Forgive / Forgiveness - Quotes

A wise man will make haste to forgive, because he knows the true value of time, and will not suffer it to pass away in unnecessary pain. - Samuel Johnson

Before we can forgive one another, we have to understand one another. - Emma Goldman

Forgive all who have offended you, not for them, but for yourself. To forgive is to set the prisoner free, and then discover the prisoner was you. - Lewis B. Smedes

Forgive everyone everything. - Unknown

Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace. - Unknown

Forgive those who have hurt you, betrayed you, or broke your heart, for they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious when you open your heart. - Unknown

Forgive yourself for not knowing what you didn’t know before you learned it. - Unknown 

Forgive yourself for the blindness that put you in the path of those who betrayed you. Sometimes a good heart doesn’t see the bad. - Unknown

Forgive yourself for your faults and your mistakes and move on. - Les Brown

Forgiveness does not always lead to a healed relationship. Some people are not capable of love, and it might be wise to let them go along with your anger. Wish them well, and let them go their way. - Unknown

Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting. - William A. Ward

Forgiveness is a gift of high value. Yet its cost is nothing. - Betty Smith

Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong - Unknown

Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude. - Martin Luther King Jr.

Forgiveness is the fragrance a rose gives to the heel of the boot that crushes it. - Unknown

Forgiveness is the healing of wounds caused by another. You choose to let go of a past wrong and no longer be hurt by it. - Unknown

Forgiveness is the key to freedom. - Hannah Arendt

Forgiveness - it's one of the most precious gifts we can choose to give to ourselves and to others. without it, we are like a barren tree, unable to bear the sweet bounty it was destined to. - Unknown

Forgivers are not doormats; to forgive a person is not a signal that we are willing to put up with what he or she does. - Unknown

Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. - Lewis B. Smedes 

Forgiving happens in three stages: we rediscover the humanity of the person who wronged us; we surrender our right to get even; and we wish that person well. - Unknown

Forgiving is a journey; the deeper the wound, the longer the journey. - Unknown

Forgiving does not require us to reunite with the person who broke our trust. - Unknown

Forgiving is not a way to avoid pain but to heal the pain. - Unknown

Forgiving is the only way to be fair to ourselves. - Unknown

Forgiving someone may cost you your pride, but not forgiving them will cost you your freedom. - Unknown

Forgiving those who hurt us is the key to personal peace. - G. Weatherly

Hatred in our hearts causes our enemies to triumph over us. Forgiveness causes us to triumph over them. - Unknown

He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself. - Thomas Fuller

I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note – torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one. - Henry Ward Beecher

I forgive myself, and then I move on. You can sit there forever, lamenting about how bad you’ve been, feeling guilty until you die, and not one tiny slice of that guilt will do anything to change a single thing in the past. - Wayne Dyer

I forgive, but I also learn a lesson. I won’t hate you, but I’ll never get close enough for you to hurt me again. I can’t let my forgiveness become my foolishness. - Unknown

If we are bound to forgive an enemy, we are not bound to trust him. - Thomas Fuller

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend. - William Blake 

It is not always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes we have to learn to forgive ourselves. How unhappy is he who cannot forgive himself. - Publilius Syrus

It really doesn’t matter if the person who hurt you deserves to be forgiven. Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. You have things to do and you want to move on. - Unknown

It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody. - Maya Angelou

Know that people are doing the best they can from their level of awareness. accept people for  who they are and always be ready to forgive. - Deepak Chopra

One forgives to the degree that one loves. - Duc de La Rochefoucauld

Resentment is one burden that is incompatible with your success. Always be the first to forgive; and forgive yourself first always. - Dan Zadra

Sometimes, the first step towards forgiveness is realizing the other person was born an idiot. - Unknown

The act of forgiveness takes place in our own mind. It really has nothing to do with the other person. - Louise Hay

The first person to benefit from forgiving is the one who forgives. - Unknown

The forgiving state of mind is a magnetic power for attracting good. - Catherine Ponder

The most creative power given to the human spirit is the power to heal the wounds of a past it cannot change. - Unknown

Vengeance is having a videotape planted in your soul that cannot be turned off. It plays the painful scene over and over again inside your mind. And each time it plays you feel the clap of pain again. Forgiving turns off the videotape of pained memory. Forgiving sets you free. - Lewis B. Smedes

Waiting for someone to repent before we forgive is to surrender our future to the person who wronged us. - Unknown

We do not forgive because we are supposed to; we forgive when we are ready to be healed. - Unknown

We do our forgiving alone inside our hearts and minds; what happens to the people we forgive depends on them. - Unknown

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies. - Martin Luther King Jr.

We must recognise that there is great sweetness in forgiveness for it is the balm for the scars of life. - Unknown

When a deep injury is done us, we never recover until we forgive. - Alan Paton

When someone has wronged you, repay them with forgiveness and it will be remembered forever. - Unknown

When you forgive, you in no way change the past – but you sure do change the future. - Bernard Meltzer

Without forgiveness life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation. - Roberto Assagioli

You are never so strong as when you forgive. - Kimberly Converse

You don’t need to wait to hear the apology to forgive. It may never come. Let forgiveness be a gift that is not dependent on someone else’s behaviour, but on your own generous heart. - Unknown

You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well. - Lewis B. Smedes