1.
Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses.
Ann Landers
2.
Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.
John F. Kennedy
Absolve your adversaries, yet never erase their identities.
3.
The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all others, charity.
Benjamin Franklin
4.
We cannot change the past, but we can change our attitude toward it. Uproot guilt and plant forgiveness. Tear out arrogance and seed humility. Exchange love for hate - thereby, making the present comfortable and the future promising.
Maya Angelou
5.
Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.
Indira Gandhi
Magnanimity is a quality of the courageous.
6.
Our anger and annoyance are more detrimental to us than the things themselves which anger or annoy us.
Marcus Aurelius
Our ire and vexation are more detrimental to us than the matters which enrage or irritate us.
7.
Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.
Coretta Scott King
'Carrying a grudge is an unbearable burden that harms the holder more than the perceived enemy.'
8.
Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness.
Corrie Ten Boom
Reconciliation is the mechanism that dissolves the animus of indignation and the fetters of animosity. It is a strength that shatters the bonds of rancor and the manacles of self-interest.
9.
Forgiveness involves pardon. Basically, that is like erasing their offenses toward us from a marking board. We immediately wash their offenses away like a wave washing away a message in the sand. Second, forgiveness involves caring for the offending person because most people who offend us have something in their own heart that needs healing. When we forgive others, they are released from our anger and we are healed by God.
Gary Smalley
10.
Throughout life people will make you mad, disrespect you and treat you bad. Let God deal with the things they do, cause hate in your heart will consume you too.
Will Smith
Let the Lord take on those who have wronged you, for carrying bitterness in your soul will only poison your own spirit.
11.
We cannot embrace God's forgiveness if we are so busy clinging to past wounds and nursing old grudges.
T. D. Jakes
We can't accept God's absolution if we are preoccupied with clinging to past traumas and nurturing old enmities.
12.
Forgiveness is unlocking the door to set someone free and realising you were the prisoner!
Max Lucado
'Forgiveness is affording another emancipation, while comprehending that you were the one in chains!'
13.
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
Henry David Thoreau
If an individual does not conform to his peers, maybe it is because he follows a separate beat. Allow him to march along with the tune that resonates within him, however distant or unorthodox it may be.
14.
Life is too short to live that way. Learn to travel light. Every morning when you first get up, forgive the people that did you wrong the day before. Forgive your spouse for what they said. At the start of the day, let go of the disappointments, the set backs from yesterday. Start every morning fresh and new. God did not create you to carry around all that baggage. Let it go and move forward in the life of blessing He has in store for you!
Joel Osteen
15.
For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
16.
If we are true Christians, we must not expect everything smooth in our journey to heaven. We must count it no strange thing, if we have to endure sicknesses, losses, bereavements, and disappointments, just like other men. Free pardon and full forgiveness, grace along the way, and glory at the endall this our Savior has promised to give. But He has never promised that we shall have no afflictions.
J. C. Ryle
17.
To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.
C. S. Lewis
To be a Christian means to pardon the unpardonable because God has pardoned the unpardonable in you.
18.
We plant seeds that will flower as results in our lives, so best to remove the weeds of anger, avarice, envy and doubt, that peace and abundance may manifest for all.
Dorothy Day
We sow the seeds of our destiny, so eliminating animosity, greediness, jealousy and uncertainty will ensure that tranquillity and prosperity can be experienced by all.
19.
Forgiving is not forgetting. Forgiving is remembering without pain.
Celia Cruz
'Absolving is not disregarding. Absolving is recollecting without anguish.'
20.
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
21.
Nothing in the Christian life is more important than forgiveness-our forgiveness of others and God's forgiveness of us.
John F. MacArthur
It is essential in the Christian life to show clemency - both to those we have wronged and to ourselves, as God pardons us.
22.
Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.
Reinhold Niebuhr
23.
You cannot antagonize and influence at the same time.
John Knox
You cannot provoke and sway simultaneously.
24.
We think that forgiveness is weakness, but it's absolutely not; it takes a very strong person to forgive.
T. D. Jakes
We erroneously assume that pardon is a sign of frailty, yet it takes an individual of great fortitude to grant absolution.
25.
When you are offended at any man's fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings. Then you will forget your anger.
Epictetus
Reflect on your own shortcomings when aggrieved by another's misdeed, and your ire shall dissipate.
26.
Whatever our religion, we know that if we really want to love, we must first learn to forgive before anything else.
Mother Teresa
No matter our faith, if we wish to show affection, it is essential to practice forgiveness before anything else.
27.
Forgiveness does not mean that we suppress anger; forgiveness means that we have asked for a miracle: the ability to see through mistakes that someone has made to the truth that lies in all of our hearts. 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. Attack thoughts towards others are attack thoughts towards ourselves. The first step in forgiveness is the willingness to forgive.
Marianne Williamson
28.
You can't undo anything you've already done, but you can face up to it. You can tell the truth. You can seek forgiveness. And then let God do the rest.
Tertullian
You cannot erase what is already done, but you can accept responsibility. You can be honest. You can seek absolution. And then leave it in the hands of the Almighty.
29.
In a recent interview, General Norman Schwartzkof was asked if he thought there was room for forgiveness toward the people who have harboured and abetted the terrorists who perpetrated the 9/11 attacks on America. His answer..."I believe that forgiving them is God's function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting.
Norman Schwarzkopf
30.
When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free.
Catherine Ponder
When you bear a grudge towards someone, you are inextricably tied to them through an emotional connection that is unassailable. Absolution is the only means to break that bond and liberate yourself.
31.
Before you judge someone else, stop and think about all that God has forgiven you for.
Joyce Meyer
Before you pass judgement on someone else, pause and reflect on all the grace God has extended to you.
32.
It is not "forgive and forget" as if nothing wrong had ever happened, but "forgive and go forward," building on the mistakes of the past and the energy generated by reconciliation to create a new future.
Alan Paton
33.
Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: love, prayer, and forgiveness.
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
34.
The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.
Thomas Szasz
35.
I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise, it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him.
C. S. Lewis
36.
Keep in mind, hurting people often hurt other people as a result of their own pain. If somebody is rude and inconsiderate, you can almost be certain that they have some unresolved issues inside. They have some major problems, anger, resentment, or some heartache they are trying to cope with or overcome.
Joel Osteen
37.
Be the one who nurtures and builds. Be the one who has an understanding and a forgiving heart one who looks for the best in people. Leave people better than you found them.
Marvin J. Ashton
38.
It is often easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.
Grace Hopper
39.
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
40.
Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other
Marvin J. Ashton
41.
The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, 'O God, forgive me,' or 'Help me.'
Billy Graham
42.
When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me.
Emo Philips
43.
I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.
James A. Baldwin
44.
Here is a mental treatment guaranteed to cure every ill that flesh is heir to: sit for half an hour every night and mentally forgive everyone against whom you have any ill will or antipathy.
Charles Fillmore
45.
The highest result of education is tolerance.
Helen Keller
47.
As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.
Nelson Mandela
48.
Unforgiveness is the most prolific cause of disease. It will harden arteries or liver, and affect the eye-sight. In its train are endless ills.
Florence Scovel Shinn
49.
Forgive me my nonsense, as I also forgive the nonsense of those that think they talk sense.
Robert Frost
50.
People can be more forgiving than you can imagine. But you have to forgive yourself. Let go of what's bitter and move on.
Bill Cosby