It's better to like yourself than to be liked by others.

No. They aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. However, the need to be liked by others can often lead to us making short-term decisions that are rarely in our long-term best interest. We might say things we don't mean. We might bite our tongues when we'd normally speak up. We might behave in ways that don't align with who we are. We might compromise in areas we normally wouldn't compromise in.

With time, these short-term decisions may lead to others liking who we are. But, rarely do they leave us liking who we are. External validation is a form of immediate gratification, which is to say it is a form of pleasure. Pleasure, unchecked, compounds into self-loathing. The reckless pursuit of pleasure is a trait that makes for bad partners and weak leaders.

If you want to like yourself, you must resist the pleasure of being liked by others.