242 Self-Care Quotes Every Woman Needs to Hear

Some days self-care means a bubble bath and a good book. Other days it means finally answering that email you've been avoiding, or just sitting in silence for five minutes without anyone touching your face. Whatever your version looks like, sometimes you need someone else's words to remind you that taking care of yourself isn't selfish — it's necessary.

That's where this list comes in. We've pulled together the best self care quotes out there, from mental health self-care quotes to woman self care quotes to the ones so funny you'll want to screenshot them immediately. Bookmark this page, share it in your group chat, or save your favorites for the next time you need a little nudge to put yourself first.

📝 In this article:

Quotes about self-care to start your day right

Mornings can go one of two ways: you're up before your alarm feeling like a functioning adult, or you're hitting snooze while silently negotiating with the universe for five more minutes. Either way, these lines are your reminder that however the day starts, you get to decide how you show up for yourself in it. 🌅

1. "Self-care is not selfish. You cannot serve from an empty vessel." — Eleanor Brownn
2. "Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you." — Anne Lamott
3. "Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation." — Audre Lorde
4. "Happiness and confidence are the prettiest things you can wear." — Taylor Swift
5. "When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming." — Fred Rogers
6. "Self-care is how you take your power back." — Lalah Delia
7. "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
8. "The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are." — Carl Jung
9. “Self-care makes your use of time more sustainable." — Jack Kornfield
10. "Beauty is about being comfortable in your own skin." — Emma Watson
11. "I am learning every day to allow the space between where I am and where I want to be to inspire me." — Tracee Ellis Ross
12. "Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing we'll ever do." — Brené Brown
13. "Self-love is not selfish. You cannot truly love another until you know how to love yourself." — bell hooks
14. "What you think of yourself is much more important than what others think of you." — Seneca
15. "The most important relationship in your life is the relationship you have with yourself." — Diane Von Furstenberg
16. "Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees is by no means a waste of time." — John Lubbock
17. "Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop." — Ovid
18. "The time to relax is when you don't have time for it." — Sydney J. Harris
19. "Sleep is the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together." — Thomas Dekker
20. "It is not enough to be busy. The question is: what are we busy about?" — Henry David Thoreau
21. "One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from a horse master. He told me to go slow to go fast." — John Maxwell
22. "Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths." — Etty Hillesum
23. "There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither." — Alan Cohen
24. "You do not need to leave your room. Sit at your table and listen." — Franz Kafka
25. "Loving yourself doesn't mean being self-absorbed or narcissistic, it means welcoming yourself as the most honored guest in your own heart." — Margo Anand
26. "I've learned that I still have a lot to learn." — Maya Angelou
27. "You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection." — Buddha
28. "Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin as self-neglecting." — William Shakespeare
29. "Taking care of yourself doesn't mean 'me first.' It means 'me too.'" — L.R. Knost
30. "Start listening to the way you talk to yourself." — Sara Kuburic
31. "To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance." — Oscar Wilde
32. "Self-care means giving the world the best of you, instead of what's left of you." — Katie Reed
33. "The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself." — Steve Maraboli
34. "You are your own soul mate." — Diane Von Furstenberg
35. "You are not required to set yourself on fire to keep others warm." — Gabrielle Bernstein
36. "Learning to love yourself is like learning to walk — essential, life-changing, and never, ever wrong." — Vironika Tugaleva

Mental health self-care quotes

Your mental health deserves just as much attention as your to-do list. These mental health self-care quotes are here to remind you of that.

37. "You don't have to be positive all the time. It's perfectly okay to feel sad, angry, annoyed, frustrated, scared, or anxious." — Lori Deschene
38. "Take the time today to love yourself. You deserve it." — Avina Celeste
39. "Asking for help when you're down is actually the most powerful thing you can do." — Dwayne Johnson
40. "Rest and self-care are so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve others from the overflow." — Eleanor Brownn
41. "The quest for meaning is the key to mental health." — Viktor Frankl
42. "It's not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority. It's necessary." — Mandy Hale
43. "Mental health is not a destination but a process. It's about how you drive, not where you're going." — Noam Shpancer
44. "Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves." — Henry David Thoreau
45. "You are not required to be perfect, just present." — Glennon Doyle
46. "Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it." — Brené Brown
47. "Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action." — Walter Anderson
48. "There is no health without mental health." — David Satcher
49. "I'm not telling you it's going to be easy, I'm telling you it's going to be worth it." — Art Williams
50. "Vulnerability is not weakness. It's our greatest measure of courage." — Brené Brown
51. "Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is ask for help." — Michelle Obama
52. "The best way out is always through." — Robert Frost
53. "Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax." — Mark Black
54. "Healing takes time, and asking for help is a courageous step." — Mariska Hargitay
55. "There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn't." — John Green
56. "You don't need to control your thoughts. You just need to stop letting them control you." — Dan Millman
57. "It's okay to not be okay, as long as you are not giving up." — Karen Salmansohn
58. "Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love." — Brené Brown
59. "Mental health needs a great deal of attention. It's the final taboo and it needs to be faced and dealt with." — Princess Diana
60. "Just because no one else can heal or do your inner work for you doesn't mean you can, should, or need to do it alone." — Lisa Olivera

