40 Body Positive Quotes Everyone Should Read
Updated: Jan. 24, 2022
Love the skin you're in! Celebrate your beautiful body by reading this round-up of the best body positive quotes.
Body positive quotes that remind us to love ourselves
We’ve all been there before. We’ve gotten up in the morning, looked in the mirror, and immediately started critiquing ourselves. Is that really the way to live life, though? Negative self-talk sets the wrong tone for your day, and prolonged negative self-talk impacts your confidence. Instead of critiquing your body, why not apply some kindness to the situation?
Every body deserves to be accepted and celebrated, and you deserve to feel beautiful in your skin. Luckily, there are some life-changing quotes about body positivity that inspire us to embrace our bodies and all they’ve done for us. Remember: no one’s perfect (even those people who we swear are flawless), and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Bookmark these body positive quotes that’ll inspire you to love yourself wholly and shamelessly (and don’t forget to browse these hope quotes for more inspiration).
1. “This body had carried me through a hard life. It looked exactly the way it was supposed to.”—Carve the Mark
2. “My limbs work, so I’m not going to complain about how my body is shaped.”—Drew Barrymore
3. “And I said to my body, softly, ‘I want to be your friend.’ It took a long breath. And replied, ‘I have been waiting my whole life for this.'”—Nayyirah Waheed
4. “One day I decided that I was beautiful, and so I carried out my life as if I was a beautiful girl. I wear colors that I really like, I wear makeup that makes me feel pretty, and it really helps. It doesn’t have anything to do with how the world perceives you. What matters is what you see.”—Gabourey Sidibe
5. “I just don’t believe in perfection. But I do believe in saying, “This is who I am and look at me not being perfect!” I’m proud of that.”—Kate Winslet
6. “Remember, you have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.”—Louise L. Hay
7. “Your body hears everything your mind says.”—Naomi Judd
8. “I definitely have body issues, but everybody does. When you come to the realization that everybody does that—even the people that I consider flawless—then you can start to live with the way you are.”—Taylor Swift
9. “Each individual woman’s body demands to be accepted on its own terms.”—Gloria Steinem
10. “Your words have so much power. Every day, if you tell yourself ‘I love you,’ if you give yourself one word of validation, it will change your mind.”—Ashley Graham
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11. “Just focus on being the best possible version of yourself and quit worrying about your thighs—there’s nothing wrong with them.”—Jennie Runk
12. “I think your whole life shows in your face and you should be proud of that.”—Lauren Bacall
13. “I’m not ashamed of what I am and that I have curves and that I’m thick. I like my body.”—Alicia Keys
14. “All bodies are different, all bodies have their own individual way of reacting to the work we make them do.”—Anna Kessel, Eat Sweat Play: How Sport Can Change Our Lives
15. “Eyes closed, feet dancing their way toward the pond, she was her own music, her body her favorite thing she’d ever owned.”—Furthermore
16. “The body is meant to be seen, not all covered up.”—Marilyn Monroe
17. “Being a healthy woman isn’t about getting on a scale or measuring your waistline. We need to start focusing on what matters—on how we feel, and how we feel about ourselves.”—Michelle Obama
18. “I see my body as an instrument, rather than an ornament.”—Alanis Morissette
19. “Stop trying to fix your body. It was never broken.”—Eve Ensler
20. “As for the rest of you, remember this: YOU ARE WANTED. Big, small, tall, short, pretty, plain, friendly, shy. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, not even yourself. Especially yourself.”—Holding Up the Universe
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21. “You define beauty for yourself, society doesn’t define your beauty. Your spirit and your faith defines your beauty.”—Lady Gaga
22. “People often say that ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder,’ and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder. This empowers us to find beauty in places where others have not dared to look, including inside ourselves.”—Salma Hayek
23. “I don’t have perfect teeth, I’m not stick thin. I want to be the person who feels great in her body and can say that she loves it and doesn’t want to change anything.”—Emma Watson
24. “Life is so much more beautiful and complex than a number on a scale.”—Tess Munster
25. “I have a belly. And I have cellulite. And I still deserve love.”—Amy Schumer
26. “There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy.”—Friedrich Nietzsche
27. “Beauty is the enemy. We try to conquer not feeling beautiful all our lives. It’s a battle that can’t be won. There’s no definition of beauty. The only way to achieve beauty is to feel it from inside without breaking down into individual physical attributes.”—Miley Cyrus
28. “Hating our bodies is something that we learn, and it sure as hell is something that we can unlearn.”—Megan Jayne Crabbe
29. “I’m not going to sacrifice my mental health to have the perfect body.”—Demi Lovato
30. “I love every cell of my body.”—Louise Hay
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31. “Focus on the parts of yourself that will not diminish with time—humor and wisdom are not like collagen. You will make more of them as you age.”—Eleanor Gordon-Smith
32. “I am getting used to my voice not sounding like an apology, my hair looking like a thunderstorm, my face resembling a calamity, my smile looking like jagged tombstones, my soul feeling like an abstract art.”—4 AM Conversations
33. “Speak to your body in a loving way. It’s the only one you’ve got, it’s your home, and it deserves your respect.”—Iskra Lawrence
34. “The human body is the best picture of the human soul.”—Ludwig Wittgenstein
35. “My weight? It is what it is. You could get hit by a bus tomorrow. It’s about being content. And sometimes other priorities win.”—Melissa McCarthy
36. “Most important, in order to find real happiness, you must learn to love yourself for the totality of who you are and not just what you look like.”—Portia de Rossi
37. “Even I don’t wake up looking like Cindy Crawford.”—Cindy Crawford
38. “To love yourself right now, just as you are, is to give yourself heaven. Don’t wait until you die. If you wait, you die now. If you love, you live now.”—Alan Cohen
39. “You can’t hate yourself happy. You can’t criticize yourself thin. You can’t shame yourself worthy. Real change begins with self-love and self-care.”—Jessica Ortner
40. “I can’t think of any better representation of beauty than someone who is unafraid to be herself.”—Emma Stone
