96 quotes about Forgiveness

Whoever approaches Me walking, I will come to him running; and he who meets Me with sins equivalent to the whole world, I will greet him with forgiveness equal to it.

Al-massabaih, Mishkat

In contrast to revenge, which is the natural, automatic reaction to transgression and which, because of the irreversibility of the action process can be expected and even calculated, the act of forgiving can never be predicted; it is the only reaction that acts in an unexpected way and thus retains, though being a reaction, something of the original character of action.

Arendt, Hannah

Thou must be emptied of that wherewith thou art full, that thou mayest be filled with that whereof thou art empty.

Augustine, St.

Forgiveness is the remission of sins. For it is by this that what has been lost, and was found, is saved from being lost again.

Augustine, St.

You should pardon many things in others, nothing in yourself.

Auson

Forgive many things in others; nothing in yourself.

Ausonius, Decimus Magnus

This is certain, that a man that studieth revenge keeps his wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well.

Bacon, Francis

They who forgive most shall be most forgiven.

Bailey, Josiah

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 men, charity.

Balfour, Arthur James

I never forgive, but I always forget.

Balfour, Arthur James

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.

Balzac, Honore De

Every man should keep a fair-sized cemetery in which to bury the faults of his friends.

Beecher, Henry Ward

Giving 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 men.

Beecher, Henry Ward

God pardons like a mother, who kisses the offense into everlasting forgiveness.

Beecher, Henry Ward

I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a canceled note -- torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one.

Beecher, Henry Ward

I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I cannot forgive.

Beecher, Henry Ward

My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity. [Job 14:17]

Bible

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. [Ephesians 1:7]

Bible

And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. [Ephesians 4:32]

Bible

To apologize is to lay the foundation for a future offense.

Bierce, Ambrose

There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness.

Billings, Josh

Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.

Boese, Paul

Forgive those who have hurt you.

Brown, Les

Forgive yourself for your faults and your mistakes and move on.

Brown, Les

We all like to forgive, and love best not those who offend us least, nor who have done most for us, but those who make it most easy for us to forgive them.

Butler, Samuel

Absolute virtue is impossible and the republic of forgiveness leads, with implacable logic, to the republic of the guillotine.

Camus, Albert

One can't relive one's life. Forgiveness is not what's difficult; one's always too ready to forgive. And it does no good, that's obvious.

Celine, Louis-Ferdinand

Never does the human soul appear so strong and noble as when it forgoes revenge and dares to forgive an injury.

Chapin, Edwin Hubbel

Little, vicious minds abound with anger and revenge, and are incapable of feeling the pleasure of forgiving their enemies.

Chesterfield, Lord

Wrongs are often forgiven, but contempt never is. Our pride remembers it forever. It implies a discovery of weakness, which we are more careful to conceal than a crime. Many a man will confess his crimes to a friend; but I never knew a man that would tell his silly weaknesses to his most intimate one.

Chesterfield, Lord

Love thy neighbor as thyself: Do not to others what thou wouldn't not wish be done to thyself: Forgive injuries. Forgive thy enemy, be reconciled to him, give him assistance, invoke God in his behalf.

Confucius

Those who easily forgive invite offenses.

Corneille, Pierre

It is easier to forgive an enemy than a friend.

Deluzy, Madame Dorothe

When you are happy you can forgive a great deal.

Diana, Princess of Wales

Once a woman has forgiven her man, she must not reheat his sins for breakfast.

Dietrich, Marlene

What is forgiven is usually well remembered.

Dudek, Louis

Right actions in the future are the best apologies for bad actions in the past.

Edwards, Tryon

Would not love see returning penitence afar off, and fall on its neck and kiss it?

Eliot, George

Forgive, son; men are men; they needs must err.

Euripides

A man must learn to forgive himself.

Ficke, Arthur Davison

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.

Francis of Assisi, St.

Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.

Gandhi, Indira

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

Gandhi, Mahatma

If the other person injures you, you may forget the injury; but if you injure him you will always remember.

Gibran, Kahlil

If a good person does you wrong, act as though you had not noticed it. They will make note of this and not remain in your debt long.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

To forgive oneself? No, that doesn't work: we have to be forgiven. But we can only believe this is possible if we ourselves can forgive.

