In a world that seems to demand so much from us, it’s important to take a step back and let ourselves breathe.
Many of us grew up thinking that the best way to move forward is to please the people around us, but that only made us overlook our needs.
But now, it’s time to take hold of your own life and priorities; and reach the dreams you have always wanted to follow.
This time, you must learn how to do things for yourself.
To help you gain the confidence and power to take the reins, here are some of the best putting yourself first quotes that will make you realize how duly important it is to make yourself, first and foremost, a priority.
Read on and enjoy!
Memorable Putting Yourself First Quotes
1. “One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.” — Shannon L. Alder
2. “Put yourself first and everyone benefits.” — Jim Karas
3. “It’s important to put yourself first from time to time. It’s not selfish—it’s actually going to put you in a better position to give to others.” — Carley Centen
4. “The first key, the key to unlocking your universe is to put yourself first.” — Connie Cash
5. “You’ve sacrificed too much for others. Now do the same for yourself.” — Mitta Xinindlu
6. “In fact, if you want to attract success, you will have to put yourself first. You can’t take care of anyone else until you take care of yourself.” — Talane Miedaner
7. “My mother always says people should be able to take care of themselves, even if they’re rich and important.” ― Frances Hodgson Burnett
8. “Always put yourself first – never compromise on your own happiness in order to make someone else happy.” — Hayley Mulenda
9. “Put yourself first. Before all others, take care of yourself. Before the wife or the husband, before the beautiful children, before your parents. Put yourself first. Take care of yourself.” — Barbel Mohr
10. “When you put yourself first, it means you love yourself, and when you love yourself, you love the others.” — Carmina Harr
11. “When you decide to put yourself first, you make a choice to live authentically. You can nurture yourself, which in turn gives back more to the world. As you become the priority, you start to make choices based on what is right for you at that moment, not what is right for the rest of the world.” — Michelle Zawaski
12. “You must learn to put your own needs first. Does that sound callous? It shouldn’t if you are honest with yourself.” — Anne Bellamy, Annie James
13. “But life is paradox, and sometimes the only way you can serve others is to put yourself first.” — David Bach, John David Mann
14. “To gain self-respect, you need to put yourself first.” — Lorii Myers
15. “It’s not weak to stand by the person you love when they’re trying to fix a big mistake, and it’s not weak to decide to put yourself first.” — Sylvia Day
16. “Always putting others first creates deep resentment, destroys your happiness, and is unsustainable. Putting yourself first allows you to meet your needs in the most skillful way. This, in turn, increases your happiness, joy, and capacity to love, so you can give freely and create healthy relationships.” — Aziz Gazipura
17. “It is not selfish to put yourself first when you create your life. When you take time for yourself, you make everything around you better.” — Tom Anderson
18. “Putting yourself first is a matter of knowing when to do it and when you need it most.” — Susan Smith Blakely
19. “So why put yourself first? When you reach a certain age, you need to look after yourself because nobody else is going to do so for you.” — Rob Willson, Rhena Branch
20. “Put yourself first. It is so easy to put family, friends and significant others first. But it is extremely important to think of your needs and wants and make them a priority.” — Kia Lorece
21. “When you put yourself first you will manage to come out on top. Many times situations may cause you to doubt yourself, second guess, tell yourself that you aren’t deserving of, and it’s all a bunch of you know what.” — Donna Burrell
22. “If you want to be able to do your best job, you need to put yourself first, at least some of the time.” — Samantha Brody
23. “It’s time to stop avoiding your ambition and put yourself first.” — Maree McPherson
24. “You & Your voice hold a value.. Your hurt & scars do Pain, Your happiness is meant to shine.. Don’t let yourself go in Vain. Please yourself before pleasing others, You aint a possession of anyone, Your life is for you to choose, it will be your fate. Save yourself before its too late!” — Somya Kedia
25. “Always choose yourself first. Women are very socialized to choose other people. If you put yourself first, it’s this incredible path you can forge for yourself.” — Rebecca Traister
26. “Choose to put yourself first and make you a priority. It’s not selfish, it’s necessary.” — Keysha Jade
27. “Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.” — M. Scott Peck
28. “Value yourself first and only then you can learn to value others.” — Charlyn Khater
29. “The more you focus on yourself, the less you care about…[the stuff] around you.” — Nitin Namdeo
30. “There is a reason flight attendants tell you to put your mask on first in an emergency…you cannot be important to anyone else if you are not first and foremost important to yourself. Appreciate and love yourself then use that to do the same for others. ” — Shelley K Wall
31. “Remember to delight yourself first, then others can be truly delighted.” — SARK
32. “If you are really humble you will put yourself first when you need to take care of you.” — Bryant McGill
Putting Yourself First Quotes To Help You Know Your Self-Worth
33. “When you start sacrificing yourself for other people, you make them a thief, because they are stealing from you what you need and they don’t even know it.” — Iyanla Vanzant
34. “Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment.” — Lao Tzu
35. “The only person who can pull me down is myself, and I’m not going to let myself pull me down anymore.” — C. Joybell C.
