I can so clearly distinguish between the criminal and his crime; I can so sincerely forgive the first while I abhor the last.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- It is possible to forgive a person while still condemning their wrongful actions.
- In plain terms
- I can forgive the person but still hate their crime.
- What can you take from it?
- Separate the person from their actions.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can you truly forgive without forgetting?
- Where do you draw the line?
Another view
Forgiving a person might sometimes be seen as condoning their actions.
More from Charlotte Bronte
What a singularly deep impression her injustice seems to have made on your heart... Would you not be happier if you tried to forget her severity, together with…
Permalink to quote #10 What have I to do with millions [of people]? The eighty I know despise me.
Permalink to quote #12 It is not violence that best overcomes hate - nor vengeance that most certainly heals injury.
Permalink to quote #9
Related quotes
Like some magistrate grown gray in office, Calmly he contemplates alike the just And unjust, with indifference he notes Evil and good, and knows not wrath nor …
Aleksandr PushkinAleksandr Pushkin quote #19 People, beware of injustice, for injustice shall be darkness on the Day of Judgment.
Holy Prophet MuhammadHoly Prophet Muhammad quote #28 Hate the sin and not the sinner.
Mahatma GandhiMahatma Gandhi quote #90