13 Comments

100% agreed with this! It’s so important to make the distinction between self-love and too much love of self. I appreciated you highlighting the perspective shift from people being swayed by external motivations to paying greater heed to their internal drives.

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Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment!

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This is one of the most cogent explanations of self-love I’ve read.

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Thank you, Gary! I appreciate it!

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You’re welcome. Keep writing.

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Love this deep and thought-provoking exploration of all the layers. I whole-heartedly agree - the more I understand myself the more I understand others. Modern narcissism comes I think from spending too much time pondering our image rather than the truth of who we are. I also personally think society needs to find God again because without religion, we have become lost people.

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Hey Suzanne, thanks for your comments and appreciation. I agree about finding God, no matter how we define that.

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Mo! Love your writing. So much good wisdom here to share with the world today. Keep up this great writing :)

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Thank you, Alejandro! I appreciate your kind words.

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Thank you for this post, Mo. Such an important topic!

Self love is, we could say, the opposite of narcissism, because, as in your Lao Tzu quote: "...one doesn’t need others’ approval."

Narcissism is an unhealthy psychological condition that needs continuous approval from the outside (eg the Kardashians, Trump, et al).

Self-love, I would define as healthy and unconditional self-acceptance, independently of external approval.

Narcissism is self-centredness, feeding on external resources, thereby draining others. Self-love is being in one's own centre, radiating outwards, thereby nurturing others.

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Thanks for sharing your insights, Veronika!

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Knowing oneself means learning to tackle its weaknesses and overcoming them in daily life arena. But Self Love means loving the ideals of the Higher self in you which are Truth, beauty and goodness , compassion (like u said) .

In summary , service to others

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Well said! Thank you for sharing a profound perspective!

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