Women’s self-care quotes

For every woman who's been told she's "doing too much" — you're not. You're just doing it all, and you deserve care too.

61. "A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong she is until she's in hot water." — Eleanor Roosevelt
62. "There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish." — Michelle Obama
63. "I raise up my voice — not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard." — Malala Yousafzai
64. "She remembered who she was and the game changed." — Lalah Delia
65. "A strong woman looks a challenge in the eye and gives it a wink." — Gina Carey
66. "I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own." — Audre Lorde
67. "A woman's mind and her body are the same as a man's mind and his body." — Susan B. Anthony
68. "I raised myself to speak up for myself." — Serena Williams
69. "There's power in allowing yourself to be known and heard." — Michelle Obama
70. "You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you." — Jane Goodall
71. "Above all, be the heroine of your own life." — Nora Ephron
72. "I want every girl to know that her voice can change the world." — Malala Yousafzai
73. "Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it." — Maya Angelou
74. "I am woman, hear me roar." — Helen Reddy
75. "I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear." — Rosa Parks
76. "The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me." — Ayn Rand
77. "A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman." — Melinda Gates
78. "She believed she could, so she did." — R.S. Grey
79. "Well-behaved women seldom make history." — Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
80. "The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud." — Coco Chanel
81. "Here's to strong women. May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them." — Proverb
82. "You are allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress." — Sophia Bush
83. "Women hold up half the sky." — Chinese Proverb
84. "Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible.'" — Audrey Hepburn
85. "She was powerful, not because she wasn't scared, but because she continued on despite her fear." — Atticus

Short self-care quotes you can save and repeat

Sometimes you don't need a paragraph. You just need a line short enough to remember when things get hard.

86. "Slow down and everything you are chasing will come around and catch you." — John De Paola
87. "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." — Leonardo da Vinci
88. "You are good enough." — Reese Witherspoon
89. "Rest is resistance." — Tricia Hersey
90. "You are worthy of rest." — Tricia Hersey
91. "Comparison is the thief of joy." — Theodore Roosevelt
92. "Be gentle with yourself." — Deepak Chopra
93. "Your self-care is a necessity." — Melody Beattie
94. "When you get tired, learn to rest, not quit." — Banksy
95. "Change your thoughts and you change your world." — Norman Vincent Peale
96. "I am, I am, I am." — Sylvia Plath
97. "Stillness is where creativity and solutions to problems are found." — Deepak Chopra
98. "This is your only life. It's not a dress rehearsal." — Wayne Dyer
99. "You are worthy of your own love." — RuPaul
100. "Do less, but do it with more presence." — Deepak Chopra

Inner strength self-care quotes

For the days when you need to remember exactly how strong you already are.

101. "She stood in the storm, and when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails." — Elizabeth Edwards
102. "You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you." — Brian Tracy
103. "The human capacity for burden is like bamboo — far more flexible than you'd ever believe at first glance." — Jodi Picoult
104. "It comes from within. It is there all the time." — Anna Freud
105. "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face." — Eleanor Roosevelt
106. "Learn how to get up on the inside." — Joel Osteen
107. "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet." — Helen Keller
108. "Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies." — Mother Teresa
109. "You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice." — Bob Marley
110. "People realize they are far more capable than they thought they were." — Paulo Coelho
111. "Facing up to things, working through them, that's what makes you strong." — Sarah Dessen
112. "To think always of one's inner strength is infinitely better." — Sri Chinmoy
113. "Go within every day and find the inner strength." — Katherine Dunham
114. "It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop." — Confucius
115. "Fall seven times, stand up eight." — Japanese Proverb
116. "We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope." — Martin Luther King Jr.
117. "I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions." — Stephen Covey
118. "There is no growth without discomfort." — Brené Brown
119. "Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.'" — Mary Anne Radmacher
120. "I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship." — Louisa May Alcott
121. "Strength doesn't come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn't." — Rikki Rogers
122. "She was unstoppable, not because she did not have failures or doubt, but because she continued on despite them." — Beau Taplin
123. "Out of difficulties grow miracles." — Jean de La Bruyère
124. "The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived." — Robert Jordan
125. "You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength." — Marcus Aurelius
126. "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." — Ralph Waldo Emerson
127. "Grief and resilience live together." — Michelle Obama
128. "Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise." — Victor Hugo
129. "The wound is the place where the light enters you." — Rumi

Self-care motivational quotes

Need a push to actually follow through on that self-care plan? These will help.

