Forgiveness can be the hardest but most rewarding part of our spiritual development journey we can do on our spiritual journey. Forgiveness can help us heal and find inner peace, but it can also be a simple yet seemingly complex process. Sometimes we don’t feel ready to forgive someone, or we don’t know how to forgive. Other times, we don’t want to forgive because we think it will give the other person a reason to hurt us again.
But in all honesty, we all make mistakes. Unfortunately, sometimes those mistakes cause us to feel guilty or in pain, making us wonder if we can ever forgive ourselves or others.
To forgive ourselves requires us to admit when we’ve made a mistake, which can be difficult for many of us. Likewise, forgiving others requires us to admit no one is perfect, and sometimes our expectations hurt us more than anything.
Forgiveness can be painful to forgive those who have hurt us, let go of grudges, and move on from past mistakes. However, as we learn more about the power of forgiveness, we realize how much it can transform our lives. So, this week, I’ve been exploring the topic of forgiveness through the lens of quotes.
Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.
Bruce Lee
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.
Mark Twain
To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.
Lewis B. Smedes
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
Mahatma Gandhi
Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: love, prayer, and forgiveness.
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.
Marianne Williamson
Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning.
Desmond Tutu
The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.
Thomas Szasz
Forgiveness is not a feeling – it’s a decision we make because we want to do what’s right before God. It’s a quality decision that won’t be easy and it may take time to get through the process, depending on the severity of the offense.
Joyce Meyer
To err is human; to forgive, divine.
Alexander Pope
It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody.
Maya Angelou
It’s not an easy journey, to get to a place where you forgive people. But it is such a powerful place, because it frees you.
Tyler Perry
When you forgive, you in no way change the past – but you sure do change the future.
Bernard Meltzer
Forgiveness is the final form of love.
Reinhold Niebuhr
Forgive yourself for your faults and your mistakes and move on.
Les Brown
Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.
Indira Gandhi
For me, forgiveness and compassion are always linked: how do we hold people accountable for wrongdoing and yet at the same time remain in touch with their humanity enough to believe in their capacity to be transformed?
bell hooks
Inner peace can be reached only when we practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past, and is therefore the means for correcting our misperceptions.
Gerald Jampolsky
It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.
William Blake
He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man has need to be forgiven.
Thomas Fuller
All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives.
Dalai Lama
Forgive me my nonsense, as I also forgive the nonsense of those that think they talk sense.
Robert Frost
We cannot embrace God’s forgiveness if we are so busy clinging to past wounds and nursing old grudges.
T. D. Jakes
Man has two great spiritual needs. One is for forgiveness. The other is for goodness.
Billy Graham
Forgiveness is the remission of sins. For it is by this that what has been lost, and was found, is saved from being lost again.
Saint Augustine
Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting.
William Arthur Ward
Acceptance and tolerance and forgiveness, those are life-altering lessons.
Jessica Lange
Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself.
Suzanne Somers
He that cannot forgive others, breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass if he would ever reach heaven; for everyone has need to be forgiven.
George Herbert
Holding on to anger, resentment and hurt only gives you tense muscles, a headache and a sore jaw from clenching your teeth. Forgiveness gives you back the laughter and the lightness in your life.
Joan Lunden
Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it foregoes revenge and dares to forgive an injury.
Edwin Hubbell Chapin
I learned a long time ago that some people would rather die than forgive. It’s a strange truth, but forgiveness is a painful and difficult process. It’s not something that happens overnight. It’s an evolution of the heart.
Sue Monk Kidd
One forgives to the degree that one loves.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.
Corrie Ten Boom
We win by tenderness. We conquer by forgiveness.
Frederick William Robertson
Life is an adventure in forgiveness.
Norman Cousins
When a deep injury is done us, we never recover until we forgive.
Alan Paton
When you are happy you can forgive a great deal.
Princess Diana
Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.
Hannah Arendt
Forgiveness is the economy of the heart… forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits.
