Liberate yourself from what happened and let go of the past by reading these forgiveness quotes!
Forgiving someone for their mistakes is tough, but it is also freeing. It will help you heal from the things that hurt you and give you peace in life. To forgive is to be compassionate and accept how humans are imperfect beings.
Although it will take time to have closure on what happened, it is a journey that will help you let go of hatred. Moreover, it is a step that will make you grow and help you move on to better things. So, if you need some guidance on the path of forgiveness, feel free to read our entire collection below.
Let’s get started.
And make sure to check out these gratitude quotes and kindness quotes.
Best Forgiveness Quotes
1. “It’s not an easy journey to get to a place where you forgive people. But it is such a powerful place because it frees you.” – Tyler Perry
2. “Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.” – Paul Lewis Boese
3. “We ask for forgiveness, and we forgive others who ask us. In that way, we can experience healing, healing in our souls.” – Ed Dobson
4. “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” – Lewis B. Smedes
5. “Take forgiveness slowly. Don’t blame yourself for being slow. Peace will come.” – Yoko Ono
6. “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.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
7. “Before we can forgive one another, we have to understand one another.” – Emma Goldman
8. “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.” – Thomas Dexter Jakes
9. “Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning.” – Desmond Tutu
10. “Forgiveness is, above all, a personal choice, a decision of the heart to go against natural instinct to pay back evil with evil.” – Pope John Paul II
11. “It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody.” – Maya Angelou
12. “The act of forgiveness takes place in our own mind. It really has nothing to do with the other person.” – Louise Hay
13. “Don’t ever underestimate the power of forgiveness. I’ve seen it free people. I’ve seen it lift burdens that had weighed them down and kept them from moving on.” – Buffy Andrews
14. “Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” – Mark Twain
15. “To err is human. To forgive, divine.” – Alexander Pope
Famous Quotes on Forgiveness
16. “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” – Mahatma Gandhi
17. “We are not perfect. Forgive others as you would want to be forgiven.” – Catherine Pulsifer
18. “Forgiveness is not weak. It takes courage to face and overcome powerful emotions.” – Desmond Tutu
19. “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
20. “When a deep injury is done us, we never recover until we forgive.” – Alan Paton
Also read: Confidence Quotes, Honesty Quotes
Quotes That Will Inspire You to Exercise Forgiveness
21. “Forgiveness liberates the soul. It removes fear. That is why it is such a powerful weapon.” – Nelson Mandela
22. “The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world.” – Marianne Williamson
23. “Forgiveness isn’t approving what happened. It’s choosing to rise above it.” – Robin Sharma
24. “Acceptance and tolerance and forgiveness, those are life-altering lessons.” – Jessica Lange
25. “When you choose to forgive those who have hurt you, you take away their power.” – Anonymous
26. “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
27. “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
28. “Forgiving isn’t something you do for someone else. It’s something you do for yourself. It’s saying, ‘You’re not important enough to have a stranglehold on me.’ It’s saying, ‘You don’t get to trap me in the past. I am worthy of a future.'” – Jodi Picoult
29. “Forgiveness eliminates the wounds of the past from the mind and the heart.” – Iyanla Vanzant
30. “When you forgive, you heal. When you let go, you grow.” – Anonymous
Also read: Integrity Quotes, Inspirational Quotes
Quotes That Will Enlighten You About Love and Forgiveness
31. “One forgives to the degree that one loves.” – François de La Rochefoucauld
32. “I believe forgiveness is the best form of love in any relationship. It takes a strong person to say they’re sorry and an even stronger person to forgive.” – Yolanda Hadid
33. “Forgiveness is a powerful expression of the love within our soul.” – Anthony Douglas
34. “Forgiveness is the key to inner peace because it is the mental technique by which our thoughts are transformed from fear to love.” – Marianne Williamson
35. “There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love.” – Bryant H. McGill
36. “Forgiveness is not a feeling. It is a commitment. It is a choice to show mercy, not to hold the offense up against the offender. Forgiveness is an expression of love.” – Gary Chapman
37. “Forgiveness is the final form of love.” – Reinhold Niebuhr
38. “To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.” – Robert Muller
39. “Until we have seen someone’s darkness, we don’t really know who they are. Until we have forgiven someone’s darkness, we don’t really know what love is.” – Anonymous
40. “Anger begets more anger, and forgiveness and love lead to more forgiveness and love.” – Mahavira
41. “If we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive.” – Mother Teresa
Quotes on Forgiveness and Moving On
42. “Forgiveness is a reflection of loving yourself enough to move on.” – Steve Maraboli
43. “Forgiveness is not something we do for other people. It’s something we do for ourselves to move on.” – Anonymous
44. “When I talk of forgiveness, I mean the belief that you can come out the other side a better person than the one being consumed by anger and hatred. Remaining in that state locks you in a state of victimhood, making you almost dependent on the perpetrator. If you can find it in yourself to forgive, then you are no longer chained to the perpetrator. You can move on.” – Desmond Tutu
45. “Grudges are for those who insist that they are owed something. Forgiveness, however, is for those who are substantial enough to move on.” – Criss Jami
46. “The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward.” – Steve Maraboli
47. “Forgiving you is my gift to you. Moving on is my gift to myself.” – Anonymous
Also read: Moving On Quotes
Short and Meaningful Forgiveness Quotes
48. “Let us forgive each other, only then will we live in peace.” – Leo Tolstoy
49. “Forgiveness is the needle that knows how to mend.” – Jewel
50. “Mistakes are always forgivable if one has the courage to admit them.” – Bruce Lee
51. “Nothing inspires forgiveness quite like revenge.” – Scott Adams
52. “Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.” – Hannah Arendt
53. “We win by tenderness. We conquer by forgiveness.” – Frederick William Robertson
54. “There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness.” – Josh Billings
55. “Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
56. “Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them so much.” – Oscar Wilde
57. “The lesson is that you can still make mistakes and be forgiven.” – Robert Downey Jr.
