--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As you love yourself, so shall you love…" description: "\"As you love yourself, so shall you love others. Strange but true, with no exceptions.\" — Harry Stack Sullivan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c0/harry-stack-sullivan-27472_exception_as-you-love-yourself-so-shall-you-love-o_1175028.png" --- # As you love yourself, so shall you love others. Strange… ![“As you love yourself, so shall you love others. Strange but true, with no exceptions.” quote by Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c0/harry-stack-sullivan-27472_exception_as-you-love-yourself-so-shall-you-love-o_1175028.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c0/harry-stack-sullivan-27472_exception_as-you-love-yourself-so-shall-you-love-o_1175028.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c0/harry-stack-sullivan-27472_exception_as-you-love-yourself-so-shall-you-love-o_1175028.png) > “As you love yourself, so shall you love others. Strange but true, with no exceptions.” [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Loving oneself is a prerequisite for loving others, universally and without exception. **In simple terms:** Self‑love enables genuine love for others. Key Takeaway Cultivate self‑compassion first. Themes self‑love relationships universality Mood empathetic inspirational Type philosophical self‑help When to use this quote - therapy sessions - personal relationships - community building Key Concepts psychology humanistic philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What does self‑love look like for you? - How can you extend that love outward? A Different Perspective Self‑love can be mistaken for selfishness; balance is needed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Exception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exception/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-others/) [Love Shall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-shall-360489/) [Love Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-strange-524271/) [Love you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-you/) [Love yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-yourself/) [Shall Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shall-love-402178/) [Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange/) [Strange but true](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange-but-true/) [Strange True](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange-true-823071/) ## Related quotes > [“The more you read within a balanced life, the more time you have. Strange but true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-o-brien/the-more-you-read-within-a-balanced-life-the-more-time-you-have/) [Mark O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-o-brien/) > [“In an infinite Universe anything can happen," said Ford, "Even survival. 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In the forest of my heart, seeing myself, I shall love myself and love myself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-chinmoy/i-shall-now-call-myself-i-shall-now-call-in-the-forest-of-my-heart/) [Sri Chinmoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-chinmoy/) > [If you do not love me I shall not be loved If I do not love you I shall not love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/if-you-do-not-love-me-i-shall-not-be-loved-if-i-do-not-love-you-i/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Since we shall love each other, I shall be great and you shall be rich.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/since-we-shall-love-each-other-i-shall-be-great-and-you-shall-be-rich/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Tis strange,-but true; for truth is always strange; Stranger than fiction: if it could be told, How much would novels gain by the exchange!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/tis-strange-but-true-for-truth-is-always-strange-stranger-than/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I know it sounds strange but it’s true. I mean that you’re open to life. You’re open to being surprised. You’re open to being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-morton/i-know-it-sounds-strange-but-it-s-true-i-mean-that-you-re-open-to/) [Brian Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-morton/) > [I want what I write to be deeply engaging and strange and true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-spiotta/i-want-what-i-write-to-be-deeply-engaging-and-strange-and-true/) [Dana Spiotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-spiotta/) > [“Tis strange - but true; for Truth is always strange, Stranger than Fiction”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gordon-byron/tis-strange-but-true-for-truth-is-always-strange-stranger-than-fiction/) [George Gordon Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gordon-byron/) > [The process may seem strange and yet it is very true. I did not so much gain the knowledge of things by the words,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/the-process-may-seem-strange-and-yet-it-is-very-true-i-did-not-so/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [Its strange but its true,my heart still beats for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pratik-borate/its-strange-but-its-true-my-heart-still-beats-for-you/) [Pratik Borate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pratik-borate/) ## More by Harry Stack Sullivan > [There is no fun in psychiatry. If you try to get fun out of it, you pay a considerable price for your unjustifiable optimism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/there-is-no-fun-in-psychiatry-if-you-try-to-get-fun-out-of-it-you-pay/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [The psychiatric interviewer is supposed to be doing three things: considering what the patient could mean by what he says; considering how he himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/the-psychiatric-interviewer-is-supposed-to-be-doing-three-things/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [When the satisfaction or the security of another person becomes as significant to one as one's own satisfaction or security, then the state of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/when-the-satisfaction-or-the-security-of-another-person-becomes-as/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [Your emotional life is not written in cement during childhood. 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But no one lives in anything like the highest style of the art; and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/everybody-has-a-great-deal-of-experience-in-living-but-no-one-lives/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [We are all much more simply human than otherwise, be we happy and successful, contented and detached, miserable and mentally disordered, or whatever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/we-are-all-much-more-simply-human-than-otherwise-be-we-happy-and/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [If you do jot feel equal to the headaches that psychiatry induces, you are in the wrong business. It is work - work the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/if-you-do-jot-feel-equal-to-the-headaches-that-psychiatry-induces-you/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [ \[O\]ne of the greatest difficulties encountered in bringing about favorable change is this almost inescapable illusion that there is a perduring, unique, simple existent… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/o-ne-of-the-greatest-difficulties-encountered-in-bringing-about/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [What you know about the people whom you know at all well is truly amazing, even though you have never formulated it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/what-you-know-about-the-people-whom-you-know-at-all-well-is-truly/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [If you have to maintain self-esteem by pulling down the standing of others, you are extraordinarily unfortunate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/if-you-have-to-maintain-self-esteem-by-pulling-down-the-standing-of-2/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [When the satisfaction or security of another person becomes as important to one as one's own, then a state of love exists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/when-the-satisfaction-or-security-of-another-person-becomes-as/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) [Explore all 20 Harry Stack Sullivan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) ## More Exception quotes > [“Coincidence is the exception, not the rule.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soheir-khashoggi/coincidence-is-the-exception-not-the-rule/) [Soheir Khashoggi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soheir-khashoggi/) > [I've always believed that humans are good at heart. 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Highlanders loved stories, and Jamie was no exception. "Oh, aye, "…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/alright-all-right-i-said-what-if-i-tell-you-a-story-instead/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [No physiologist who calmly considers the question in connection with the general truths of his science, can long resist the conviction that different parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-physiologist-who-calmly-considers-the-question-in-connection-with/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [But Margaret went less abroad, among machinery and men; saw less of power in its public effect, and, as it happened, she was thrown…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gaskell/but-margaret-went-less-abroad-among-machinery-and-men-saw-less-of/) [Elizabeth Gaskell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gaskell/) > [My Chinese zodiac is a dog. But I'm an exception because of how much I love cats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-wu/my-chinese-zodiac-is-a-dog-but-i-m-an-exception-because-of-how-much-i/) [Jason Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-wu/) > [ I don't know if I know anyone, with the exception of the early inventors of rock music \[who wasn't influenced by something\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-don-t-know-if-i-know-anyone-with-the-exception-of-the-early/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [Child actors going on to become adult actors never really works, apart from a few. Jodie Foster was the exception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lester/child-actors-going-on-to-become-adult-actors-never-really-works-apart/) [Mark Lester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lester/) > [I have no admiration for culture. I have no reserve knowledge, no provisional knowledge. 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