Top 100+ Exceptional Forgiveness Quotes – Inspirational Words of Wisdom. What is forgiveness? An emotion? A coping mechanism? An element of deepest faith? A way for the heart and soul to combat the type of hate, anger, rage and a thirst for revenge that could ultimately consume a person? All of those and more? Mike Barnicle
#1. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Martin Luther King, Jr.
#2. There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love. Bryant H. McGill
#3. Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: love, prayer, and forgiveness. H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
#4. When you forgive, you in no way change the past – but you sure do change the future. Bernard Meltzer
#5. Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit. Peter Ustinov
#6. The lesson is that you can still make mistakes and be forgiven. Robert Downey, Jr.
#7. I cannot stand that whole game of confession, that is: Here I have sinned, now I’m confessing my sins, and describing my path of sin and then in the act of confession I beg for your forgiveness and redemption. Aleksandar Hemon
#8. I invite everyone to chose forgiveness rather than division, teamwork over personal ambition. Jean-Francois Cope
#9. What is forgiven is usually well remembered. Louis Dudek
#10. Forgive many things in others; nothing in yourself. Ausonius
#11. It’s toughest to forgive ourselves. So it’s probably best to start with other people. It’s almost like peeling an onion. Layer by layer, forgiving others, you really do get to the point where you can forgive yourself. Patty Duke
#12. You can’t forgive without loving. And I don’t mean sentimentality. I don’t mean mush. I mean having enough courage to stand up and say, ‘I forgive. I’m finished with it.’ Maya Angelou
#13. Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it. Mark Twain
#14. Forgiveness is important in families, especially when there are so many secrets that need to be healed – for the most part, every family’s got them. Tyler Perry
#15. 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
#16. Many people have trouble with forgiveness because they have been taught it is a singular act to be completed in one sitting. That is not so. Forgiveness has many layers, many seasons. Clarissa Pinkola Estes
#17. Nothing inspires forgiveness quite like revenge. Scott Adams
#18. 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
#19. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. Mahatma Gandhi
#20. I think everything worked out the way it was supposed to. Mark’s happier. I’m sober. There are still phone calls to be made, people I need to say something to. But everyone from Creed who I’ve offended or hurt, I ask for their forgiveness. Scott Stapp
#21. Here is the amazing thing about Easter; the Resurrection Sunday for Christians is this, that Christ in the dying moments on the cross gives us the greatest illustration of forgiveness possible. T. D. Jakes
#22. To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you. Lewis B. Smedes
#23. Love in the real world means saying you’re sorry 10 times a day. Kathie Lee Gifford
#24. Always forgive your enemies – nothing annoys them so much. Oscar Wilde
#25. I think the first step is to understand that forgiveness does not exonerate the perpetrator. Forgiveness liberates the victim. It’s a gift you give yourself. T. D. Jakes
#26. Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them. Bruce Lee
#27. In the evening of life we shall be judged on love, and not one of us is going to come off very well, and were it not for my absolute faith in the loving forgiveness of my Lord I could not call on him to come. Madeleine L’Engle
#28. 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
#29. 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
#30. The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone. Harriet Beecher Stowe
#31. One forgives to the degree that one loves. Francois de La Rochefoucauld
#32. Once people are not here physically, the spiritual remains. We still connect, we can communicate, we can give and receive love and forgiveness. There is love after someone dies. Sandra Cisneros
#33. Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom. Hannah Arendt
#34. 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. Louis-Ferdinand Celine
#35. I did once seriously think of embracing the Christian faith. The gentle figure of Christ, so full of forgiveness that he taught his followers not to retaliate when abused or struck, but to turn the other cheek – I thought it was a beautiful example of the perfect man. Mahatma Gandhi
#36. Sweet mercy is nobility’s true badge. William Shakespeare
#37. Things happen for a reason, and the only thing you can do is at night time get on your knees and ask God for forgiveness for anything that you did that you didn’t feel was right. Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
#38. If only I wasn’t an atheist, I could get away with anything. You’d just ask for forgiveness and then you’d be forgiven. It sounds much better than having to live with guilt.