Hannah More
Anger begets more anger, and forgiveness and love lead to more forgiveness and love.
Mahavira
Only the brave know how to forgive… a coward never forgave; it is not in his nature.
Laurence Sterne
I think we learn the most from imperfect relationships – things like forgiveness and compassion.
Andrea Thompson
And you know, when you’ve experienced grace and you feel like you’ve been forgiven, you’re a lot more forgiving of other people. You’re a lot more gracious to others.
Rick Warren
Forgiveness is like faith. You have to keep reviving it.
Mason Cooley
There would be no need for love if perfection were possible. Love arises from our imperfection, from our being different and always in need of the forgiveness, encouragement and that missing half of ourselves that we are searching for, as the Greek myth tells us, in order to complete ourselves.
Eugene Kennedy
There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love.
Bryant H. McGill
Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.
Peter Ustinov
The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.
Honore de Balzac
Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing.
August Wilson
Just knowing you don’t have the answers is a recipe for humility, openness, acceptance, forgiveness, and an eagerness to learn – and those are all good things.
Dick Van Dyke
If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.
Nelson Mandela
Reconciliation and forgiveness can actually help all of us move on in a healthier, happier way.
Chesa Boudin
It is never too late to strengthen the foundation of faith. There is always time. With faith in the Savior, you can repent and plead for forgiveness. There is someone you can forgive. There is someone you can thank. There is someone you can serve and lift. You can do it wherever you are and however alone and deserted you may feel.
Henry B. Eyring
Our lack of forgiveness makes us hate, and our lack of compassion makes us hard-hearted. Pride in our hearts makes us resentful and keeps our memory in a constant whirlwind of passion and self-pity.
Mother Angelica
Anger ventilated often hurries towards forgiveness; anger concealed often hardens into revenge.
Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton
I believe forgiveness is the best form of love in any relationship. It takes a strong person to say they’re sorry and an even stronger person to forgive.
Yolanda Hadid
Forgiveness isn’t just a blessing you deliver to another human being. Forgiveness is also a gift you give yourself.
Robin S. Sharma
Without forgiveness life is governed by… an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.
Roberto Assagioli
Hate is self-destructive. If you hate somebody, you’re not hurting the person you hate. You’re hurting yourself. And that’s a healing. Actually, it’s a real healing, forgiveness.
Louis Zamperini
One can’t relive one’s life. Forgiveness is not what’s difficult; one’s always too ready to forgive. And it does no good, that’s obvious.
Louis-Ferdinand Celine
In the evening of life we shall be judged on love, and not one of us is going to come off very well, and were it not for my absolute faith in the loving forgiveness of my Lord I could not call on him to come.
Madeleine L’Engle
It is always the case that when the Christian looks back, he is looking at the forgiveness of sins.
Karl Barth
Forgiveness allowed me to wash my burdened past away.
Clemantine Wamariya
The Gospel offers forgiveness for the past, new life for the present, and hope for the future.
John Sentamu
I believe in the forgiveness of sin and the redemption of ignorance.
Adlai Stevenson II
I think the first step is to understand that forgiveness does not exonerate the perpetrator. Forgiveness liberates the victim. It’s a gift you give yourself.
T. D. Jakes
Forgiveness isn’t just the absence of anger. I think it’s also the presence of self-love, when you actually begin to value yourself.
Tara Westover
I can’t turn the clock back but I can seek the forgiveness of those I’ve wronged.
Richard Coles
Without forgiveness, there’s no future.
Desmond Tutu
Your heart has to be prepared ahead of time through faith and prayer and grace and mercy and love and forgiveness so you can keep your heart open in hell, when hell happens.
Richard Rohr
I’ve learned powerful lessons about the nature of forgiveness from human rights defenders. For example, for the greater good of his country, Kofi Woods emerged from a torture chamber in Liberia to later defend the very men who had brutalized him.
Kerry Kennedy
I think forgiveness is overrated, personally, because some things people do are unforgivable.
