A fool-proof method for sculpting an elephant: first, get a huge block of marble; then you chip away everything that doesn’t look like an elephant.
—Unknown
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.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
The lesson which life repeats and constantly enforces is ‘look under foot.’ You are always nearer the divine and the true sources of your power than you think. The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are. Do not despise your own place and hour. Every place is under the stars, every place is the center of the world.
—John Burroughs (1837–1921) American Naturalist, Writer
Who forgives wins.
—African Proverb
I have looked on a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times. God recognizes I will do this and forgives me.
—Jimmy Carter (b.1924) American Head of State, Military Leader
Forgiveness is better than bitterness because not only does it taste sweeter, but it doesn’t make you sick to your stomach!
—Guy Finley
To be angry about trifles is mean and childish; to rage and be furious is brutish; and to maintain perpetual wrath is akin to the practice and temper of devils; but to prevent and suppress rising resentment is wise and glorious, is manly and divine.
—Isaac Watts (1674–1748) English Hymn writer
It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.
—William Blake (1757–1827) English Poet, Painter, Printmaker
I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.
—Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) South African Political leader
We read that we ought to forgive our enemies; but we do not read that we ought to forgive our friends.
—Cosimo de’ Medici (1389–1464) Florentine Statesman, Banker
O Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace!
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is discord, harmony.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sorrow, joy.
Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not
so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
—Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) Italian Monk, Founder of the Franciscan Order
Forgiveness is the key to happiness.
—Unknown
The cut worm forgives the plow.
—William Blake (1757–1827) English Poet, Painter, Printmaker
A woman who can’t forgive should never have more than a nodding acquaintance with a man.
—E. W. Howe (1853–1937) American Novelist, Editor
Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
You are goodness and mercy and compassion and understanding. You are peace and joy and light. You are forgiveness and patience, strength and courage, a helper in time of need, a comforter in time of sorrow, a healer in time of injury, a teacher in times of confusion. You are the deepest wisdom and the highest truth; the greatest peace and the grandest love. You are these things. And in moments of your life you have known yourself to be these things. Choose now to know yourself as these things always.
—Neale Donald Walsch (b.1943) American Spiritual Writer
A man can lose sight of everything else when he’s bent on revenge, and it ain’t worth it.
—Louis L’Amour (1908–88) American Novelist, Short-story Writer
Forgiveness is all-powerful. Forgiveness heals all ills.
—Catherine Ponder (b.1927) American Clergywoman
If you offend, ask for pardon; if offended, forgive.
—African Proverb
Women will forgive anything.
Otherwise, the race would have died out long ago.
—Robert A. Heinlein (1907–88) American Science Fiction Writer
A sin confessed is half forgiven.
—French Proverb
It is easier to forgive an enemy than a friend.
—Dorothee Luzy Dotinville (1747–1830) French Dancer, Actress
A man who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.
—Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) South African Political leader
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.
—Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann (1728–1795) Swiss Philosophical Writer, Naturalist, Physician
We cannot love unless we have accepted forgiveness, and the deeper our experience of forgiveness is, the greater is our love.
—Paul Tillich (1886–1965) American Lutheran Theologian, Philosopher
Grief and tragedy and hatred are only for a time. Goodness, remembrance and love have no end, and the Lord of life holds all who die and all who mourn.
—George W. Bush (b.1946) American Head of State, Businessperson
Forgiveness is not an occasional act: it is an attitude.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
How unhappy is he who cannot forgive himself.
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
When you tame and domesticate the divine it loses its danger and it’s power to forgive you, make you happy, or its power to challenge you, and call you towards new growth.
—John O’Donohue qqq
Have compassion for all beings, rich and poor alike; each has their suffering. Some suffer too much, others too little.
—Buddhist Teaching
Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.
—Paul Boese
A reconciled friend is a double enemy.
—Common Proverb
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 (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
Resentments are burdens we don’t need to carry.
—Unknown
Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hate. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness.
—William Arthur Ward (1921–94) American Author
Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature!
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
God may forgive your sins, but your nervous system won’t.
—Alfred Korzybski (1879–1950) Polish-American Scientist, Philosopher of Language
I can have peace of mind only when I forgive rather than judge.
—Gerald Jampolsky (b.1925) American Psychiatrist
Know all and you will pardon all.
—Thomas a Kempis (1379–1471) German Religious Priest, Writer
Forgive many things in others; nothing in yourself.
—Ausonius (c.309–392 CE) Latin Poet, Rhetorician
It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, a former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Ravensbruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there
—Corrie Ten Boom (1892–1983) Dutch Jewish Humanist
To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.
—Robert Muller (1923–2010) United Nations Civil Servant
Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.
—Buddhist Teaching
To have the power to forgive,
Is empire and prerogative,
And ’tis in crowns a nobler gem,
To grant a pardon than condemn.
—Samuel Butler
God will forgive me the foolish remarks I have made about Him just as I will forgive my opponents the foolish things they have written about me, even though they are spiritually as inferior to me as Ito thee, O God.
—Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) German Poet, Writer
Who from crimes would pardoned be, in mercy should set others free.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
The best part of repentance is a little sinning.
—Arabic Proverb
In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist