"The correlative to loving our neighbors as ourselves is hating ourselves as we hate our neighbors"

Francis Bacon’s observation presents a paradox deeply embedded in human nature and social interactions. By drawing a direct correlation between love and hate, focused both inwardly and outwardly, he suggests that the measure by which we relate to others is intimately tied to how we relate to ourselves. The logic that instructs us to love our neighbors as ourselves, central to many ethical teachings, is double-edged. If we approach others with kindness rooted in self-regard, then the reverse, when our stance towards ourselves turns sour, can translate into animosity projected onto those around us.

Bacon's formulation exposes a symmetry. When self-hatred takes root, it does not remain contained; it seeps into our perception and treatment of others. To hate our neighbors as we hate ourselves is to see the world through a lens of contempt, dissatisfaction, or rejection, a cycle that can perpetuate interpersonal hostility. This linkage underscores the importance of healthy self-relationship as the foundation for genuine goodwill towards others. Hostility toward others may not stem simply from their faults but may have deeper origins within the individual’s self-assessment.

Moreover, Bacon’s insight serves as a warning about the dangers of hypocrisy and fragmentation in the moral life. If love is to be authentic, it must be consistent, one cannot act lovingly outwardly while fostering inner loathing, nor can one claim to despise others without implicating oneself. The ethical imperative to "love your neighbor as yourself" is therefore not merely about treating others well but demands a holistic harmony between inner attitudes and outward actions. By pointing to the inverse, Bacon draws attention to the inextricable link between self-perception and communal responsibility, urging us to scrutinize the origins of our animosity and to recognize that cultivating compassion for others originates in compassion for oneself.