--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The injunction that we should love our…" description: "\"The injunction that we should love our neighbors as ourselves means to us equally that we should love ourselves as we love our neighbors.\" — Barbara De..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/barbara-deming-14719_mean_the-injunction-that-we-should-love-our-n_752939.jpg" --- # The injunction that we should love our neighbors as… ![“The injunction that we should love our neighbors as ourselves means to us equally that we should love ourselves as we love our neighbors.” quote by Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/barbara-deming-14719_mean_the-injunction-that-we-should-love-our-n_752939.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/barbara-deming-14719_mean_the-injunction-that-we-should-love-our-n_752939.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/barbara-deming-14719_mean_the-injunction-that-we-should-love-our-n_752939.jpg) > “The injunction that we should love our neighbors as ourselves means to us equally that we should love ourselves as we love our neighbors.” [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Loving others requires loving oneself equally; self‑love is essential for genuine compassion. **In simple terms:** Love yourself to love others. Key Takeaway Practice self‑love to extend compassion. Themes compassion self‑love ethics Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - relationships - community work - conflict resolution - mental health counseling Key Concepts reciprocity empathy self‑respect Questions to Reflect On - What does self‑love look like in practice? - How does self‑love affect caring for others? A Different Perspective Self‑love can be seen as selfish. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Equally Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equally-love-525458/) [Injunction Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/injunction-love-3835141/) [Love Neighbors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-neighbors-308412/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Neighbor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neighbor/) [Neighbors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neighbors/) [Neighbors Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neighbors-means-3048387/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) ## Related quotes > [The soul, as soon as she comes to know Me, reaches out to love her neighbors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/the-soul-as-soon-as-she-comes-to-know-me-reaches-out-to-love-her/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [Love God, love your neighbors, and do stuff!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-goff/love-god-love-your-neighbors-and-do-stuff/) [Bob Goff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-goff/) > [We can't love our neighbors till we know how crooked their hearts are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/we-can-t-love-our-neighbors-till-we-know-how-crooked-their-hearts-are/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Love, true love, love that denies itself and transfers itself to another, is the awakening within oneself of the highest universal principle of life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/love-true-love-love-that-denies-itself-and-transfers-itself-to/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“To die to our neighbors means to stop judging them, to stop evaluating them, and thus to become free to be compassionate. Compassion can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-j-m-nouwen/to-die-to-our-neighbors-means-to-stop-judging-them-to-stop-evaluating/) [Henri J.M. Nouwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-j-m-nouwen/) > [“In some countries you love your neighbors, and in others you eat them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/in-some-countries-you-love-your-neighbors-and-in-others-you-eat-them/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [Christians are to love their neighbors as we love ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-johnson/christians-are-to-love-their-neighbors-as-we-love-ourselves/) [Monica Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-johnson/) > [Why just love your neighbors? love their neighbors too..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/why-just-love-your-neighbors-love-their-neighbors-too/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-bible-tells-us-to-love-our-neighbors-and-also-to-love-our-enemies-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We love our neighbors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-macarthur/we-love-our-neighbors/) [John MacArthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-macarthur/) > [The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because generally they are the same people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-bible-tells-us-to-love-our-neighbors-and-also-to-love-our-enemies/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [To do any less than to make Him known is to fail to really love our neighbors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-leigh-demoss/to-do-any-less-than-to-make-him-known-is-to-fail-to-really-love-our/) [Nancy Leigh DeMoss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-leigh-demoss/) > [We should learn to live and love our neighbors as ourselves for the sake of peace and progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mccallum/we-should-learn-to-live-and-love-our-neighbors-as-ourselves-for-the/) [David McCallum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mccallum/) > [I used to love my neighbors, then one day they put a fucking password on their WIFI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avalon/i-used-to-love-my-neighbors-then-one-day-they-put-a-fucking-password/) [Avalon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avalon/) > [“In some countries you love your neighbors, and in others you eat them" Can Man Live Without God?)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravia-zacharias/in-some-countries-you-love-your-neighbors-and-in-others-you-eat-them-2/) [Ravia Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravia-zacharias/) ## More by Barbara Deming > [Nonviolent tactics can move into action on our behalf men not naturally inclined to act for us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/nonviolent-tactics-can-move-into-action-on-our-behalf-men-not/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [Our own pulse beats in every stranger's throat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/our-own-pulse-beats-in-every-stranger-s-throat/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [To resort to power one need not be violent, and to speak to conscience one need not be meek. The most effective action both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/to-resort-to-power-one-need-not-be-violent-and-to-speak-to-conscience/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [I think the only choice that will enable us to hold to our vision. . . is one that abandons the concept of naming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/i-think-the-only-choice-that-will-enable-us-to-hold-to-our-vision-is/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [Nonviolent action does not have to get others to be nice. It can in effect force them to consult their consciences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/nonviolent-action-does-not-have-to-get-others-to-be-nice-it-can-in/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [Think first of the action that is right to take, think later about coping with