Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day—a celebration of love.
There’s a lovely song, “The Greatest Love of All,” by Whitney Houston, also sung by Jane Oliver. Here are the lyrics with my comments in parentheses.
Everybody’s searching for a hero… (be your own hero).
People need someone to look up to… (look up to yourself).
I never found anyone who fulfilled my needs… (fulfill your own needs).
A lonely place to be, and so I learned to depend on me… (yes, we need to be self-reliant).
I decided long ago never to walk in anyone’s shadow… (cast your own shadow).
If I fail, if I succeed, at least I’ll live as I believe… (yes, be independent—do it your way).
No matter what they take from me… (tell people no!), they can’t take away my dignity…
Because the greatest love of all (love of self) is happening to me.
I found the greatest love of all inside of me… (the greatest love!)
The greatest love of all is easy to achieve… (no, it’s not easy).
Learning to love yourself… (yes, we have to learn) is the greatest love of all.
Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all (yes! 😊)It’s been said that we cannot love another until we love ourselves. Aristotle discussed self-love in his Nicomachean Ethics. He said that self-love is necessary to live a good and happy life. Self-love is love of our character. Fundamentally, our character is who we are—the sum of our virtues and values. By practicing life-enhancing virtues, we make our character and soul (in the non-religious sense). Self-esteem is the result and reward. Self-love is a model for how we love others.
“Yes, learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all.” And when we learn to love ourselves, we love our lives, friends, and romantic partners.
Carl B. Barney
February 13, 2026
As a working mom of three girls, I appreciate the reminder of how important self love and self care is.