36. “Prove to the world you ARE worth something by treating yourself with the utmost respect and hope that other people will follow your example. And even if they don’t, at least one person in the world is treating you well: YOU.” ― Carrie Hope Fletcher
37. “Once you believe you’re worth it, you need to learn to put yourself first. Not all the time, and not to the exclusion of taking care of other people — but you have to learn how to take the time you need for yourself and make sure you’re getting your needs met.” — Dustin Maher
38. “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” — George Bernard Shaw.
39. “The only one you should compare yourself to is you. Your mission is to become better today than you were yesterday. You do that by focusing on what you can do today to improve and grow.” — John Maxwell
40. “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” — Bernard Brauch
41. “I’ve learned that if someone threatens my peace of mind, self-respect, or self-worth… I must walk away. I owe it to myself… I owe it to my future.” — Steve Maraboli
42. “Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that’s real power.” — Clint Eastwood
43. “You have to validate yourself first, and then you will receive the much-deserved healing validation from the rest of the world.” — A.D. Posey
44. “Once you embrace your value, talents, and strengths, it neutralizes when others think less of you.” — Rob Liano
45. “When you care for yourself first, the world will also find you worthy of care.” ― Haemin Sunim
46. “A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.” — Mark Twain
47. “No one can make you feel inferior without your own consent.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
48. “I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.” — Mahatma Gandhi
49. “When you undervalue what you do, the world will undervalue who you are.” — Oprah Winfrey
50. “Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.” — Harvey Fierstein
51. “You are enough just as you are.” — Meghan Markle
52. What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
53. “Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-break on.” — Maxwell Maltz
54. “If you don’t value yourself, you’re not going to draw valuable things into your life.” — Robert Tew
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Putting Yourself First Quotes About Making Yourself A Priority
55. “If you don’t make the choices in your own life, then someone else is going to end up making them for you and they are not gonna be good.” — James Altucher
56. “Don’t wait for a crisis to realize what matters most. Put yourself first right now. Because right now is all we have.” — Brittany Burgunder
57. “Make your priorities a priority.” — Frank Sonnenberg
58. “It’s not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority. It’s necessary.” — Mandy Hale
59. “If you prioritize yourself, you are going to save yourself.” — Gabrielle Union
60. “Know what matters most to you and be unwilling to compromise those priorities at almost any price.” — Frank Sonnenberg
61. “Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.” — Maya Angelou
Putting Yourself First Quotes To Inspire You To Love Yourself More
62. “If you have the ability to love, love yourself first.” — Charles Bukowski
63. “No human being is ever going to love you more than you love yourself.” — Avis J. Williams
64. “You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” — Buddha
65. “The love and attention you always thought you wanted from someone else, is the love and attention you first need to give to yourself.”― Bryant McGillns
66. “Love yourself enough to set boundaries. Your time and energy are precious. You get to choose how you use it. You teach people how to treat you by deciding what you will and won’t accept.” — Anna Taylor
67. “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance. ” — Oscar Wilde
68. “But if you put yourself first in a loving manner, this is an act of self-love, which will only benefit everyone else around you.” — Nancy M. Mae
69. “Be you, love you. All ways, always.” ― Alexandra Elle
70. “Learning to love yourself is like learning to walk—essential, life-changing, and the only way to stand tall.” — Vironika Tugaleva
71. “Forgiving yourself, believing in yourself and choosing to love yourself are the best gifts one could receive.” — Brittany Burgunder
72. “Self-love seems so often unrequited.” — Anthony Powell
73. “In the journey of finding love I focus on having a great relationship with myself first.” — Angel Moreira
74. “When I was around 18, I looked in the mirror and said, ‘You’re either going to love yourself or hate yourself.’ And I decided to love myself. That changed a lot of things.” — Queen Latifah
75. “To fall in love with yourself is the first secret to happiness.” — Robert Morley
76. “Just look at yourself in the mirror and focus on what you need to do to get better.” — Choo Freeman
77. “You don’t have to stop looking after yourself just to help the world. In fact, sometimes it’s better for the world if you put yourself first. That’s not being selfish, in fact, looking after yourself is the greatest act of kindness you can give the world. Loving yourself first is the best way to spread love.” ― Holly Bourne
78. “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. Your really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” — Lucille Ball
79. “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” — Howard Washington Thurman
90. “Find the love you seek, by first finding the love within yourself. Learn to rest in that place within you that is your true home.” — Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
91. “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” — Rumi
