Top 100 On Forgiveness Quotes
#1. True reconciliation is never cheap, for it is based on forgiveness which is costly. Forgiveness in turn depends on repentance, which has to be based on an acknowledgment of what was done wrong, and therefore on disclosure of the truth. You cannot forgive what you do not know.
Desmond Tutu
#2. (on forgiveness) Didn't he and I stand together before an all seeing God convicted of the same murder? For I had murdered him with my heart and my tongue.
Corrie Ten Boom
#3. Perhaps my favorite quote on forgiveness is from Mark Twain: Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds, on the heel that has crushed it.
Wayne W. Dyer
#4. I believe one of the most important reasons I am here today is to practice forgiveness and to learn the power of it as a gift to others and myself. By focusing on forgiveness in my life today, I am promoting my healing and lessening my regrets.
Lisa J. Shultz
#5. Forgiveness is a wonderful thing, the only truth that saves us from eating ourselves alive and causing damage to everyone we love. I continue to work on forgiveness. I do, not, however wish to forget any of this.
Julie Metz
#6. He may look on death with joy, who can look on forgiveness with faith.
Thomas Watson
#7. You can't put a price on forgiveness." He kissed the other thigh. "I forgive you." "I'm afraid I can't accept words.
Samanthe Beck
#8. Forgiveness is "selective remembering" - a conscious decision to focus on love and let the rest go. But the ego is relentless - it is "capable of suspiciousness at best and viciousness at worst.
Marianne Williamson
#9. The minute we put aside our self-righteousness and move away from being the aggrieved, then we are on a healing process.
Stephen Richards
#10. Murder is unique in that it abolishes the party it injures, so that society has to take the place of the victim and on his behalf demand atonement or grant forgiveness; it is the one crime in which society has a direct interest.
W. H. Auden
#11. We have to hear again and again who God is for us and what God has done on our behalf. We must free each other from bondage through our confession and forgiveness.
Nadia Bolz-Weber
#12. It is vain for you to expect, it is impudent for you to ask of God forgiveness on your own behalf, if you refuse to exercise this forgiving temper with respect to others.
Benjamin Hoadly
#13. Your dad's story is over. In six months or a year, this will be done for him. He won't be dealing with the consequences of what you choose to do now. You will. So you make this decision based on what you need.
Jason Schmidt
#14. I could see that it was God's forgiveness and His mercy that I needed, and that was provided through Christ on the Cross for those who will receive Him as Lord and Savior. That is how I came to Christ.
Kirk Cameron
#15. Loss of social standing is an ever-present threat for individuals whose social acceptance is based on behavioral traits rather than unconditional human value.
Melissa V. Harris-Perry
#16. It seems that in our society Christianity has made permanent inroads in the eye-for-an-eye department but has made little progress on the practical application of forgiveness.
Steve Toltz
#17. Live forgiveness every day rather than just talking about it on Sunday.
Wayne Dyer
#18. 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
#19. Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that crushed it.
Robin S. Sharma
#20. If we studied the issue of forgiveness with a wider perspective, we are bound to opt for it after all.
Stephen Richards
#21. There's a correlation between the number of digits on a man's bank balance, and, the number of things that his woman is willing to forgive him for.
Mokokoma Mokhonoana
#22. It took me 42 years to write this song, and 5 minutes to sing it.
[On The Heart of the Matter, during the Eagles' Hell Freezes Over tour.]
Don Henley
#23. The moment we see beyond our personal desires to be felt sympathy for, that is the time we can actually start the journey to that final destination of true forgiveness.
Stephen Richards
#24. When you forgive those that hurt you, they no longer have control over your future happiness. Their anger keeps them a prisoner to your past, while you enjoy the present.
Shannon L. Alder
#25. Realize you have awesome people around you who want to love you. Let them. Show them you love them back. (Actions trump words.) Do the forgiveness thing. If necessary-and it almost always is- do the forgiveness thing on yourself.