130. "Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live." — Jim Rohn
131. "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." — Maya Angelou
132. "The only way to do great work is to love what you do." — Steve Jobs
133. "What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality." — Plutarch
134. "It always seems impossible until it's done." — Nelson Mandela
135. "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." — C.S. Lewis
136. "What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals." — Zig Ziglar
137. "The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be." — Ralph Waldo Emerson
138. "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." — Winston Churchill
139. "Don't watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going." — Sam Levenson
140. "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right." — Henry Ford
141. "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." — Wayne Gretzky
142. "Do something today that your future self will thank you for." — Sean Patrick Flanery
143. "Your calm mind is the ultimate weapon against your challenges." — Bryant McGill
144. "Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most." — Abraham Lincoln
145. "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." — Walt Disney
146. "Believe you can and you're halfway there." — Theodore Roosevelt
147. "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." — Arthur Ashe

Mindfulness self-care quotes

A little presence goes a long way. These mindfulness self-care quotes are perfect for grounding yourself when everything feels like a lot.

148. "Wherever you are, be all there." — Jim Elliot
149. "The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion." — Thich Nhat Hanh
150. "You must learn to let go. Release the stress. You were never in control anyway." — Steve Maraboli
151. "Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor." — Thich Nhat Hanh
152. "In today's rush, we all think too much, seek too much, want too much and forget about the joy of just being." — Eckhart Tolle
153. "Mindfulness can help people of any age." — Goldie Hawn
154. "The best way to capture moments is to pay attention." — Jon Kabat-Zinn
155. "Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul." — Marcus Aurelius
156. "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift." — Eleanor Roosevelt
157. "The secret of health lies in the mind." — Swami Sivananda
158. "Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them." — Lao Tzu
159. "Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have." — Eckhart Tolle
160. "You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf." — Jon Kabat-Zinn
161. "Meditation is not about stopping thoughts, but recognizing that we are more than our thoughts." — Arianna Huffington
162. "The quieter you become, the more you can hear." — Ram Dass
163. "In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you." — Deepak Chopra
164. "Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile." — Thich Nhat Hanh

Positive self-care quotes

Some days you need a reality check, and some days you just need a little sunshine in quote form. These are for the good-vibes days — the lines you screenshot, send to your group chat, or stick on your mirror because you could use the reminder that things are, in fact, looking up. ✨

165. "Your body hears everything your mind says. Stay positive." — Naomi Judd
166. "Where there is love there is life." — Mahatma Gandhi
167. "Every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day." — Alice Morse Earle
168. "Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions." — Dalai Lama
169. "Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow." — Helen Keller
170. "Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results." — Willie Nelson
171. "Stay away from those people who try to disparage your dreams." — Robert Kiyosaki
172. "The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate." — Oprah Winfrey
173. "A positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances." — Joyce Meyer
174. "You are confined only by the walls you build yourself." — Andrew Murphy
175. "Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations." — Zig Ziglar
176. "The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty." — Winston Churchill
177. "Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you." — Maori Proverb
178. "Choose to be optimistic, it feels better." — Dalai Lama
179. "Turn your wounds into wisdom." — Oprah Winfrey
180. "The sun himself is weak when he first rises, and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on." — Charles Dickens
181. "Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you." — Walt Whitman
182. "Positive anything is better than negative nothing." — Elbert Hubbard
183. "Good things come to those who hustle while they wait." — Anaïs Nin
184. "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference." — Winston Churchill
185. "Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement." — Helen Keller

Funny self-care quotes

Because sometimes self-care means laughing at yourself instead of overthinking everything.

