quotations about forgiveness
Forgiveness is healing ... especially forgiving yourself.
ALYSON NOËL
Evermore
Never forgive an injury or an insult so long as the offending parties have it in their power to make reparation; since, if they are able to do so, and will not, whatever they may pretend to others, they, up to that time, are only laughing at you, and triumphing in secret. If, however, they have not the power to neutralize an impertinence by explanation, or a fraud by restitution, forgive and forget either--as soon as you can.
CHARLES WILLIAM DAY
The Maxims
Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.
JOHN F. KENNEDY
attributed, Mayor
Nothing inspires forgiveness quite like revenge.
SCOTT ADAMS
attributed, Dictionary of Quotations
Forgiveness must be immediate, whether or not a person asks for it. Trust must be rebuilt over time. Trust requires a track record.
RICK WARREN
The Purpose Driven Life
Surely it is much more generous to forgive and remember, than to forgive and forget.
MARIA EDGEWORTH
"An Essay on the Noble Science of Self-Justification", Tales and Novels
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
JESUS
Luke 23:34
There comes a day when, for someone who has persecuted us, we feel only indifference, a weariness at his stupidity. Then we forgive him.
CESARE PAVESE
This Business of Living
Forgiveness is a strange thing. It can sometimes be easier to forgive our enemies than our friends. It can be hardest of all to forgive people we love. Like all of life's important coping skills, the ability to forgive and the capacity to let go of resentments most likely take root very early in our lives.
FRED ROGERS
The World According to Mister Rogers
But remember that forgiveness too is a power. To beg for it is a power, and to withhold or bestow it is a power, perhaps the greatest.
MARGARET ATWOOD
The Handmaid's Tale
The offender never pardons.
GEORGE HERBERT
Jacula Prudentum
He who forgives readily only invites offense.
PIERRE CORNEILLE
Cinna
I know forgiveness is a man's duty, but, to my thinking, that can only mean as you're to give up all thoughts o' taking revenge: it can never mean as you're t' have your old feelings back again, for that's not possible.
GEORGE ELIOT
Adam Bede
He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
1957
I've been tryin' to get down to the Heart of the Matter
But my will gets weak
And my thoughts seem to scatter
But I think it's about forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if, even if you don't love me anymore.
DON HENLEY
"The Heart of the Matter"
When our anger turns to bitterness it becomes like a weed in the garden of our heart. If we pull the weeds, our garden can stay healthy and alive. But if we allow bitter weeds to grow, eventually our garden becomes ugly and weeds choke the life out of the vegetables in our garden. Forgiveness is like pulling out the weeds.
MICHAEL E. MCCULLOUGH
To Forgive Is Human: How to Put Your Past in the Past
I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded; not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.
KHALED HOSSEINI
The Kite Runner
Willingness to forgive frees the soul to laugh and cry and be The Beloved.
GITA BELLIN
The Flourishing Mind
It is right for him who asks forgiveness for his offenses to grant it to others.
HORACE
Satires
It is easier to forgive an Enemy than to forgive a Friend.
WILLIAM BLAKE
Jerusalem