Top 275 Forgiveness Quotes

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.
Sue Monk Kidd
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
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 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
Forgive, forget. Bear with the faults of others as you would have them bear with yours.
Phillips Brooks
I was probably about 22 years old when I recommitted myself to get off the fence and go all in and get serious about my faith. That’s really when I experienced God’s love and His forgiveness and His true grace.
Mike Fisher
Eid is here! On the first day, it is a custom for all Malaysian Muslims to ask for forgiveness from our parents. We kiss their hands and wish them ‘Selamat Hari Raya’ or ‘Eid Mubarak.’ ‘Maaf Zahir dan Batin’ means ‘to apologize in spirit and actions.’
Yuna
I think forgiveness is overrated, personally, because some things people do are unforgivable.
Charlamagne tha God
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
A winner rebukes and forgives; a loser is too timid to rebuke and too petty to forgive.
Sydney J. Harris
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
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus assumes that asking for forgiveness would be a daily occurrence, as would praying that we might be delivered from evil and led not into temptation.
Kevin DeYoung
To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.
Lewis B. Smedes
Forgiveness is for yourself because it frees you. It lets you out of that prison you put yourself in.
Louise L. Hay
Children begin by loving their parents; after a time they judge them; rarely, if ever, do they forgive them.
Oscar Wilde
The themes in ‘Violet’ are universal: accepting yourself with all of your flaws, moving on, and the forgiveness and freedom that comes along with that.
Joshua Henry
I am a minister and I preach forgiveness all time.
Ted DiBiase Sr.
It’s far easier to forgive an enemy after you’ve got even with him.
Olin Miller
The ineffable joy of forgiving and being forgiven forms an ecstasy that might well arouse the envy of the gods.
Elbert Hubbard
New kinds of heroics need to be celebrated – like love, thoughtfulness, forgiveness, diplomacy – or we’re not going to get there.
Patty Jenkins
My parents are very good examples of Christians. They are big on forgiveness.
James Acaster
Historically, narratives of forgiveness were part of both the anti-slavery movement and the civil rights movement in America. ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin,’ for instance, was based loosely on the life of the Rev. Josiah Henson, who forgave his master that wanted to sell him and beat him after Henson begged him not to.
Anthea Butler
Man has two great spiritual needs. One is for forgiveness. The other is for goodness.
Billy Graham
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
Every effort should be made to help build the new democ

Every effort should be made to help build the new democratic nation with reconciliation and forgiveness, for the sake of Egypt and not for the benefit of a party or a group.
Ahmed Zewail
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
Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.
John F. Kennedy
Choosing forgiveness opens the door of your heart and makes way for a miracle in your life.
Victoria Osteen
Forgiveness is indifference. Forgiveness is impossible while love lasts.
Mary Boykin Chesnut
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
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
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
Without forgiveness, there’s no future.
Desmond Tutu
We cannot serve the Lord if we don’t have a heart of forgiveness.
Monty Williams
God’s forgiveness is the only thing. And, well, I take full responsibility for the adultery. It was my fault and, you know, no matter what went on, the man has to take responsibility; and I do.
Jim Bakker
Sin and forgiveness and falling and getting back up and losing the pearl of great price in the couch cushions but then finding it again, and again, and again? Those are the stumbling steps to becoming Real, the only script that’s really worth following in this world or the one that’s coming.
Brennan Manning
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Genuine forgiveness does not deny anger but faces it head-on.
Alice Miller
I believe forgiveness is possible for everybody, for everything, but I’m a Buddhist.
Alan Ball
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
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
I see the good in people, and I believe in forgiveness.
Karrueche Tran
It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody.
Maya Angelou
The FREED Vets Act will make student debt forgiveness for eligible disabled veterans automatic, both now and in the future.
Conor Lamb
Beware of the man who does not return your blow: he neither forgives you nor allows you to forgive yourself.
George Bernard Shaw
It’s only through Christ that we can take full advantage of God’s mercy and forgiveness through repentance in Jesus’ name.
Monica Johnson
I can’t turn the clock back but I can seek the forgiveness of those I’ve wronged.
Richard Coles
So many people ask, ‘How could you forgive your mother for the way you were raised?’ It’s really not forgiveness, in my opinion. It’s acceptance. She’s never going to be the sort of mother who wants to take care of me.
Jeannette Walls
There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness.
Josh Billings
When people do, or say, things we don’t believe in, forgiveness can feel disgusting. But when you try to think of someone who isn’t worthy of it, it’s hard to find an example.
Taylor Goldsmith
The first step in forgiveness is the willingness to forgive.
Marianne Williamson
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
Forgiveness is a spiritual practice and biblical mandate from the New Testament that many American Christians engage in as a part of their faith.
Anthea Butler
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
Forgiveness, in some cases, is a flipping miracle in the sense that you’re fighting, and suddenly something happens. It’s a kind of grace. Whether you believe in God or not, something happens, and it’s transformative.
Ann Dowd
The forgiveness that comes of patient interpretation se

The forgiveness that comes of patient interpretation seems impossible when those nearest to your heart are threatened.
Giles Foden
The things the writers have me doing on ‘Suburgatory’ are insane. I think they think it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
Cheryl Hines
It is always the case that when the Christian looks back, he is looking at the forgiveness of sins.
Karl Barth
Sweet mercy is nobility’s true badge.
William Shakespeare
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
Forgiveness provides hope, joy, and a bright future that nothing else can.
Paul J. Meyer
I’ve been interested in the idea of forgiveness and the necessity of it. I think of it as the most critical piece of any relationship, whether that be business, or romantic, or familial. We fail each other. We make mistakes. If we contract to go on after those mistakes, forgiveness is involved. Forgiveness is required.
Bill Clegg
Christians – whether as a priest, a nun, a minister, whatever – have just been stereotyped to death. You try to be a model of kindness and love and forgiveness to all those around you, because you have received kindness and love and forgiveness from God through Christ. That’s what Christianity is.
Patricia Heaton
Knowing that you are completely forgiven destroys the power of sin in your life.
Joseph Prince
In 2006, 2 years ago, I made a very serious mistake. A mistake that I am responsible for and no one else. In 2006, I told Elizabeth about the mistake, asked her for her forgiveness, asked God for his forgiveness.
John Edwards