What Kierkegaard means cuts deeper than the modern wellness poster suggests—he's not advocating narcissism or bubble baths, but rather insisting that self-love is a *duty*, even an act of obedience to existence itself. For the Danish philosopher, forgetting yourself meant losing your ethical anchor, the very foundation from which genuine love for others becomes possible. When you find yourself unable to set boundaries with a demanding boss or say no to a friend's unreasonable request, you're likely committing the sin Kierkegaard warned against: treating your own humanity as expendable. His reminder arrives as a corrective to the self-abnegation that masquerades as virtue—the quiet martyrdom that exhausts you and ultimately fails everyone around you.