58. “Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.” – Indira Gandhi
59. “It is often easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.” – Grace Hopper
60. “Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.” – Anne Lamott
61. “Forgiveness is like faith. You have to keep reviving it.” – Mason Cooley
62. “Forgiveness is the sweetest revenge.” – Isaac Friedmann
Also read: Short Quotes
Wise Quotes on Forgiving and Forgetting
63. “Forgive, forget. Bear with the faults of others as you would have them bear with yours.” – Phillips Brooks
64. “Forgiveness is the economy of the heart. Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits.” – Hannah More
65. “Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future.” – Lewis B. Smedes
66. “Forgiveness is not about forgetting. It is about letting go of another person’s throat.” – William P. Young
67. “To forgive is wisdom. To forget is genius. Because it’s true. It’s a new world every heartbeat.” – Joyce Cary
68. “Forgiveness is the giving, and so the receiving, of life.” – George MacDonald
69. “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.” – Henry Ward Beecher
70. “Surely it is much more generous to forgive and remember than to forgive and forget.” – Maria Edgeworth
71. “Forgiveness is a process—a choice you make over and over every day until you’re free of hurt.” – Anonymous
72. “The stupid neither forgive nor forget. The naive forgive and forget. The wise forgive but do not forget.” – Thomas Szasz
73. “Listen, slide the weight from your shoulders and move forward. You are afraid that you might forget, but you never will. You will forgive and remember.” – Barbara Kingsolver
74. “In the blink of an eye, everything can change. So forgive often and love with all your heart. You may never have that chance again.” – Anonymous
Quotes to Encourage You to Choose Forgiveness
75. “Forgiveness is not about the other person or what they did. Forgiveness is for you and about you.” – Iyanla Vanzant
76. “Forgiveness should start now. Putting off forgiving only deepens the wound. Clinging to bitterness postpones happiness. Life is short. Time is fleeting. Today is the day to forgive.” – Wilferd Alan Peterson
77. “It can be hard to forgive and let go, but it’s important to remember that harboring the resentment and holding a grudge can hurt you even more. The word ‘forgive’ really means to give something up for yourself, not for them.” – Jack Canfield
78. “Without forgiveness, life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.” – Roberto Assagioli
79. “Forgiveness is the most effective way of dealing with arguments. Altruism and forgiveness bring humanity together so that no conflict, however serious, will go beyond the bounds of what is truly human.” – Dalai Lama
80. “Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were.” – Cherie Carter-Scott
81. “Though I was unaware of it at the time, that simple act of forgiveness was the beginning of an entirely new level of experiencing life for me.” – Wayne Dyer
82. “The mere existence of the word forgiveness in our vocabulary and in our dictionary argues for a transcendent capacity for moral reasoning and intelligent judgment far above the rest of the natural living world.” – Barton Jahn
83. “Forgive because none of us are perfect.” – Anonymous
84. “Be the one who nurtures and builds. Be the one who has an understanding and a forgiving heart, one who looks for the best in people. Leave people better than you found them.” – Marvin J. Ashton
85. “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
86. “The hardest thing in life is to forgive, but hate is self-destructive. If you hate somebody, you’re not hurting the person you hate. You’re hurting yourself. Forgiveness is healing.” – Louis Zamperini
Also read: Encouraging Quotes
Quotes That Explain the Importance of Forgiving Yourself
87. “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
88. “How unhappy is he who cannot forgive himself.” – Publilius Syrus
89. “Forgiveness is healing, especially forgiving yourself.” – Alyson Noël
90. “If you do not practice empathy and forgiveness for your actions, it will be impossible to practice empathy with others.” – Laura Raskin
Deep Forgiveness Quotes Packed With Insights
91. “Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it foregoes revenge and dares to forgive an injury.” – Edwin Hubbell Chapin
92. “If one by one we counted people out for the least sin, it wouldn’t take us long. To get so, we had no one left to live with, for to be social is to be forgiving.” – Robert Frost
93. “Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.” – Corrie ten Boom
94. “Forgiveness does not mean ignoring what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act. It means, rather, that the evil act no longer remains as a barrier to the relationship. Forgiveness is a catalyst creating the atmosphere necessary for a fresh start and a new beginning.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
95. “Man has two great spiritual needs. One is for forgiveness. The other is for goodness.” – Billy Graham
96. “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
97. “Forgiveness has nothing to do with absolving a criminal of his crime. It has everything to do with relieving oneself of the burden of being a victim. Letting go of the pain and transforming oneself from victim to survivor.” – C.R. Strahan
