Being able to forgive is one of the best health feelings in the world. Sometimes we need to forgive ourselves. These excuses will show you how to get started.
Forgiveness is a conscious and deliberate decision to let go of resentment or revenge against someone who wronged you, whether it was deserved or not. Your ability to forgive often says more about you than the person you are forgiving.
This forgiveness does not mean peace. When we are wronged by a friend or a family member, our relationship can be seriously damaged, but letting go of the anger and moving on with our lives makes us feel better.
Here are the best forgiveness quotes to inspire you to forgive. Whether you’ve just been hurt or you want to get rid of a long-term grudge, you’ll find enough information to process your feelings and help you move on.
Phrases
-The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
Mahatma Gandhi-The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.
Thomas Szasz-Any fool knows men and women think differently at times, but the biggest difference is this. Men forget, but never forgive; women forgive, but never forget.
Robert Jordan-It is important that we forgive ourselves for making mistakes. We need to learn from our errors and move on.
Steve Maraboli
-The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward.
Steve Maraboli-To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.
C.S. Lewis-Forgiveness has nothing to do with absolving a criminal of his crime. It has everything to do with relieving oneself of the burden of being a victim–letting go of the pain and transforming oneself from victim to survivor.
C.R. Strahan-To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.
G.K. Chesterton-It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody.
Maya Angelou-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.-The remedy for life’s broken pieces is not classes, workshops or books. Don’t try to heal the broken pieces. Just forgive.
Iyanla Vanzant-To understand somebody else as a human being, I think, is about as close to real forgiveness as one can get.
David Small-Beware of the man who does not return your blow: he neither forgives you nor allows you to forgive yourself.
George Bernard Shaw-Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: love, prayer, and forgiveness.
H. Jackson Brown Jr.-It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
Francis of Assisi
-Forgive me my nonsense, as I also forgive the nonsense of those that think they talk sense.
Robert Frost-Because forgiveness is like this: a room can be dank because you have closed the windows, you’ve closed the curtains. But the sun is shining outside, and the air is fresh outside. In order to get that fresh air, you have to get up and open the window and draw the curtains apart.
Desmond Tutu-Children begin by loving their parents; after a time they judge them; rarely, if ever, do they forgive them.
Oscar Wilde-Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.
Anne Lamott-Inner peace can be reached only when we practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past, and is therefore the means for correcting our misperceptions.
Gerald G. Jampolsky-Dumbledore says people find it far easier to forgive others for being wrong than being right.
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince-Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.
Corrie Ten Boom-Grudges are for those who insist that they are owed something; forgiveness, however, is for those who are substantial enough to move on.
Criss Jami
-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.
Marianne Williamson-Forgive those who have hurt you.
Les Brown-Nothing inspires forgiveness quite like revenge.
Scott Adams-He that cannot forgive others, breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass if he would ever reach heaven; for everyone has need to be forgiven.
George Herbert-And you know, when you’ve experienced grace and you feel like you’ve been forgiven, you’re a lot more forgiving of other people. You’re a lot more gracious to others.
Rick Warren-Forgiveness is the answer to the child’s dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is made clean again.
Dag Hammarskjold-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-One of the secrets of a long and fruitful life is to forgive everybody everything every night before you go to bed.
Bernard Baruch-Sins cannot be undone, only forgiven.
Igor Stravinsky
-If there are occasions when my grape turned into a raisin and my joy bell lost its resonance, please forgive me. Charge it to my head and not to my heart.
Jesse Jackson-I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that’s his.
Catherine the Great-Humanity is never so beautiful as when praying for forgiveness, or else forgiving another.
Jean Paul-To confer dignity, forgive. To express contempt, forget.
Mason Cooley-The ineffable joy of forgiving and being forgiven forms an ecstasy that might well arouse the envy of the gods.
Elbert Hubbard-Man has two great spiritual needs. One is for forgiveness. The other is for goodness.
Billy Graham-Selfishness must always be forgiven you know, because there is no hope of a cure.
Jane Austen-One forgives to the degree that one loves.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld-Forgiveness must be immediate, whether or not a person asks for it. Trust must be rebuilt over time. Trust requires a track record.
Rick Warren-I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded; not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.
Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner-Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any different.
Oprah Winfrey-I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice-But if you forgive someone for something they did to you, it doesn’t mean you agree with what they did or believe it was right. Forgiving that person means you have chosen not to dwell on the matter anymore; you have moved on with your life.
Idowu Koyenikan
-We don’t forgive people because they deserve it. We forgive them because they need it—because we need it.
Bree Despain-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-Forgiveness is God’s greatest gift
Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code-The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world.
Marianne Williamson-Forgiveness means it finally becomes unimportant that you hit back. You’re done.
Anne Lamott-Every year during their High Holy Days, the Jewish community reminds us all of our need for repentance and forgiveness.
Billy Graham-Forgiveness is not to give the other person peace. Forgiveness is for you. Take that opportunity.
Mackenzie Phillips-If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.
Nelson Mandela-It’s far easier to forgive an enemy after you’ve got even with him.
Jewel-Forgiveness is that subtle thread that binds both love and friendship. Without forgiveness, you may not even have a child one day.
George Foreman-Forgiveness to the injured does belong; but they ne’er pardon who have done wrong.
John Dryden-Just knowing you don’t have the answers is a recipe for humility, openness, acceptance, forgiveness, and an eagerness to learn – and those are all good things.
Dick Van Dyke-See, forgiveness doesn’t happen all at once. It’s not an event — it’s a process. Forgiveness happens while you’re asleep, while you’re dreaming, while you’re inline at the coffee shop, while you’re showering, eating, farting… It happens in the back of your mind, and then one day you realize that you don’t hate the person anymore, that your anger has gone away somewhere. And you understand. You’ve forgiven them. You don’t know how or why. It sneaked up on you. It happened in the small spaces between thoughts and in the seconds between ideas and blinks. That’s where forgiveness happens.
Barry Lyga-We often forgive those who bore us, but we cannot forgive those whom we bore.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld-Most of us can forgive and forget; we just don’t want the other person to forget that we forgave.
Ivern Ball-As long as you don’t forgive, who and whatever it is will occupy a rent-free space in your mind.
Isabelle Holland-The remarkable thing is that we really love our neighbor as ourselves: we do unto others as we do unto ourselves. We hate others when we hate ourselves. We are tolerant toward others when we tolerate ourselves. We forgive others when we forgive ourselves. We are prone to sacrifice others when we are ready to sacrifice ourselves.
Eric Hoffer
-A broken friendship that is mended through forgiveness can be even stronger than it once was.
Stephen Richards-I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.
Abraham Lincoln-Forgive others not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace.
Jonathan Huie-Forgiveness is the final form of love.
Reinhold Niebuhr-God pardons like a mother, who kisses the offense into everlasting forgiveness.
Henry Ward Beecher-Choosing forgiveness opens the door of your heart and makes way for a miracle in your life.
Victoria Osteen-Forgiveness is about empowering yourself, rather than empowering your past.
T.D. Jakes-I like cast iron coated with enamel for longevity and forgiveness if I happen to take my eyes off the prize while pouring Chianti.
Mario Batali-Forgiveness takes time. It is the last step of the grieving process.
Elin Nordegren-There is freedom in forgiveness, and it’s not that hard to do once you get into the habit.
Dana Perino-As we know, forgiveness of oneself is the hardest of all the forgivenesses.
Joan Baez
