Selected forgiveness quotes

1. 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.

2. I agree with your remark about loving your enemy as far as actions are concerned. But for me the cognitive basis is the trust in an unrestricted causality. 'I cannot hate him, because he must do what he does.' That means for me more Spinoza than the prophets.

3. It is easy to love one's enemy when one is making fine speeches; but so difficult to do so in the actual everyday work of life.

4. Holding a grudge does not hurt the person against whom the grudge is held, it hurts the one who holds it.

5. I can so clearly distinguish between the criminal and his crime; I can so sincerely forgive the first while I abhor the last.

6. The ineffable joy of forgiving and being forgiven forms an ecstasy that might well arouse the envy of the gods.

7. You accept certain unlovely things about yourself and manage to live with them. The atonement for such an acceptance is that you make allowances for others - that you cleanse yourself of the sin of self-righteousness.

8. Beware of the man who does not return your blow: he neither forgives you nor allows you to forgive yourself.

9. A marriage based on full confidence, based on complete and unqualified frankness on both sides; they are not keeping anything back; there's no deception underneath it all. If I might so put it, it's an agreement for the mutual forgiveness of sin.

10. Our country will, I believe, sooner forgive an officer for attacking an enemy than for letting it alone.

11. I've looked on many women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times. God knows I will do this and forgives me.

12. The public seldom forgive twice.

13. In charity to all mankind, bearing no malice or ill will to any human being, and even compassionating those who hold in bondage their fellow men, not knowing what they do.

14. When God forgave me, I figured I'd better do it too.

15. I hate nobody: I am in charity with the world.

16. A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve.

17. Be charitable and indulgent to everyone but thyself.

18. I have pondered long, and I know now that only the pure of heart forgive the thirst that leads to dead waters. And only the sure of foot can give a hand to him who stumbles.

19. Don't hold to anger, hurt or pain. They steal your energy and keep you from love.

20. To forgive is not to forget. The merit lies in loving in spite of the vivid knowledge that the one that must be loved is not a friend. There is no merit in loving an enemy when you forget him for a friend.

21. Whether men soar to outer space or dive to the bottom of the deepest ocean they will find themselves as they are, unchanged, because they will not have forgotten themselves nor remembered to exercise the charity of forgiveness.

22. Had I not sinned what would there be for you to pardon. My fate has given you the opportunity for mercy.

23. Redemption comes to those who wait, forgiveness is the key.

24. Forgiveness of enemies can only come upon their repentance.

25. If this be not love, it is madness, and then it is pardonable.

26. Men are apt to offend ('tis true) where they find most goodness to forgive.

27. I believe that time, with its infinite understanding, will one day forgive me.

28. I can't hate for long. It isn't worth it.

29. To be totally understanding makes one very indulgent.

30. Why, when the world gets to understand about it I expect that two men or two women, or a man and a woman, will come in here, and say to me, 'We have quarrelled and outraged each other, we have injured our friend, our wife, our husband; we regret, we would forgive, but we cannot, because we remember. Put between us the atonement of forgetfulness, that we may love each other as of old.

31. We are told that people stay in love because of chemistry, or because they remain intrigued with each other, because of many kindnesses, because of luck . . . But part of it has got to be forgiveness and gratefulness.

32. Certainly, in taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior; for it is a prince's part to pardon.

33. A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished.

34. Esperando (Cuando Cuba Sea Libre) is probably one of the most personal songs from the new [September, 2007] CD, '90 Millas' . . . as it really speaks about the celebration, nostalgia and emotion that will happen the day Cuba is free. If we're to move forward in Cuba, we really have to have a lot of forgiveness for each other and look towards the future.

35. 'Hating people is like burning down your own house to get rid of a rat.'

36. In the Bible it says they asked Jesus how many times you should forgive, and he said 70 times 7. Well, I want you all to know that I'm keeping a chart.

37. It is better for a leader to make a mistake in forgiving than to make a mistake in punishing.

38. You [Jews] did slay Christ, you did lift violent hands against the Master, you did spill his precious blood. This is why you have no chance for atonement, excuse, or defense.

39. Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.

40. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

41. 'The greatest sin of a person who goes to 'Arafat and then leaves is to think that he has not been forgiven of his sins.'

42. I have gone through what no other mortal on earth has gone through; I put my lips to the hands of the man who has killed my children.

43. Lorsque les femmes nous aiment, elles nous pardonnent tout, meme nos crimes; lorsqu'elles ne nous aiment pas, elles ne nous pardonnent rien, pas meme nos vertus!

