FORGIVENESS QUOTES III

quotations about forgiveness

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


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


If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.

JESUS

Luke 17:3


"Forgive and forget" goes the expression, and for our idealized magnanimous selves, that was all you needed. But for our actual selves the relationship between those two actions wasn't so straightforward. In most cases we had to forget a little bit before we could forgive; when we no longer experienced the pain as fresh, the insult was easier to forgive, which in turn made it less memorable, and so on.

TED CHIANG

"The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling", Subterranean Press Magazine


True and genuine forgiveness, that which our Lord commands, buries all offenses beyond all hope of resurrection in the deep bosom of the ocean, and knows them again no more forever. Indeed, a friendship cemented by forgiveness is like iron welded--stronger at the point of juncture than elsewhere; or like a broken bone repaired--it will break anywhere else sooner than at the place of former fracture.

R. H. BENNETT

"The Law of Forgiveness", Homiletic Review, Volume 55


The offender never pardons.

GEORGE HERBERT

Jacula Prudentum


Forgiveness is like money. We want to get it, not give it.

JENTEZEN FRANKLIN

Love Like You've Never Been Hurt


There is an ugly kind of forgiveness in this world--a kind of hedgehog forgiveness, shot out like quills.

HENRY WARD BEECHER

Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit


Forgotten is forgiven.

F. SCOTT FITZGERALD

The Crack-Up


Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it foregoes revenge, and dares to forgive an injury.

EDWIN HUBBELL CHAPIN

attributed, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers


Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.

JOHN F. KENNEDY

attributed, Mayor


When you forgive, you love. And when you love, God's light shines upon you.

JON KRAKAUER

Into the Wild


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


Forgiveness is healing ... especially forgiving yourself.

ALYSON NOËL

Evermore


Forgiveness is an absolute necessity for continued human existence.

DESMOND TUTU

attributed, Pastoral Care for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Healing the Shattered Soul


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


It is right for him who asks forgiveness for his offenses to grant it to others.

HORACE

Satires


Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note, torn in two and burned up, so that it never can be shown against the man.

HENRY WARD BEECHER

Life Thoughts


Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

JESUS

Luke 11:4


Forgiveness is like catching a little fish. You reel it in, and you make a decision to keep it or let it go. With the little ones, you take the hook out of its mouth and throw it back in. The scar from the hook doesn't go away and the fish ought to remember not to repeat the mistake. But the fish is back in the creek and free to do whatever fish do. The purpose of forgiveness is freedom, like being thrown back into the creek.

DAVID RYDER

The Hound of Tooty River