#39. Forgive, forget. Bear with the faults of others as you would have them bear with yours. Phillips Brooks
#40. You’ve just got to have a sense of respect for the person you have children with. Anger doesn’t help anybody. Ultimately you have to say forgiveness is important, and honoring what you had together is important. But it’s easy to say and harder to do. Nicole Kidman
#41. There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness. Josh Billings
#42. 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
Top Forgiveness Quotes
#43. Forgiveness for one’s self is the only way we can keep going through life and give ourselves the best chance at being the best people we can be. Yolanda Hadid
#44. Holding on to anger, resentment and hurt only gives you tense muscles, a headache and a sore jaw from clenching your teeth. Forgiveness gives you back the laughter and the lightness in your life. Joan Lunden
#45. 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. Saint Augustine
#46. The assurance of Heaven is never given to the person. And that’s why at the core of the Christian faith is the grace of God. If there’s one word I would grab from all of that, it’s forgiveness – that you can be forgiven. I can be forgiven, and it is of the grace of God. But once you understand that, I think the ramifications are worldwide. Ravi Zacharias
#47. Forgive me my nonsense, as I also forgive the nonsense of those that think they talk sense. Robert Frost
#48. You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well. Lewis B. Smedes
#49. Selfishness must always be forgiven you know, because there is no hope of a cure. Jane Austen
#50. One of the secrets of a long and fruitful life is to forgive everybody everything everynight before you go to bed. Bernard Baruch
#51. Forgiveness is not to give the other person peace. Forgiveness is for you. Take that opportunity. Mackenzie Phillips
#52. Most of us need time to work through pain and loss. We can find all manner of reasons for postponing forgiveness. One of these reasons is waiting for the wrongdoers to repent before we forgive them. Yet such a delay causes us to forfeit the peace and happiness that could be ours. James E. Faust
#53. Acceptance and tolerance and forgiveness, those are life-altering lessons. Jessica Lange
#54. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. Corrie Ten Boom
#55. Forgiveness is for yourself because it frees you. It lets you out of that prison you put yourself in. Louise L. Hay
#56. It is never too late to strengthen the foundation of faith. There is always time. With faith in the Savior, you can repent and plead for forgiveness. There is someone you can forgive. There is someone you can thank. There is someone you can serve and lift. You can do it wherever you are and however alone and deserted you may feel. Henry B. Eyring
#57. I did a lot of things that I regretted and I certainly paid for my mistakes. You have to go and ask for forgiveness and it wasn’t until I really started doing good and doing right, by other people as well as myself, that I really started to feel that guilt go away. So I don’t have a problem going to sleep at night. Mark Wahlberg
#58. If you’re truthful with yourself and others, forgiveness clears the path to righteousness, to grace. All we want is grace. We all want that light in our lives. And we can only get that when we go deep into truth. Corbin Bernsen
#59. It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody. Maya Angelou
#60. I believe in the redemptive need to admit mistakes, express regret, and ask for forgiveness. Ana Navarro
#61. By their innocence and goodness, by their boundless capacity for forgiveness, and by the sheer power of their faith and hope, children redeem their parents, bringing out their best selves. Cass Sunstein
#62. People will constantly bring up my past and throw it in my face, but the Creator of the Universe doesn’t. If you ask forgiveness from Him, then it’s gone forever. The past is never brought up to shame you or degrade you. Shawn Michaels
#63. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. Francis of Assisi
#64. I find forgiveness to be really healthy. Ben Affleck
#65. I love discussing social issues, but I’m not interested in scare tactics. I believe there is a way to bring awareness in tandem with forgiveness and love. Brie Larson
#66. 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
#67. Forgiveness is the final form of love. Reinhold Niebuhr
#68. It is always the case that when the Christian looks back, he is looking at the forgiveness of sins. Karl Barth
#69. The schools would fail through their silence, the Church through its forgiveness, and the home through the denial and silence of the parents. The new generation has to hear what the older generation refuses to tell it. Simon Wiesenthal
#70. 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
#71. Forgiveness is a way of opening up the doors again and moving forward, whether it’s a personal life or a national life. Hillary Clinton
#72. Since I began my practice of Forgiveness Therapy, it’s now instinctual for me to choose to eat like I love myself – instead of eating like I wanted to punish myself. Plus I’ve not only lost weight, I’ve lost the anger and anxiety I was feeling, and so I feel happier and calmer within. Karen Salmansohn
#73. Let us not listen to those who think we ought to be angry with our enemies, and who believe this to be great and manly. Nothing is so praiseworthy, nothing so clearly shows a great and noble soul, as clemency and readiness to forgive. Marcus Tullius Cicero
#74. The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world. Marianne Williamson
#75. Hate is self-destructive. If you hate somebody, you’re not hurting the person you hate. You’re hurting yourself. And that’s a healing. Actually, it’s a real healing, forgiveness. Louis Zamperini
#76. Forgiveness is not a one-time thing that happened the day you received Christ. It is an everyday thing, for the rest of your life. Joyce Meyer
