We
specifically raised agrarian issues to encourage
both conflicting parties to find something in
common. Our strategy worked. The people eventually
agreed to put aside their religious differences
and sit together to reach agreements that could
sustain reconciliation.
-- Dewi Rana Amir
*
"We
cannot change the past, but we can change our
attitude toward it. Uproot guilt and plant forgiveness.
Tear out arrogance and seed humility. Exchange
love for hate --- thereby, making the present
comfortable and the future promising."
-- Maya Angelou
*
Forgiveness
is the key to action and freedom.
-- Hannah Arendt
Our
anger and annoyance are more detrimental to us than
the things themselves which anger or annoy us.
--Marcus Aurelius
Be
angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun
go down on your anger.
-- Henry Ward
Beecher
*
“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
Whosoever
shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the
other also.
-- The Bible, Matthew 5:39
There
is no revenge so complete as forgiveness.
-- Josh Billings
Life
appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity
or registering wrongs.
-- Charlotte Bronte
*
"Forgiving
is one of the most difficult things for a human
being to do, but I think it means looking at some
slight you feel, putting yourself in the position
of the other person, and wiping away any sort
of resentment and antagonism you feel toward them.
Then let that other person know that everything
is perfectly friendly and normal between you."
~ Jimmy Carter
“One
of the most basic principles for making and keeping
peace within and between nations. . . is that
in political, military, moral, and spiritual confrontations,
there should be an honest attempt at the reconciliation
of differences before resorting to combat”
~ Jimmy
Carter
Anger
makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow
beyond what you were.
-- Cherie Carter-Scott
Forgo
your anger for a moment and save yourself a hundred
days of trouble.
-- Chinese proverb
"The
man who opts for revenge should dig two graves."
-- Chinese proverb
The
price of hating other human beings is loving oneself
less.
-- Elderidge Cleaver
"I
think forgiveness is an aspect of our humanity. I think
a lot of as are brought up to believe that if we don't
somehow forgive, whatever it is that's ailing, troubling,
angering, enraging or shaming us, or getting us in any
way worked up, is going to live longer without forgiveness,
whether it's ourselves or others we're forgiving."
-- Robert Coles
When
anger rises, think of the consequences.
-- Confucius
*
People
can be more forgiving than you can imagine. But
you have to forgive yourself. Let go of what's
bitter and move on
-- Bill Cosby
*
We
plant seeds that will flower as results in our lives,
so best to remove the weeds of anger, avarice, envy
and doubt, that peace and abundance may manifest
for all.
-- Dorothy Day
*
When
you are happy you can forgive a great deal.
-- Princess Diana
*
“teach
myself to see each of us
through the lens of forgiveness -- Ani
DiFranco
“teach myself to see each of us
through the lens of forgiveness
like we're stuck with each other (god forbid!)
teach myself to smile and stop and talk
to a whole other color kid
teach myself to be new in an instant
like the truth is accessible at any time
teach myself it's never really one or the other
there's a paradox in every paradigm. -- Ani
DiFranco
*
The
only way children can learn the habit of forgiveness
is by seeing us, their parents, forgive others
and forgive ourselves.
-- Naomi Drew
Peace
is not possible without forgiveness.
-- Naomi Drew
The
freedom to be at peace in our own skins - that’s
what forgiveness allows. We relinquish this freedom
when we hold onto anger and resentment. Enormous
amounts of energy are wasted when we hold back
our love, hold onto hate, and harbor acrimonious
feelings. The only remedy is letting go, and being
willing to forgive.
-- Naomi Drew
*
For
every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty
seconds of peace of mind.
-- Ralph
Waldo Emerson
Finish
each day and be done with it. You have done what
you could; some blunders and absurdities have
crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow
is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and
with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your
old nonsense
-- Ralph
Waldo Emerson
"Forgiving
is an act of mercy toward an offender. We are no longer
controlled by angry feelings toward this person."
-- Robert D. Enright
"Forgiveness
works directly on the emotion of anger (and related
constructs such as resentment, hostility, or hatred)
by diminishing its intensity or level within the mind
and heart."