92. “Find yourself first, like yourself first, love yourself FIRST, & friendship & love will naturally find YOU.” — Mandy Hale
93. “Friendship with one’s self is all important, because without it one can not be friends with anyone else in the world.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
94. “You don’t need to live to fulfill other’s expectations. Live for yourself, love yourself and do not let them tell you that it is selfish.” — Mridula Singh
95. “Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we’ll ever do.” — Brené Brown
96. “Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you! Shout loud, ‘I am lucky to be what I am!” — Dr. Seuss
97. “We just need to be kinder to ourselves. If we treated ourselves the way we treated our best friend, can you imagine how much better off we would be?” — Meghan Markle
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Putting Yourself First Quotes To Help With Self-Care
98. “Self-care is how you take your power back.” — Lalah Delia
99. “Taking care of myself doesn’t mean ‘me first.’ It means ‘me, too.” ― L.R. Knost
100. “You always have to remember to take care of you first and foremost, because when you stop taking care of yourself, you get out of balance and you really forget how to take care of others.” — Jada Pinkett Smith
101. “When you make a mistake, respond to yourself in a loving way rather than a self-shaming way.” — Ellie Holcomb
102. “I have come to believe that caring for myself is not self indulgent. Caring for myself is an act of survival.” — Audre Lorde
103. “You aren’t doing “nothing” when you choose to put your wellbeing first. In fact, this is the key to having everything.” ― Brittany Burgunder
104. “Self-care is not selfish. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.” — Eleanor Brown
105. “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.” — Parker Palmer
106. “If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” — Jack Kornfield
107. “If you don’t workout, sleep, meditate, relax, or do whatever special things you need to do for you, you won’t be the best version of yourself. When you’re not your best version of yourself, you can’t do things for others. In a way, it’s actually selfless to take great care of yourself because it allows you to be more present for your family and friends.” — Heather Monahan
108. “Self-care has become a new priority – the revelation that it’s perfectly permissible to listen to your body and do what it needs.” ― Frances Ryan
109. “When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.” — Jean Shinoda Bolen
110. “You should endeavor to give your body what it needs to be healthy, your mind what it needs to be peaceful and focused, and your soul what it needs to feel content.” — Dedeker Winston
111. “Be healthy and take care of yourself, but be happy with the beautiful things that make you, you.” — Beyoncé
Putting Yourself First Quotes About Choosing Yourself Over Others
112. “If you want to have enough to give to others, you will need to take care of yourself first. A tree that refuses water and sunlight for itself can’t bear fruit for others.” — Emily Maroutian
113. “It’s not selfish, but selfless to be first, to be as good as possible to you, to take care of you, to keep you whole and healthy, that doesn’t mean that you disregard everything and everyone, but you gotta keep your cup full.” — Iyanla Vanzant
114. “As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” — Maya Angelou
115. “Don’t waste your energy trying to change opinions … Do your thing, and don’t care if they like it.” — Tina Fey
116. “As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” — Marianne Williamson
117. “Put yourself first. I’m not talking about narcissism. I’m talking about not putting other people’s needs ahead of yours all the time. When you constantly put yourself second, you set up a pattern and start to settle for second place.” — Carmen Harra, Alexandra Harra
118. “You need to put yourself first. If you accept yourself, then others’ acceptance won’t be as important. But you must put yourself first in order to feel that you are not invisible, that you do count.” — Dianne Doyle Pita
119. “Why should we worry about what others think of us, do we have more confidence in their opinions than we do our own?” — Brigham Young
120. “You have to be self-interested in order to be selfless. You have to put yourself first if you want to be of use to other people.” — Rachel Bartholomew
121. “Whenever you feel compelled to put others first at the expense of yourself, you are denying your own reality, your own identity.” — David Stafford
122. “If you don’t put yourself first, you are letting the world know you can wait—and you will wait, because each time you put someone else’s happiness before your own, you drop yourself down a place until you are last.” — Oliver Myers
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What’s Your Favorite Quote On Putting Yourself First?
Putting yourself first can be a foreign thing to feel and do, especially when you have spent most of your life putting others’ needs first, but it’s a value you will certainly appreciate in the long run.
These putting yourself first quotes shouldn’t just be read but should be embodied to truly make yourself feel whole.
These words can only be words alone unless you take the time to finally realize the power of choosing yourself above all.
Now, which one of these was your favorite?
Let us know in the comments below!
Alan is the founder of Subconscious Servant. He has a passion for learning about topics such as spirituality and the metaphysical world. The thing he loves to explore most though is manifesting with the law of attraction ✨.