Kari Luna
#26. God's forgiveness is the only thing. And, well, I take full responsibility for the adultery. It was my fault and, you know, no matter what went on, the man has to take responsibility; and I do.
Jim Bakker
#27. Forgiveness is a revolving door positioned in your path. You must step through it to move on, but it takes both timing and choice to escape walking circles inside.
Richelle E. Goodrich
#28. If there ever was someone who had a control over you, someone who could cause you the greatest pain, someone who could ignore your most necessary requirements and someone for whom forgiveness were truly difficult to render, that person is none other than YOU.
Stephen Richards
#29. God has left sin in the world in order that there may be forgiveness: not only the secret forgiveness by which He Himself cleanses our souls, but the manifest forgiveness by which we have mercy on one another and so give expression to the fact that He is living, by His mercy, in our own hearts.
Thomas Merton
#31. The purpose of forgiveness is not to make sure that someone ends up changing into what you expect them to be, as this is dominance. The purpose is actually to make your own life better, more worthy and less stressful. Forgiveness reduces the hold that the wrongdoer has over you and empowers you.
Stephen Richards
#32. There is no punishment man can bring down on another man's head more powerful than forgiveness
K.R. Albers
#33. The only thing that will make us remain glued to being the victim is our failure to handle the emotions that we go through and the pain that overcomes us.
Stephen Richards
#34. Most people focus on forgiving others, thinking there isn't a need for self-forgiveness, particularly if they see themselves as a victim.
Liane Holliday Willey
#35. It was about grace, she decides, something that has been missing from her own life ... She wants to be the kind of person who can bestow unearned kindness on another, replace bitterness with empathy, forgive only for the sake of forgiving.
Emily Giffin
#36. My hope is that this movie will affect people on a very profound level and reach them with a message of faith, hope, love and forgiveness.
Mel Gibson
#37. As the old saying goes, Don't ask for permission to sit on George Clooney's lap, beg for forgiveness once you do.
Amy Poehler
#39. This is a key point which the secularists are missing: they think that stressing God's mercy means that sins are no longer sins. On the contrary, God's mercy is a great gift of grace precisely because sins are sins and they call for repentance and forgiveness.
Thomas J. Paprocki
#41. I know I will have to come to forgiveness and acceptance of what has happened for me to go on and be happy in the future. And I know I will get there eventually. I wish him all the best in the future, as a person and as an athlete ... I feel privileged to have witnessed a part of his golfing career.
Elin Nordegren
#42. Forgiveness does not mean ignoring what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act. It means, rather, that the evil act no longer remains as a barrier to the relationship. Forgiveness is a catalyst creating the atmosphere necessary for a fresh start and a new beginning.
Martin Luther King Jr.
#43. I have truly moved beyond my victimization. I do not think of myself as a victim. I don't think of myself as a survivor. I think of myself as someone who through forgiveness has healed her soul and body and moved on to help other people.
Stephanie Davis
#45. Sins that have been completely absolved on one occasion sometimes on other occasions cannot be completely forgotten or set aside. They may continue to have a ripple effect. But it is comforting to realize that they are no longer remembered by God, even if traces remain in human memory.
Thomas C. Oden
#46. You can't move on, if you haven't forgiven yourself, yet.
Basma Salem
#47. We are preaching hope, standing on the bones of the past.
John Rucyahana
#48. Peace of mind always precipitates peace on earth.
Phoenix
#49. A true Christian does not see God's promise of forgiveness as a license to sin, a way to abuse His love and presume on His grace. Rather, he sees God's gracious forgiveness as the means to spiritual growth and sanctification. He continually thanks God for His great love and willingness to forgive.
John F. MacArthur Jr.
#50. Have a policy of pre-emptive forgiveness. Refuse to get offended by petty things. Make a decision early on to cut the other person some slack in everyday life. Then you can take comfort in knowing they'll do it for you, as well. Accepting each other, flaws and all, is what love is all about.