Charlamagne tha God
I believe in forgiveness; I believe in trying to work with people.
John Lewis
Once people are not here physically, the spiritual remains. We still connect, we can communicate, we can give and receive love and forgiveness. There is love after someone dies.
Sandra Cisneros
To my younger self, I would say unless you’re literally in danger, ask forgiveness instead of asking permission.
Jonathan Van Ness
I had the honor to meet Nelson Mandela, and I heard him explain his forgiveness of his captors of 27 years by saying hatred and bitterness is destructive – the power is in love and forgiveness.
Dick Gephardt
Sin and forgiveness and falling and getting back up and losing the pearl of great price in the couch cushions but then finding it again, and again, and again? Those are the stumbling steps to becoming Real, the only script that’s really worth following in this world or the one that’s coming.
Brennan Manning
I learned that I have purpose and my experiences no matter how horrible taught me heart, strength and forgiveness!
Dominique Jackson
Any story about revenge is ultimately a story about forgiveness, redemption, or the futility of revenge.
Nick Wechsler
I am making amends and seeking forgiveness. My only hope is that some good can come out of my situation.
Jayson Blair
I think there are different levels of forgiveness.
Catherine Oxenberg
Forgiveness for one’s self is the only way we can keep going through life and give ourselves the best chance at being the best people we can be.
Yolanda Hadid
What if we strove for compassion, for mercy, for forgiveness? And what if we did this for everybody, including people who have harmed others?
James Forman, Jr.
The films of which I’m most proud I’ve written are the ones that pivot on forgiveness.
Peter Morgan
Perhaps one could say I’ve worked in South Africa too long, but I believe in forgiveness, especially when a person admits a mistake, asks for forgiveness, and works to right a wrong.
Michael Finkel
Forgiveness is a spiritual practice and biblical mandate from the New Testament that many American Christians engage in as a part of their faith.
Anthea Butler
For me, the healing process starts with graciousness and forgiveness.
India Arie
The themes in ‘Violet’ are universal: accepting yourself with all of your flaws, moving on, and the forgiveness and freedom that comes along with that.
Joshua Henry
I believe in the redemptive need to admit mistakes, express regret, and ask for forgiveness.
Ana Navarro
No poem in the world could do my mom justice. Despite circumstance and adversity, she had an unwavering love for her kids and a faith-based, boundless capacity for forgiveness.
Ed Schultz
I see the good in people, and I believe in forgiveness.
Karrueche Tran
I come from a background where, if someone is rough and tough, you handle things physically. People betrayed me, and you just want to choke them. But you choose forgiveness.
Brian Welch
If I get to the end of my life, if I die, and I find out religion is one big lie, I still won’t regret it because it’s helped me to live a better life, to be a better person, to care about people, to believe in forgiveness, to believe in hope.
Elizabeth Smart
Every one of us have been disappointed before and have had to go through the grieving process of anger and, you know, disappointment and then acceptance and forgiveness.
Mathew Knowles
Forgiveness is a gift, and central to faith.
Kerry Kennedy
When people do, or say, things we don’t believe in, forgiveness can feel disgusting. But when you try to think of someone who isn’t worthy of it, it’s hard to find an example.
Taylor Goldsmith
Dear friends: faith and forgiveness is much more powerful than napalm could ever be.
Phan Thi Kim Phuc
I believe in forgiveness.
Michael Caputo
America loves a forgiveness story. America is the land of second chances.
Michael Caputo
I do not shy away from accepting that I had a troubled past, but in the journey of coming out of that dark phase, I understand humans better. I am less judgmental and more compassionate. I learned empathy and forgiveness, and that gives me confidence as a person.
Amit Sadh
I have always had tremendous amount of patience, compassion and forgiveness.
Rahul Roy
My whole life I have sort of done my own thing. I rarely ask permission; I sometimes ask forgiveness.
Paul Walter Hauser
As a matter of fact, forgiveness is not something you feel like doing, it’s really a choice.
Jim Bob Duggar
