Self Compassion / The Compassionate Mind Quotes

“Consider, for example, how people often criticize themselves in front of others: “I look like a cow in this dress,” “I’m hopelessly inept with computers,” “I have the worst sense of direction of anyone I know!” It’s as if we’re saying, “I’m going to beat you to the punch and criticize myself before you can. I recognize how flawed and imperfect I am so you don’t have to cut me down and tell me what I already know.”
― Kristin Neff, Self Compassion / The Compassionate Mind

“If you had control over your maladaptive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, you wouldn’t still have them.”
― Kristin Neff, Self Compassion / The Compassionate Mind

“This is what distinguishes self-compassion from self-pity. Whereas self-pity says “poor me,” self-compassion remembers that everyone suffers, and it offers comfort because everyone is human.”
― Kristin Neff, Self Compassion / The Compassionate Mind

“And we don’t just see ourselves as “better,” we also see others as “worse.” Psychologists use the term “downward social comparison” to describe our tendency to see others in a negative light so that we can feel superior by contrast.”
― Kristin Neff, Self Compassion / The Compassionate Mind