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This self-love is the instrument of our preservation; it resembles the provision for the perpetuity of mankind: it is necessary, it is dear to us, it gives us pleasure, and we must conceal it.
Voltaire
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Self-love is essential for our survival and well-being, yet it often remains hidden.

In this quote, Voltaire emphasizes the importance of self-love as a fundamental aspect of human existence. It serves as a means of preserving ourselves and our happiness, indicating that while it is vital and valuable, it is often kept concealed due to societal norms or expectations.

Themes

Self-LovePreservationWell-BeingHappinessConcealment

In practice

Example use cases

Using this quote in a self-help workshop to encourage participants to value themselves.

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Quote by Voltaire | QuoteProject