfied and enlightened people realize that successful and dynamic living starts from within. Before you can care for others, you must care for yourself.

Well, I think everyone struggles with self-love.

You need to be able to find joy in something that requires so much of yourself. I have to have that deeper meaning in my work and in my everyday life.

A lot of what I do outside acting is really just for me.

Self-nurturance, or learning to bask in bliss, is an acquired art form.

To fall in love with yourself is the first secret of happiness. Then if you're not a good mixer you can always fall back on your own company.

To love others you must love yourself...You can only give to others what you have yourself.

We are capable of creating miracles ourselves and the greatest miracle is to create a masterpiece of joy out of your life with no excuses. The thing I focus on is going straight to heart. I go to mine first because if I don't feel it, you're not going to feel it. I take a deep breath and remind myself that before I give it to you I have to give it to myself.

To love oneself is to love life. It is essential to understand that we make ourselves happy in making others happy.

It's when I let myself get little that I tumble head over heels into joy.

What gives you pleasure and joy? Let those be the things that lead you forward in life.

I never enjoyed life in my twenties, not one minute of it. It was a test of endurance that I'm surprised I survived. Professionally, of course, I was doing very well but personally it couldn't have been worse or more difficult for me if I'd been living in a mud hut in Leeds.

Fighting for happiness is the hardest thing you'll ever fight for, but it's the only thing worth fighting for.

If we are made in some degree for others, yet in a greater are we made for ourselves.