quotations about forgiveness
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'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"
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
JESUS
Luke 23:34
Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times (or seventy times seven)."
JESUS
Matthew 18:21
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
Unpacking forgiveness is like relocating a family. While you may move on a particular day, unpacking takes a lot longer. It's a process. Boxes remain packed for months, years even.
CHRIS BRAUNS
Unpacking Forgiveness
Forgiveness is like a magic slate -- it gives us a fresh start.
ROBERT C. KAUSEN
We've Got to Start Meeting Like This!
I also am other than what I imagine myself to be. To know this is forgiveness.
SIMONE WEIL
"Void and Compensation", Gravity and Grace
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
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
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
MATTHEW 6:14
The willingness to forgive is a sign of spiritual and emotional maturity. It is one of the great virtues to which we all should aspire. Imagine a world filled with individuals willing both to apologize and to accept an apology. Is there any problem that could not be solved among people who possessed the humility and largeness of spirit and soul to do either -- or both -- when needed?
GORDON B. HINCKLEY
Standing for Something
It is right for him who asks forgiveness for his offenses to grant it to others.
HORACE
Satires
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
When you forgive, you love. And when you love, God's light shines upon you.
JON KRAKAUER
Into the Wild
Willingness to forgive frees the soul to laugh and cry and be The Beloved.
GITA BELLIN
The Flourishing Mind
It is easier to forgive an Enemy than to forgive a Friend.
WILLIAM BLAKE
Jerusalem
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
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
It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.
GRACE HOPPER
interview, "Only the Limits of Our Imagination", Chips Ahoy, July 1986