186. "I like long walks, especially when they're taken by people who annoy me." — Fred Allen
187. "Self-care is canceling plans and being genuinely thrilled about it." — Anonymous
188. "If you don't have wrinkles, you haven't laughed enough." — Phyllis Diller
189. "Take care of yourself as if you're the most awesome person you've ever met." — Jen Sincero
190. "The trouble with me is I like being tired. It calms me down." — Erma Bombeck
191. "I told my therapist I don't have a bucket list, and she asked if I had a f*** it list instead." — Anonymous
192. "Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible!'" — Audrey Hepburn
193. "It's not your job to like me… it's mine!" — Byron Katie
194. "Worrying is like paying a debt you don't owe." — Mark Twain
195. "Housework can't kill you, but why take a chance?" — Phyllis Diller
196. "I don't need a hero, I need a nap and a snack." — Anonymous

Mom self-care quotes

To every mom reading this on approximately four hours of sleep — these mom self-care quotes are for you.

197. "Motherhood: All love, given freely and gladly. Without a mother's sacrifice, a family cannot be whole." — Cherie Scott
198. "The days are long but the years are short." — Gretchen Rubin
199. "It's okay to take time for yourself." — Faith Hill
200. "Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn't know you had." — Linda Wooten
201. "There's no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one." — Jill Churchill
202. "To be a good parent, you need to take care of yourself." — Adam Grant
203. "The best inheritance a parent can give their children is a few minutes of their time each day." — M. Grundler

Wellness quotes

Wellness isn't just green smoothies and 10,000 steps (though, no judgment if that's your thing). It's the whole picture — body, mind, and the messy in-between. These quotes get to the heart of what taking care of yourself actually means, beyond the buzzwords.

204. "Wellness is the complete integration of body, mind, and spirit." — Greg Anderson
205. "To keep the body in good health is a duty, otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear." — Buddha
206. "Love yourself first and everything else falls into line." — Lucille Ball
207. "To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance." — Oscar Wilde
208. "Health is a state of body. Wellness is a state of being." — J. Stanford
209. "The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself." — Michel de Montaigne
210. "Health is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind, and spirit." — B.K.S. Iyengar
211. "The groundwork for all happiness is good health." — Leigh Hunt
212. "It is health that is real wealth, and not pieces of gold and silver." — Mahatma Gandhi
213. "You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody." — Maya Angelou
214. "Wellness encompasses a healthy body, a sound mind, and a spirit of gratitude." — Kobi Yamada
215. "Nurturing yourself is not selfish, it's essential to your survival and your well-being." — Renee Peterson Trudeau
216. "A healthy attitude is contagious but don't wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier." — Tom Stoppard
217. "Physical fitness is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity." — John F. Kennedy
218. "With every act of self-care your authentic self gets stronger." — Susan Berry
219. "You don't need to be in crisis to seek help." — Carla Avalos
220. "Sometimes self-care is exercise and eating well. Sometimes it's forgiving yourself for not being able to do either of those things." — Emma Reed Turrell
221. "By taking care of myself I have so much more to offer the world." — Ali Washington
222. "The greatest wealth is health." — Virgil
223. "He who has health has hope, and he who has hope has everything." — Thomas Carlyle
224. "Wellness is a connection of paths: knowledge and action." — Joshua Holtz
225. "Start the work of loving yourself." — Wentworth Miller
226. "The time to relax is when you don't have time for it." — Sydney J. Harris
227. "Loving yourself isn't vanity, it's sanity." — Katrina Mayer
228. "A healthy outside starts from the inside." — Robert Urich
229. "Sleep is the best meditation." — Dalai Lama
230. "Balance is not something you find, it's something you create." — Jana Kingsford

Anonymous self-care quotes

Not every good piece of advice comes with a famous name attached — sometimes the wisest words are the ones passed around without an author, scribbled on a sticky note, or shared by someone in your group chat who just gets it. These are the quotes that feel like they were written just for you.

231. "Make time for yourself. You're allowed to."
232. "Energy flows where attention goes."
233. "She turned her can'ts into cans and her dreams into plans."
234. "Breathe. It's just a bad day, not a bad life."
235. "Self-care is not a luxury, it's a necessity for good mental health."
236. "Rest is productive."
237. "You are not weak for struggling. You are human."
238. "You are far stronger than you think you are."
239. "Progress, not perfection."
240. "The best is yet to come."
241. "Recovery is not one and done. It is a lifelong journey that takes willingness and work, a day at a time."
242. "You are allowed to take up space. You are allowed to feel things. You are allowed to rest."

Whichever quote stuck with you today, let it be your sign to put yourself first. Whether that's a five-minute breather between school pickups, a Saturday spent doing genuinely nothing, or finally booking that appointment you keep pushing back, you're allowed to take care of you. And if you need a community to hold you accountable to that, we've got one waiting on Peanut.