proverb · Words worth keeping
You can't love until you love yourself.
You can't love until you love yourself.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying makes self-love a prerequisite for loving someone else. A qualified reading encourages self-respect, while its cannot claim is too absolute to serve as a rule.
What the words are saying
Until presents care for oneself as a gate that must be passed before any care for others is possible. A useful application can ask whether someone’s own needs are being neglected in a relationship. It should not deny the love a person already gives while struggling with self-worth, or suggest they must reach a perfect state before forming connections.
Everyday example
Someone considers their own needs alongside those of a partner rather than dismissing the affection they already share.
When to use it
Use it to encourage self-respect without making it a test of eligibility for love.
What it does not mean
Difficulty with self-worth does not establish an inability to love others.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided proverb reference
Supplied reference A; unit 20; PDF page 7
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.