44. Pity and forbearance, and long-sufferance and fair interpretation, and excusing our brother, and taking in the best sense, and passing the gentlest sentence, are as certainly our duty, and owing to every person that does offend and can repent, as calling to account can be owing to the law, and are first to be paid; and he that does not so is an unjust person.

45. Do you dare deny my potency my kindness or forgiveness?

46. The obvious answer is to follow the standards and the priorities that were established so clearly by the words and actions of Jesus Christ, who was dedicated to justice, peace, humility, service, compassion, and love. I would put an emphasis at this moment among Christians on forgiveness and accommodation.

47. With increasing maturity, I have learned to understand the fallibilities of ourselves and others, to forgive. Forgiveness is a basic foundation of my faith. It's through this exchange of criticism, based on mutual understanding and forgiveness, that we are able to grow.

48. I beg all of you standing here to forgive me the harm that I may have done you. Please pray for me.

49. You bid me burn your letters. But I must forget you first.

50. Yo no hablo de venganzas ni perdones, el olvido es la unica venganza y el unico perdon.

51. Above all, we must forgive the unhappy souls who have elected to make the pilgrimage on foot, who skirt the shore and look uncomprehendingly upon the horror of the struggle, the joy of victory, the profound hopelessness of the vanquished.

52. Yes, God forgives and men forget, And you're forgiven and forgotten. You might be gaily sinning yet And quick and fresh instead of rotten. And when you think of love and fame And all that might have come to pass, Then don't you feel a little shame? And don't you think you were an ass?

53. Poet, Singer, Great Heart, May our God bless your name, And the womb that held you, and the breasts that gave you milk. And may God forgive us all.

54. 'Last year (October 2004), the nation celebrated a week of reconciliation and forgiveness, supported by all our main religions and numerous civic organizations and individuals from all our ethnic groups. Some of those who had suffered particular hurt in 2000, questioned the motives behind this and did not feel they could take part. Their views must be respected. They endured an ordeal which left deep wounds.'

55. 'With a resounding yes I say we can reconcile and that it really is a matter of the heart.' (27 July 2005)

56. 'Two thousand and five is our Year of Forgiveness in Fiji. Again, we are seeking God's help in reconciliation and in making the country whole. Each of the great religions teaches forgiveness. That is a golden thread that links them.'

57. 'For Christians, the rules are clear. They are under order to forgive. We must follow those orders, no matter how difficult they appear. If we do not forgive, God will not forgive us. That is the beginning and the end of it.'

58. 'The forgiveness of Christ is complete, and without condition. It is not dependent on an apology, or tied to a punishment.'

59. Fare thee well! and if forever, Still forever, fare thee well: Even though unforgiving, never 'Gainst thee shall my heart rebel.

60. And if we do but watch the hour, There never yet was human power Which could evade, if unforgiven, The patient search and vigil long Of him who treasures up a wrong.

61. A clean confession combined with a promise never to commit the sin again, when offered before one who has the right to receive it, is the purest of repentance.

62. Hate the sin and not the sinner.

63. You did what you knew how to do, and when you knew better, you did better.

64. What cannot be healed has been healed. What was lost forever has been found. Therefore let that which cannot be forgiven be forgiven.

65. Which is the greater wrong? To hurt the unforgiving one, or hurt the one who has forgiven all?

66. The absurd and execrable doctrine of vengeance, in all its shapes, seems to have been contemplated by this great moralist with the profoundest disapprobation; nor would he permit the most venerable of names to be perverted into a sanction for the meanest and most contemptible propensities incident to the nature of man. 'Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, that ye may be the sons of your Heavenly Father, who makes the sun to shine on the good and on the evil, and the rain to fall on the just and unjust.' How monstrous a calumny have not impostors dared to advance against the mild and gentle author of this just sentiment, and against the whole tenor of his doctrines and his life, overflowing with benevolence and forbearance and compassion!

67. Something won't forgive it all ~ 'Sense'

68. Mercy, mercy, looking for mercy...

69. Qui pardonne aisement invite a l'offenser.

70. She always had a way of finding such goodness in others. If someone hurt her, she'd say, 'Oh, Sheliah, I'm sure they didn't mean to.' She'd always make excuses for others. Sharon was just totally loving and also totally vulnerable. She was just a remarkable person, she never gave up on anybody.

71. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries as much as you think they deserve.

