By: Ānāgarika Munindra
If I do not love myself, I cannot love others also. If we really love ourselves, we cannot think wrongly, cannot talk wrongly, cannot act wrongly. If you know how to love yourself, you do not bring hatred anywhere. Mind is the forerunner of all good and evil. When mind becomes purified, it creates good karma. When mind is nonpolluted, then your action will be pure, the world will be pure. When you talk, it will be wise, nice, friendly. If you do not understand your anger and mind is influenced by anger, it becomes poisonous, and you suffer physically. When you act, it will create tension. It is the same for everybody.
From Living This Life Fully: Stories and Teachings of Munindra, by Mirka Knaster.
Munindra (1915-2003) was an Indian Vipassana teacher in the lineage of Mahasi Sayadaw. He was a teacher to Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg, among many others.