-- Richard Fitzgibbons
Perpetrators
who receive the gift of forgiveness are given
a chance to change
-- Pumla
Gobodo-Madikizela
an
act of forgiveness sets the victim apart from the perpetrator,
who failed to act humanly towards the victim at the
time he committed his crime.
-- Pumla
Gobodo-Madikizela
For
perpetrators, when they apologize and experience remorse,
it gives them a chance to reclaim their own humanity.
Some rise to the moral challenge. Others of course don't
care, and they continue acting with contempt.
-- Pumla
Gobodo-Madikizela
*
"Before
we can forgive one another, we have to understand
one another." -- Emma
Goldman
Thanks to their hope for forgiveness, humans can
rise above the dark clouds that threaten their
horizon and seize the opportunity to see light
in their world.
-- M. Fethullah
Gülen
*
It
is impossible for people who have given their
heart to seeking forgiveness not to think of forgiving
others. Just as they desire to be forgiven, they
also desire to forgive.
-- M. Fethullah
Gülen
"To
forgive is to set yourself free, to acknowledge that
it does no good to hate. Hate really, really destroys
both the other person and yourself. That realization
is what I think taught me about forgiveness, and so
I try to live by it."
--Ruby Bridges Hall
*
''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.” -- Dag
Hammarskjöld
Forgiveness
is the answer to the child's dream of a miracle
by which what is broken is made whole again, what
is soiled is made clean again. -- Dag
Hammarskjöld
*
Our
capacity to make peace with another person and
with the world depends very much on our capacity
to make peace with ourselves.
-- Thich Nhat Hanh
The
practice of peace and reconciliation is one of
the most vital and artistic of human actions.”
-- Thich Nhat Hanh
To
reconcile conflicting parties, we must have the
ability to understand the suffering of both sides.
--
Thich Nhat Hanh
*
“As
long as you hate, there will be people to hate.”
-- George Harrison
"Forgiveness
does not equal forgetting. It is about healing the memory
of the harm, not erasing it."
-- Ken Hart
*
"Watch
our for each other. Love and forgive everybody.
It's a good life, enjoy it!"
-- Jim Henson
"Forgiveness
does not stand on its own. It is not "unilateral disarmament."
Rather it balances self-criticism with commitment to
nonviolent social change, which becomes a way of life
that does not offer easy answers to complex problems."
-- Karen Hessel
*
If
you haven't forgiven yourself something, how can
you forgive others?
--
Dolores Huerta
You
know you have forgiven someone when he or she has harmless
passage through your mind.
-- Rev. Karyl Huntley
*
"You’re
only human.
Let’s break free of this gravity of judgment
And fly high on the wings of forgiveness."
-- India.Arie
*
“You
dont have to hold on to the pain, to hold on to
the memory.”
-- Janet
Jackson
Forgiveness
is a gift you give to yourself. It is not something
you do FOR someone else.
-- Larry James
"Forgiveness
is an act of the imagination. It dares you to imagine
a better future, one that is based on the blessed possibility
that your hurt will not be the final word on the matter.
It challenges you to give up your destructive thoughts
about the situation and to believe in the possibility
of a better future. It builds confidence that you can
survive the pain and grow from it. "
-- Larry James
*
We
all have someone or something to forgive . . .
and when we learn how, we become free to increase
success in every area of our life.
-- Azim Khamisa
*
I
refuse to let what happened to me make me bitter.
-- Nicole Kidman
*
In
spite of the fact that the law of revenge solves
no social problems, men continue to follow its
disastrous leading. History is cluttered with
the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued
this self-defeating path." --
Martin Luther
King, Jr
"Forgiveness
is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude.”
--
Martin Luther
King, Jr
“He
who is devoid of the power to forgive, is devoid
of the power to love.” -- Martin
Luther King, Jr
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, Jr
"Forgiveness
is primarily for our own sake, so that we no longer
carry the burden of resentment. But to forgive does
not mean we will allow injustice again."
--Jack Kornfield
*
Real
freedom is creative, proactive, and will take me
into new territories. I am not free if my freedom
is predicated on reacting to my past. --
Kenny Loggins
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
My
dream is to live a good life and be loving, be
close to God and be a good human being and bring
peace to people.
