Forgiveness Quotes

The saved sinner is prostrate in adoration, lost in wonder and praise. He knows repentance is not what we do in order to earn forgiveness; it is what we do because we have been forgiven. It serves as an expression of gratitude rather than an effort to earn forgiveness. Thus the sequence of forgiveness and then repentance, rather than repentance and then forgiveness, is crucial for understanding the gospel of grace.

~ Brennan Manning

Forgiveness is empowering for the forgiver. Years of resentment, frustration, and pain are set FREE!

~ Dana Arcuri

I want hard stories, I demand them from myself. Hard stories are worth the difficulty. It seems to me the only way I have forgiven anything, understood anything, is through that process of opening up to my own terror and pain and reexamining it, re-creating it in the story, and making it something different, making it meaningful - even if the meaning is only in the act of the telling.

~ Dorothy Allison

Love is just like the flower; it has hidden depths that we rarely ever explore. Beneath the surface lies a network of roots. You can admire the flower for what it is, or you can dig deeper. The more you dig, the more you will find. The real reasons we love a person sometimes exist in the darkest and deepest part of us, the part that knows no logic…or rationale.

~ Carol Oates

I have met people who truly do not believe in God, and they feel no anger when they see suffering. They are indifferent to it. But you and I are angry. Anger is not indifference. I blamed God because He took my family. But I couldn’t get revenge from God, so I turned my rage against other people. I wanted revenge. Someone must pay.”“You’re wrong.” Helen said, wanting desperately to believe that he was. “I told you, I no longer believe in God.”“Then why are you so angry with Him?” His eyes were so sorrowful that Helen had to look away. She was unable to reply. “You blame me and my country for your losses Miss Kimball. And I blame you and your country. But you and I are people, not countries. Did you kill my wife? My child? Would you put a gun to their heads and shoot them, or take away all of their food and watch them die? No, of course not. Neither would I kill someone you loved if I met him face to face. Wars come from bitterness and hatred. They are started by nations without face. But wars end when the hatred ends in the hearts of people like you and me. That is why I ask you to please forgive me.

~ Lynn Austin

Parenting is a giant responsibility forever, so we need to learn how to drop the guilt and go easy on ourselves when we mess up.

~ Rachael Bermingham

He was not thinking that the Christian law which he had wanted to follow all his life prescribed that he forgive and love his enemies, but the joyful feeling of love and forgiveness of his enemies filled his soul.

~ Leo Tolstoy

Baggage is a funny thing. The more you have of it, the heavier it becomes and the longer it takes to reach your destination in life.

~ Chloe Maxwell

Everyone believes in sin, the people who charge their peers with political incorrectness and the people who regard political correctness as the bogey of a little mind. What everyone does not believe in, as nearly as I can tell, is forgiveness.

~ Garret Keizer

He was gone and did not have time to tell him what I had just now realized: that I forgave him, and that she forgave us, and that we had to forgive to survive in the labyrinth.

~ John Green

You have the power to take away someone's happiness by refusing to forgive. That someone is you.

~ Alan Cohen

Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.' Not only do the followers of Jesus renounce their rights, they renounce their own righteousness too. They get no praise for their achievements or sacrifices. They cannot have righteousness except by hungering and thirsting for it (this applies equally to their own righteousness and to the righteousness of God on Earth), always they look forward to the future righteousness of God, but they cannot establish it for themselves. Those who follow Jesus grow hungry and thirsty on the way.

~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The best revenge is kind forgiveness.

~ Debasish Mridha

Don't let hard lessons harden your heart.

~ Carlos A. Rodriguez

My mother is a certainty. I can count on the watercolour pain in her voice when she calls to say she hasn't heard from me in months. The precarious laughter as she comes from the kitchen, when I finally do appear on her doorstep, the laughter that says I might be a chickadee that's alighted unexpectedly on her thumb.

~ Trevor Cole

My mother may no longer be (if she ever was) a mast to which I can rope myself. But I fear the loss of Lesley. Without her observance, and her sturdy presence, I would feel windblown.

~ Trevor Cole

Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

~ Alfred

Selfishness must always be forgiven you know, because there is no hope of a cure.

~ Jane Austen

The Gospel offers forgiveness for the past, new life for the present, and hope for the future.

~ John Sentamu

Satan tries to counterfeit the work of God, and by doing this, he may deceive many. To make us lose hope, feel miserable like himself, and believe that we are beyond forgiveness, Satan might even misuse words from the scriptures that emphasize the justice of God in order to imply that there is no mercy.

~ Dieter F. Uchtdorf

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

There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love.

~ Bryant H. Mcgill

Darkness cannot drive out darkness only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate only love can do that.

~ Martin Luther King

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

Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.

~ Peter Ustinov

There would be no need for love if perfection were possible. Love arises from our imperfection, from our being different and always in need of the forgiveness, encouragement and that missing half of ourselves that we are searching for, as the Greek myth tells us, in order to complete ourselves.

~ Eugene Kennedy

Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: love, prayer, and forgiveness.

~ H. Jackson Brown

Thank you, God, for this good life and forgive us if we do not love it enough.

~ Garrison Keillor

Love in the real world means saying you're sorry 10 times a day.

~ Kathie Lee Gifford

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.

~ Dalai Lama

It's so important in marriage to let the little things go and let the pride go. Forgiveness is so important, and communication. Don't major on the minors.

~ Kimberly Schlapman

For the millions of Americans, like my family, who believe that there is a creator God who can be known personally, Christmas is a celebration of Jesus' offer of love and forgiveness for all people.

~ James Lankford

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

It seems to me like Mother Nature's mercy and forgiveness have run dry, as we ceaselessly abuse her and take her for granted in order for us to continue our addiction to using fossil fuels. I've gotta say, I don't blame her. Not one bit.

~ Gloria Reuben

When I am able to resist the temptation to judge others, I can see them as teachers of forgiveness in my life, reminding me that I can only have peace of mind when I forgive rather than judge.

~ Gerald Jampolsky

I read everything, but generally more fact than fiction - especially autobiographies and biographies. I've read 'Long Walk to Freedom' by Nelson Mandela at least twice on holiday. Every time, I'm totally awed by his vision, strength and forgiveness. I feel honoured to have got to know him and his wonderful wife Graca over the years.

~ Richard Branson

In Christ we see a maturity of love that flowers in self-sacrifice and forgiveness; a maturity of power that never swerves from the ideal of service; a maturity of goodness that overcomes every temptation, and, of course, we see the ultimate victory of life over death itself.

~ Vincent Nichols

I pray for forgiveness. For help and guidance. To be a better person. For the health of my family. For the world to be a better place.

~ Tyson Fury

I learned a long time ago that some people would rather die than forgive. It's a strange truth, but forgiveness is a painful and difficult process. It's not something that happens overnight. It's an evolution of the heart.

~ Sue Monk Kidd

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