Hammarskjold, Dag

A winner rebukes and forgives; a loser is too timid to rebuke and too petty to forgive

Harris, Sidney J.

Of course God will forgive me; that's His job.

Heine, Heinrich

God will forgive me, that's his business.

Heine, Heinrich

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.

Herbert, George

Forgive you? -- Oh, of course, dear, a dozen times a week! We women were created forgiveness but to speak.

Higginson, Ella

A woman who can't forgive should never have more than a nodding acquaintance with a man.

Howe, Edgar Watson

Nobody ever forgets where he buried the hatchet.

Hubbard, Kin

The condition of being forgiven is self-abandonment. The proud man prefers self-reproach, however painful --because the reproached self isn't abandoned; it remains intact.

Huxley, Aldous

If I owe Smith ten dollars and God forgives me, that doesn't pay Smith.

Ingersoll, Robert Green

I can have peace of mind only when I forgive rather than judge.

Jampolsky, Gerald G.

We easily pardon an offense we had part in.

Juoy

We pardon to the extent that we love.

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De

He who has not forgiven an enemy has never yet tasted one of the most sublime enjoyments of life.

Lauter

Forgive thyself little, and others much.

Leighton, Robert

If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we would find in each person's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth

Forgiveness is God's command.

Luther, Martin

The best thing about giving of ourselves is that what we get is always better than what we give. The reaction is greater than the action.

Marden, Orison Swett

Forgiveness is the oil of relationships.

Mcdowell, Josh

The world can forgive practically anything except people who mind their own business.

Mitchell, Margaret

And if your friend does evil to you, say to him, I forgive you for what you did to me, but how can I forgive you for what you did to yourself?

Nietzsche, Friedrich

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.

Plato

To err is human, to forgive is divine.

Pope, Alexander

How shall I lose the sin, yet keep the sense, and love the offender, yet detest the offence?

Pope, Alexander

Forgive and forget.

Proverb

Never repeat old grievances.

Proverb

A reconciled friend is a double enemy.

Proverb

Those that do you a very ill deed will never forgive you.

Proverb

If I die, I forgive you. If I live we shall see.

Proverb, Spanish

A wise man will make haste to forgive, because he knows the full value of time and will not suffer it to pass away in unnecessary pain.

Rambler

Humanity is never so beautiful as when praying for forgiveness, or else forgiving another.

Richter, Jean Paul

The secret of forgiving everything is to understand nothing.

Shaw, George Bernard

Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature!

Shaw, George Bernard

It is a very delicate job to forgive a man, without lowering him in his own estimation, and yours too.

Shaw, Henry Wheeler

Their errors have been weighed and found to have been dust in the balance; if their sins were as scarlet, they are now white as snow: they have been washed in the blood of the mediator and the redeemer, Time.

Shelley, Percy Bysshe

There is no sense in crying over spilt milk. Why bewail what is done and cannot be recalled?

Sophocles

Only the brave know how to forgive; it is the most refined and generous pitch of virtue human nature can arrive at.

Sterne, Laurence

He who forgiveth, and is reconciled unto his enemy, shall receive his reward from God; for he loveth not the unjust doers.

Sura, Koran

The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naïve forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.

Szasz, Thomas

Forgive! How many will say, forgive, and find a sort of absolution in the sound to hate a little longer!

Tennyson, Lord Alfred

To be able to bear provocation is an argument of great reason, and to forgive it of a great mind.

Tillotson, John

Forget and forgive. This is not difficult when properly understood. It means forget inconvenient duties, then forgive yourself for forgetting. By rigid practice and stern determination, it comes easy.

Twain, Mark

Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.

Twain, Mark

Forgotten is forgiven.

Unknown, Source

He who forgives ends the quarrel

Unknown, Source

It is easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

Unknown, Source

Forgiveness is the key to happiness.

Unknown, Source

Forgiveness is the scent that the rose leaves on the heel that crushes it

Unknown, Source

Always forgive your enemies -- nothing annoys them so much.

Wilde, Oscar

God has a big eraser.

Zeoli, Billy

Many have been ruined by their fortunes, and many have escaped ruin by the want of fortune. To obtain it the great have become little, and the little great.

Zimmermann, Johann Georg