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I want to get a tattoo of the phrase “love yourself” in Chinese but I don’t want to just google and translate since it gets words and phrases wrong all the time. I want to know from someone who actually knows, because well, it’s a tattoo on my body and I don’t want it to be wrong. Thank you!
By the way, I actually did google and translate and it came out with ài zìjǐ. In Chinese letters it was 爱自己. Is that correct?
you can just use the common phrase '自爱' (love oneself)
"做人要自爱" means "be a person, you have to love yourself" (imply cherish, respect and not dishonor yourself)
爱自己 sounds a little bit like narcissism. As for “love yourself”, you should use 爱你自己 instead. You can also use the literary expression 自爱.
The phrase you are looking for is “善待自己”。 It means "cherish yourself".
The answers above are all directly and correctly translated. But as a Chinese, I don't recommend the phrases with the character '爱'. Because here in China, if we see a guy with a tattoo '爱' on his body, we will think he is not a good person and he may live a violent life like a gangster.
So let's think back again what hides behind in the 'love yourself'. In my opinion, it means don't push yourself too hard. Living life under too much pressure is not our wishes. But why sometimes we have to? Because we do not satisfy what we have, we want more. And the desire is endless.
If you are that kind of guy who is tired of competition and decides to enjoy life. The most appropriate translation of 'love yourself' in Chinese is 知足. 知 is 知道 means 'know', and 足 is 足够 means 'sufficient'. 知足 means you enjoy your current life, love what you have and satisfied. It holds an idea of ancient Chinese philosophy which is also popular nowadays.
I'm not good at writing in English, but hope my answer will help you make a life decision.