-- Ziggy
Marley
Since
nothing can be forgiven for us that is not first forgiven
by and through us, there is only one species of forgiveness:
self-forgiveness.
-- Noel McInnis
"When
you forgive, you in no way change the past -- but you
sure do change the future."
-- Bernard Meltzer.
*
To
forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of
love. In return, you will receive untold peace
and happiness.
--
Robert Muller
"Forgiveness
offers the possibility of two types of peace: peace
of mind -- the potential healing of old emotional wounds,
and peace with others -- the possibility of new, more
gratifying relationships in the future."
-- Kenneth I. Pargament & Mark S. Rye
"When
a deep injury is done to us, we never recover until
we forgive."
-- Alan Paton
*
Force
may subdue, but love gains, and he that forgives
first wins the laurel.
-- William
Penn
Five
enemies of peace inhabit with us - avarice, ambition,
envy, anger, and pride; if these were to be banished,
we should infallibly enjoy perpetual peace.
-- Petrarch
When
you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to
that person or condition by an emotional link that is
stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to
dissolve that link and get free.
-- Catherine Ponder
One
pardons to the degree that one loves.
-- Francios De La Rochefoucauld
*
“When
will our consciences grow so tender that we
will act to prevent human misery rather than
avenge it?”
-- Eleanor
Roosevelt
Forgiveness
is one of the most important first steps to ending
conflicts in our families, our communities and
between nations.
-- Robert Alan Silverstein
Learning
to let things go and forgive isn't always easy,
but when we truly forgive, it helps foster better
health, better relationships, a deeper sense of
purpose and self worth and a feeling of connection
to others.
-- Robert
Alan Silverstein
*
I
want to rid my heart of envy, and cleanse my
soul of rage before I'm through.
-- Paul Simon
*
If
we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive.
-- Mother Teresa
"It
takes courage and commitment to act in a more forgiving
fashion. It is not at all a sign of weakness but a mark
of strength."
-- Carl Thorensen
Genuine
forgiveness is participation, reunion overcoming the
powers of estrangement. . . We cannot love unless we
have accepted forgiveness, and the deeper our experience
of forgiveness is, the greater is our love.
-- Paul Tillich
*
"Let
us forgive each other - only then will we live
in peace”
-- Leo Tolstoy
*
"...in
a very real sense, without forgiveness, there
is no future."
-- Desmond Tutu
"Forgiveness
is taking seriously the awfulness of what has
happened when you are treated unfairly. Forgiveness
is not pretending that things are other than the
way they are."
-- Desmond Tutu
"Forgiveness
and reconciliation are not just ethereal, spiritual,
other-worldly activities. They have to do with
the real world. They are realpolitik, because
in a very real sense, without forgiveness, there
is no future."
-- Desmond Tutu
*
Forgiveness
is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel
that has crushed it.
-- Mark Twain
*
Love
is an act of endless forgiveness.
-- Peter Ustinov
Always
forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much.
-- Oscar Wilde
Sometimes
I see myself fine, sometimes I need a witness. And I
like the whole truth, but there are nights I only need
forgiveness.
-- Dar Williams
*
The
practice of forgiveness is our most important
contribution to the healing of the world.
-- Marianne
Williamson
Forgiveness
is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful
than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one
that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace
without forgiveness.
-- Marianne
Williamson
The
first step in forgiveness is the willingness to
forgive.
-- Marianne
Williamson
Our
past is a story existing only in our minds. Look, analyze,
understand, and forgive. Then, as quickly as possible,
chuck it.
--
Marianne Williamson
"If
I hold a grudge because I'm angry, I feel strong. But
to set that anger aside takes real strength."
-- Everett L. Worthington, Jr.
"Until
recently, the tools of science have not been employed
to investigate forgiveness. The new wave of research
we've begun, however, has the potential to reveal the
profound value of forgiveness in our lives -- information
that could reduce human misery and increase the quality
of life worldwide."
-- Everett L. Worthington, Jr.
Remember,
a chip on the shoulder is a sure sign of wood higher
up.
-- Brigham Young
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