Martha Beck Quotes

You know, I think I'm a stronger person for realizing that you can't make everybody love you.

More than anything, whether it's my dad's fault or whatever, I wouldn't allow myself to be loved. I lived most of my life thinking that I was unlovable, that I was broken goods, or whatever.

I want people to love me, but it's not going to hurt me if they don't.

I wish that television would stop selling our hatred of ourselves, and start seducing us with our love of ourselves.

I just think women should love themselves more than they do. Because I think - with all the social media stuff - we look at ourselves too much, and we just destroy ourselves when we're way cooler than we know.

Maybe you just don't see your own beauty.

Learning to love my inner and outer beauty wasn't an easy road. I still don't always love the reflection I see in the mirror, but I have learned that my outer appearance does not define me.

My mama told me in college, 'I love you, and you're God's child, but natural beauty will only take you so far.'

I've never disliked myself, and my weight has had nothing to do with my self-esteem.

Part of my evolution has been to learn how painful most people's childhoods are. They grow up not liking themselves, not loving themselves. Ask people if they were lovable the minute they were born, and watch them sit back and have to think about it. One lady said, 'I suppose so.' That's painful.

Nobody is more worthy of love in the entire universe than you. I wish I had reminded myself of that more.

I get people to truly accept themselves unconditionally, whether or not their therapist or anyone loves them.

A lot of times black folks look for love in all the wrong places. You're always looking for somebody to love you, be accepted, and there's the insecurities that are even transmitted through rap. Everyone is trying to aim to please too much.

I used to think I was ugly. I thought I looked like a camel. A person who doesn't love themselves, they will see anything that pops up on their face. I've seen squirrels, I've seen a bird, and I've seen all kinds of animals on my face. But that is the result of self-hate. I've learned to say: 'You know what? I am a beautiful black woman'.

Of all afflictions, the worst is self-contempt.

I feel like I have a healthy self-esteem.

Some people say I'm not a very pretty woman, but I'm a very beautiful woman inside.

I am toothy, dumpy, ugly, overweight, a spinster - what the hell?

Self-esteem should not be confused with self-confidence. Self-confidence is believing in your competence and your ability to do something, whereas self-esteem is believing in your goodness.

I digested this value system that told me there was no one for me unless I reached a certain type of perfection. And as you get older, you realize that ideal is constantly changing.

You can't let someone else lower your self-esteem, because that's what it is - self-esteem. You need to first love yourself before you have anybody else love you.

It's very difficult to be fully accepting of who you are when you've got that superficial world out there.

I consider myself a woman endowed with inner beauty.

I do have my insecurities, but I feel good in my skin, and my heart is full of love.

You must really begin to harden yourself to the idea of being worth looking at.