72. Aime la verite, mais pardonne a l'erreur.

73. Qu'est-ce que la tolerance? c'est l'apanage de l'humanite. Nous sommes tous petris de faiblesses et d'erreurs; pardonnons-nous reciproquement nos sottises, c'est la premiere loi de la nature.

74. It is useless to try to adjudicate a long-standing animosity by asking who started it or who is the most wrong. The only sufficient answer is to give up the animosity and try forgiveness, to try to love our enemies and to talk to them and (if we pray) to pray for them. If we can't do any of that, then we must begin again by trying to imagine our enemies' children who, like our children, are in mortal danger because of enmity that they did not cause.

75. There is a fountain fill'd with blood Drawn from Emmanuel's veins; And sinners, plung'd beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains.

76. Every man alive in the world is a beggar of one sort or another, every last one of them, great and small. The priest begs God for grace, and the king begs something for something. Sometimes he begs the people for loyalty, sometimes he begs God to forgive him. No man in the world can have endured ten years without having begged God to forgive him.

77. 'I have come to you against my wish,' she said in a firm voice: 'but I have been ordered to grant your request. Three, seven, ace, will win for you if played in succession, but only on these conditions: that you do not play more than one card in twenty-four hours, and that you never play again during the rest of your life. I forgive you my death, on condition that you marry my companion, Lizaveta Ivanovna.'

78. Could we, with human reason, process the finality of death, we would be very different souls, giving more than we take, forgiving easily, and listening with all that is in us for the answers to questions we would not have otherwise asked.

79. God may forgive you, but I never can.

80. Those who need excuses deserve not be excused.

81. This is practically the language used to fallen women, and chiefly by their own sex: 'God may forgive you, but we never can!' - a declaration which, however common, in spirit if not in substance, is, when one comes to analyse it, unparalleled in its arrogance of blasphemy. That for a single offence, however grave, a whole life should be blasted, is a doctrine repugnant even to Nature's own dealings in the visible world. ~ Ch. 11

82. Reconciliation and forgiveness is inextricably linked to the identity and unity we develop as a nation.

83. I too died. But in the depth of my oblivion I heard Him speak and say, 'Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.' And His voice sought my drowned spirit and I was brought back to the shore. And I opened my eyes and I saw His white body hanging against the cloud, and His words that I had heard took the shape within me and became a new man. And I sorrowed no more. Who would sorrow for a sea that is unveiling its face, or for a mountain that laughs in the sun? Was it ever in the heart of man, when that heart was pierced, to say such words? What other judge of men has released His judges? And did ever love challenge hate with power more certain of itself? Was ever such a trumpet heard 'twixt heaven and earth? Was it known before that the murdered had compassion on his murderers? Or that the meteor stayed his footsteps for the mole? The seasons shall tire and the years grow old, ere they exhaust these words: 'Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.'

84. Be forgiving and big hearted

85. Please give me a second grace

86. I can't hold on very long Forgive me, pretty baby, but I always take the long way home

87. It was me You were a tool It was me We forgive you

88. I'm not a very demanding man. I don't expect perfection from others. I get along and do my part. But when someone treats me like a worm, as if I didn't exist, as if I didn't matter, then I don't forget, no, I never forget, I never forgive, I simply bide my time and then they see: I do matter, and despising me was the gravest error of their lives

89. It was like a bunch of children, doing something they knew they shouldn't ought to, and then their pa comes along and catches them at it. Having been caught in such mischief himself sometimes, he almost felt a little sympathy

90. Cristoforo smiled, held out his arms, and embraced the lying bastard

91. She had to forgive him, because Jesus would have. Well, Jesus ended up dead. That was the way it was with all gentle, weak people. And damn few of them got resurrected, either. It was only beneficent power - law, money, prestige - that kept trusting fools alive

92. A house of your own soon enough It was this house I wanted to belong in. He hates me now,, and ill never have a chance again to make it right Give him time to see you as a man on your own, and he'll come around, you'll see. Now me. He wont forgive me. I look too much like grandfather, don't you see? I never had a chance here

93. God to forgive me cause it's wrong but I plan to die

94. Will I survive til the mo'nin, to see the sun/Please Lord forgive me for my sins, cause here I come

95. Father forgive us for livin while all my homies stuck in prison/Barely breatin believin that the world is a prison

96. And do not forgive indeed it is beyond your power to forgive in the name of those betrayed at dawn

97. Sins are not forgiven to anyone, unless when the priest forgives them he believes they are forgiven;

98. 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.

99. For my part I believe in the forgiveness of sin and the redemption of ignorance.

100. My punishment is far heavier, I forgive you, and set you free.