Gaelen Foley
#51. Forgiveness is the smell that lavender gives out when you tread on it
Mark Twain
#52. You want to know what price I asked for forgiving Arobynn, Celaena?" Sam stood so still the he might have been a statue. "My price was his oath that he'd never lay a hand on you again. I told him I'd forgive him in exchange for that.
Sarah J. Maas
#53. 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
#54. I will look at the past, but I will not stare at it.
M. Spio
#55. A simple word of greeting, an offer of a cup of coffee on me, a smile and a hug will all go a long way toward reconciliation. A listening ear can open a wandering heart to the thought that God still loves them, and there just might be a place still set for them at their Father's table.
Katherine J. Walden
#56. With friends, if you keep making an effort to reach out and you keep getting hurt, you eventually stop trying. But it's much harder to give up on family. Somewhere deep down you want it to work so badly that you keep making the same mistake over and over again.
Tori Spelling
#57. Holding on to weight (i.e. anger, bitterness, the past, hatred) will not only hold you back, but also block your blessings. You've got to let some things go to move forward.
Yvonne Pierre
#58. The pain you have gone through will give you the strength of character to come through it all, so long as you learn from what you have suffered then it was not suffering at all.
Stephen Richards
#59. I only suggest to you: Will you dwell on killing this man? You wish for revenge? If you do, he has already killed you by slow poison. So, let it go. Why waste your time? His life will see to his death.
Lloyd Alexander
#60. Forgiveness is the way we break the grip that long-held resentments have on our hearts.
Sharon Salzberg
#61. Our enemies make us strong, Miss Muffet, not our friends. Our friends will lie to us, tell us what we need to hear. Forgive us. We must keep a few good enemies on hand, always, to keep us sharp and teach us never to do anything that needs forgiveness.
Ann Rinaldi
#62. All they had to do was let go, and they'd be free. But they held on.
Dyan Cannon
#63. Do not allow yourself to be pulled into the role of embracing victimship as some sort of badge of honor to wear or flash around at any opportunity.
Stephen Richards
#64. But let the past as nothing be. For the future my view is that the fight must go on.
Abraham Lincoln
#65. The most important thing that I learned in growing up is that forgiveness is something that, when you do it, you free yourself to move on.
Tyler Perry
#66. Many of us have read about and talked about forgiveness, and we understand intellectually why it might benefit us to let go of anger toward others. But we hold on anyway.
Debbie Ford
#67. When we forgive, we're saying to our heart that we are ready to move on.
Milan Ljubincic
#68. Virtually all women will always carry the scars and a deep sense of loss and grief from the betrayal. Whether a woman has stayed, left, or been left, it must be remembered that time is the salve on this journey towards forgiveness and healing, because it is also a process of grieving.
Meryn G. Callander
#69. In the process of forgiveness, you can only control your own actions and decisions.
Stephen Richards
#70. Assuming you are still lost in thought about when exactly you should forgive someone, well the time is NOW.
Stephen Richards
#71. you said you were going to kill rukia with your own hands...you make me sick...show me your bankai and I will crush it...I will make me beg for forgiveness on you knees...I will never let you say those words to Rukia again...
~Ichigo Kurosaki
Tite Kubo
#72. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.
Henry Ward Beecher
#73. You have to forgive yourself for your past mistakes, and you have to forgive those that hurt you for what they did to you, or you're never going to fully move on.
Jennifer Gracen
#74. I've never bowed to anyone, but will gladly live the rest of my life on my knees before you, if you'll be mine.
Joya Ryan
#75. Murderers don't get forgiven just because we promise to be good from now on. We have to earn our way back. One hundred is the price. One hundred lives for each we took. That seems fair. That's how we get whole again and that's our work, from now until as long as it takes.