one's fears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/think-first-of-the-action-that-is-right-to-take-think-later-about/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [Surely all of us are nerved by one another, catch courage from one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/surely-all-of-us-are-nerved-by-one-another-catch-courage-from-one/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [We cannot live without our lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/we-cannot-live-without-our-lives/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [Let me be really here, here in this place and this time where I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/let-me-be-really-here-here-in-this-place-and-this-time-where-i-am/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [Vengeance is not the point: change is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/vengeance-is-not-the-point-change-is/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [A liberation movement that is nonviolent sets the oppressor free as well as the oppressed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/a-liberation-movement-that-is-nonviolent-sets-the-oppressor-free-as/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [People may find it more comfortable to listen to us if we equivocate, but in the long run only words that discomfort them are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/people-may-find-it-more-comfortable-to-listen-to-us-if-we-equivocate/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [Our task, of course, is to transmute the anger that is affliction into the anger that is determination to bring about change. I think,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/our-task-of-course-is-to-transmute-the-anger-that-is-affliction-into/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [The point is to change one's life. The point is not to give some vent to the emotions that have been destroying one; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/the-point-is-to-change-one-s-life-the-point-is-not-to-give-some-vent/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) > [Punishment cannot heal spirits, can only break them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/punishment-cannot-heal-spirits-can-only-break-them/) [Barbara Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) [Explore all 45 Barbara Deming quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/) ## More Mean quotes > [That we have the vote means nothing. That we use it in the right way means everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-henry-hoover/that-we-have-the-vote-means-nothing-that-we-use-it-in-the-right-way/) [Lou Henry Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-henry-hoover/) > [The problem posed by indirect speech acts is the problem of how it is possible for the speaker to say one thing and mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/the-problem-posed-by-indirect-speech-acts-is-the-problem-of-how-it-is/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [A home is not a museum. It doesn't have to be furnished with Picasso paintings, or Sheraton suites, or Oriental rugs, or Chinese pottery.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-m-cain/a-home-is-not-a-museum-it-doesn-t-have-to-be-furnished-with-picasso/) [James M. Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-m-cain/) > [I painted the words "GREAT ADVENTURE" in Beijing, Dallas, San Francisco, Copenhagen, and Japan. What it means to me is completely different to everybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-eine/i-painted-the-words-great-adventure-in-beijing-dallas-san-francisco/) [Ben Eine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-eine/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Being blonde, for me, means never having to say: 'I'll have the honey-striped half-head of highlights for £200,' to a bored colourist in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-johnson/being-blonde-for-me-means-never-having-to-say-i-ll-have-the-honey/) [Rachel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-johnson/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [What is a moderate interpretation of the text? Halfway between what it really means and what you'd like it to mean?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonin-scalia/what-is-a-moderate-interpretation-of-the-text-halfway-between-what-it/) [Antonin Scalia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonin-scalia/) > [You have expressive nationalism, I mean very identity driven, which shaped each other a lot of that in the Middle East.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/you-have-expressive-nationalism-i-mean-very-identity-driven-which/) [Subrahmanyam Jaishankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/) > [The one means that wins the easiest victory over reason is terror and force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-one-means-that-wins-the-easiest-victory-over-reason-is-terror-and/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [The word 'mundane' has come to mean 'boring' and 'dull', and it really shouldn't - it should mean the opposite. Because it comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-word-mundane-has-come-to-mean-boring-and-dull-and-it-really/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [ Neither Italian fascism nor German national "socialism" have anything in common with such a \[Soviet socialistic\] society, primarily because private ownership of factories, plants,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/neither-italian-fascism-nor-german-national-socialism-have-anything/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) > [I am attracted to looking at the different things language can mean even in one sometimes quite ordinary utterance. Writing is partly about listening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-am-attracted-to-looking-at-the-different-things-language-can-mean/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) [Browse all 33,959 Mean quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The injunction that we should love our neighbors as ourselves means to us equally that we should love ourselves as we love our neighbors.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Barbara Deming" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/the-injunction-that-we-should-love-our-neighbors-as-ourselves-means/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Mean" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/the-injunction-that-we-should-love-our-neighbors-as-ourselves-means/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/barbara-deming-14719_mean_the-injunction-that-we-should-love-our-n_752939.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/barbara-deming-14719_mean_the-injunction-that-we-should-love-our-n_752939.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/barbara-deming-14719_mean_the-injunction-that-we-should-love-our-n_752939.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The injunction that we should love our neighbors as ourselves means to us equally that we should love…” — Barbara Deming", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Barbara Deming", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-deming/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The injunction that we should love...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/the-injunction-that-we-should-love-our-neighbors-as-ourselves-means/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-deming/the-injunction-that-we-should-love-our-neighbors-as-ourselves-means/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```