#77. The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone. Harriet Beecher Stowe
#78. No person is perfect. I haven’t, thank God, had any infidelity issues. But you can’t say what you won’t ever do. And you can’t say that you won’t have forgiveness in your heart if there were to be an issue like that. Tasha Smith
#79. If we can find forgiveness in our hearts for those who have caused us hurt and injury, we will rise to a higher level of self-esteem and well-being. James E. Faust
#80. Your heart has to be prepared ahead of time through faith and prayer and grace and mercy and love and forgiveness so you can keep your heart open in hell, when hell happens. Richard Rohr
#81. How does one know if she has forgiven? You tend to feel sorrow over the circumstance instead of rage, you tend to feel sorry for the person rather than angry with him. You tend to have nothing left to say about it all. Clarissa Pinkola Estes
#82. The people who did you wrong or who didn’t quite know how to show up, you forgive them. And forgiving them allows you to forgive yourself too. Jane Fonda
#83. 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 misconceptions. Gerald Jampolsky
#84. Humanity is never so beautiful as when praying for forgiveness, or else forgiving another. Jean Paul
#85. The gospel of Jesus Christ encompasses much more than avoiding, overcoming, and being cleansed from sin and the bad influences in our lives; it also essentially entails doing good, being good, and becoming better. Repenting of our sins and seeking forgiveness are spiritually necessary, and we must always do so. David A. Bednar
#86. The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness. Honore de Balzac
#87. The power of forgiveness is huge; it is really big, and it can save this world. Immaculee Ilibagiza
#88. I like second chances. I’ve given people second chances. You have fall-outs with friends, and forgiveness is a great thing to have. It’s not easy to forgive. I definitely don’t forget, but I do forgive. Odette Annable
#89. A winner rebukes and forgives; a loser is too timid to rebuke and too petty to forgive. Sydney J. Harris
#90. And as I ask for your forgiveness, I also ask for your support to keep all things in perspective and keep all things in proportion. The good of nine years versus the bad. John Rowland
#91. As forces of hate in this country and worldwide try to pull Muslims and Christians apart, we are in desperate need of a unifying force that can bridge the widening gap of interfaith misunderstanding and mistrust. That force could be the message of love, peace, and forgiveness taught by Jesus and accepted by followers of both faiths. Ibrahim Hooper
#92. It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend. William Blake
#93. To me, forgiveness is the cornerstone of healing. Sylvia Fraser
#94. Through faith in the Lord Jesus alone can we obtain forgiveness of our sins, and be at peace with God; but, believing in Jesus, we become, through this very faith, the children of God; have God as our Father, and may come to Him for all the temporal and spiritual blessings which we need. George Muller
#95. I clearly have done things that were wrong. I’ve clearly had to seek God’s forgiveness. Newt Gingrich
#96. I have to ask Allah’s forgiveness and not get angry, because they come to me out of love, and it’s not fitting that I should turn to them in hatred. Abdul Qadeer Khan
#97. Yes, one can repent of moral transgression. The miracle of forgiveness is real, and true repentance is accepted of the Lord. Ezra Taft Benson
#98. Forgiveness is not a feeling – it’s a decision we make because we want to do what’s right before God. It’s a quality decision that won’t be easy and it may take time to get through the process, depending on the severity of the offense. Joyce Meyer
#99. Forgiveness is the economy of the heart… forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits. Hannah More
#100. I am making amends and seeking forgiveness. My only hope is that some good can come out of my situation. Jayson Blair
#101. Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning. Desmond Tutu
#102. The full benefit of forgiveness of sin through the Savior’s Atonement begins with repentance and baptism and then expands upon receiving the Holy Ghost. James E. Faust
#103. 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
#104. We cannot go alone to God. We belong to His Mystical Body, the Church; by even our most secret sins, if they be grievous, we have injured the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ and must ask forgiveness of His Mystical Body, too. Vincent McNabb
#105. Apology is often the first step in correcting a wrong. Having moved for a position of saying ‘I don’t need forgiveness,’ Mr. Trump is now taking a second look at past behaviors, things that he’s said and done that he regrets. While he is not asking for forgiveness for being human, he is admitting that he’s made mistakes and humbly making apologies. Alveda King
#106. Forgive yourself for your faults and your mistakes and move on. Les Brown
#107. I realized that it’s all really one, that John Lennon was correct. We utilize the music to bring down the walls of Berlin, to bring up the force of compassion and forgiveness and kindness between Palestines, Hebrews. Bring down the walls here in San Diego, Tijuana, Cuba. Carlos Santana
#108. Many times, the decisions we make affect and hurt your closest friends and family the most. I have a lot of regrets in that regard. But God has forgiven me, which I am very thankful for. It has enabled me to forgive myself and move forward one day at a time. Lex Luger
#109. You can’t legislate into existence an act of forgiveness and a true confession; those are mysteries of the human heart, and they occur between one individual and another individual, not a panel of judges sitting asking questions, trying to test your truth. Athol Fugard
#110. I can have peace of mind only when I forgive rather than judge. Gerald JampolskyRELATED TOPICS:FORGIVENESS QUOTESHAPPINESSLIFE QUOTESQUOTES ON FORGIVENESSSUCCESS