Bill Willingham
#76. Forgiveness is not forgetting; it is simply denying your pain the right to control your life. Corallie Buchanan, Watch Out! Godly Women on the Loose
Suzanne Eller
#77. When you forgive, you are freed from some of the feelings of disapproval and it can contribute to lessening your negative thoughts.
Stephen Richards
#79. If anyone insists on his own goodness and despises others . . . let him look into himself when this petition confronts him. He will find he is no better than others and that in the presence of God everyone must duck his head and come into the joy of forgiveness only through the low door of humility.
Timothy Keller
#80. Though our childhood abuse left us feeling someone ought to make reparation to us, if we wait a lifetime for that, we may never receive what we need. We choose instead to face the idea that from now on, we are going to take responsibility for caring for ourselves.
Maureen Brady
#81. Distancing yourself from some painful event is probably the ignition for the process of forgiveness.
Stephen Richards
#82. The idea of always wanting to be the victim in circumstances where you have been offended is a common human trait. Each person wants to be viewed as the aggrieved party.
Stephen Richards
#83. Can you say the following? Jesus is my Prophet. I've taken His yoke of Truth upon me. Jesus is my Priest. I rely on His sacrifice for sin to give me forgiveness of sins... Jesus is my King. I trust Him to deliver me from evil I submit to His authority over me.
Kenneth Mick
#84. When someone wrongs you, you both share the burden of that wrongdoing - the pain of it weighs on both of you. Forgiveness, then, means choosing to bear the full weight all by yourself.
Veronica Roth
#85. The English judged a person so that they'd be justified in casting her out. The Amish judged a person so that they'd be justified in welcoming her back. Where I'm from, if someone is accused of sinning, it's not so that others can place blame. It's so that the person can make amends and move on.
Jodi Picoult
#86. Forgiveness does carry with it numerous obstacles and one may well be surprised why many people find it a very difficult hurdle to jump over.
Stephen Richards
#87. The reason people will attack you never really has anything to do with you. It stems from their OWN evil thoughts that they entertain and from wanting and not getting their way.
Sandra M. Michelle
#88. Forgiveness is a way of setting yourself free of the bondage put on you by others. There is liberty to be had in it.
Tracie Peterson
#89. Having looked the past in the eye, having asked for forgiveness and having made amends, let us shut the door on the past - not in order to forget it but in order not to allow it to imprison us.
Desmond Tutu
#90. Forgive, Adapt and Evolve, because holding on stagnates your opportunity of being better.
Sachin Kumar Puli
#91. Their tongues met, starving, two years without this delicious meal. They kissed and kissed and kissed. The joining of their mouths was more intense than that night on the ferry. This was a kiss of reunion.
Of forgiveness.
Of coming home.
Lori Wilde
#92. Don't dwell too much on the past. The lessons are useful for the present and a preparation for the future. Move on!
Lailah Gifty Akita
#93. The thing to hold on to in forgiving is that most often the people who are hurting us do not know what they are doing. In fact it is fair to say that none of us knows the impact of our actions in relationships, at least for a lot of the time. We are all unaware of our power to hurt and to heal.
Carla L. Rueckert
#94. Maybe forgiveness means you stop keeping tabs on those people. Wounds can't heal if you keep touching them.
Joyce Rachelle
#95. The practice of forgiving is a sequential practice that begins with excusing someone.
Stephen Richards
#96. The world is full of victims; don't add to the growing culture of "I've a story to tell", well not unless it's a story to help others overcome situations or as a warning.
Stephen Richards
#97. On faith's battered back calm eyes etch prayers that cool a nation's hot rage.
Aberjhani
#98. People that hurt others, only act on a pain they feel themselves.
Vivian Amis
#99. Happiness is long-lasting, a condition of the soul, the foundation on which the circumstances of life are experienced, endured, or enjoyed.
Auliq Ice
#100. It was part of his nature to extenuate nothing and live on as one of his own worst accusers.
Thomas Hardy
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