98. “He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself. For every man has the need to be forgiven.” – Thomas Fuller
99. “Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea until they have something to forgive.” – Clive Staples Lewis
100. “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
101. “We all have to forgive and understand the only way to stop the cycle of hate and abuse is not to allow yourself to get caught in it.” – Sinead O’Connor
102. “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.” – Nelson Mandela
True Forgiveness Quotes That Will Move You
103. “True forgiveness is when you can say ‘Thank you for that experience.'” – Oprah Winfrey
104. “True forgiveness is not an action after the fact. It is an attitude with which you enter each moment.” – David Ridge
105. “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
Quotes About the Importance of Forgiveness in Relationships
106. “Forgiveness is a sign that the person who has wronged you means more to you than the wrong they have dealt.” – Ben Greenhalgh
107. “A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.” – Robert Quillen
108. “When someone does something wrong, don’t forget all the things they did right.” – Anonymous
109. “Relationships don’t thrive because the guilty are punished, but because the wounded are merciful.” – Max Lucado
110. “When a partner does make a mistake, it isn’t acceptable for the other partner to dwell on it and constantly remind the spouse of the mistake. Forgiveness can make a marriage whole again.” – Elijah Davidson
111. “I don’t think people understand that you can forgive a person and not allow them back into your life. That is possible, very possible.” – Alexandra Elle
Quotes to Assist You in Practicing Forgiveness in Your Family
112. “Never forget the nine most important words of any family: ‘I love you. You are beautiful. Please forgive me.'” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.
113. “By having a forgiving attitude, you can change your life and the lives of the people you care about most.” – Kathie M. Thomson
114. “Leading your family will start with repentance. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve laid on my face in the living room while the family was asleep and asked the Lord to forgive me.” – Jerrad Lopes
Forgiveness Quotes to Strengthen Your Friendships
115. “Forgiveness is a strange thing. It can sometimes be easier to forgive our enemies than our friends. It can be hardest of all to forgive people we love.” – Fred Rogers
116. “A broken friendship that is mended through forgiveness can be even stronger than it once was.” – Stephen Richards
117. “We read that we ought to forgive our enemies, but we do not read that we ought to forgive our friends.” – Francis Bacon
118. “People have to forgive. We don’t have to like them, we don’t have to be friends with them, we don’t have to send them hearts in text messages, but we have to forgive them, to overlook, to forget. Because if we don’t, we are tying rocks to our feet, too much for our wings to carry!” – C. JoyBell C.
Powerful Quotes About Forgiveness
119. “Blame keeps wounds open. Only forgiveness heals.” – Thomas S. Monson
120. “Sometimes, what a person needs most is to be forgiven.” – Jennifer McMahon
121. “You’ll never know how strong your heart is until you learn to forgive who broke it.” – Anonymous
122. “There is nobility in compassion, a beauty in empathy, a grace in forgiveness.” – John Connolly
123. “The true mark of maturity is when somebody hurts you, and you try to understand their situation instead of trying to hurt them back.” – Anonymous
124. “You can’t forgive without loving, and I don’t mean sentimentality. I don’t mean much. I mean having enough courage to stand up and say, ‘I forgive. I’m finished with it.'” – Maya Angelou
125. “Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any different.” – Oprah Winfrey
126. “The man who forgives is far stronger than the man who fights.” – Nathan Croall
127. “Forgiveness keeps you from being bound by something the other person might never set right.” – Tony Evans
Religious Quotes on Forgiveness
128. “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
129. “Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” – Luke 6:37
130. “Every time God forgives us, God is saying that God’s own rules do not matter as much as the relationship that God wants to create with us.” – Richard Rohr
131. “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
132. “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another if one has a grievance against another. As the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.” – Colossians 3:13
133. “Forgive others as quickly as you expect God to forgive you.” – Anonymous
134. “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'” – Acts 2:38
135. “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” – Clive Staples Lewis
136. “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 of Hippo
137. “When we don’t forgive, we’re not hurting the other person. We’re not hurting the company that did us wrong. We’re not hurting God. We’re only hurting ourselves.” – Joel Osteen
More Forgiveness Quotes to Help You Start Working on Your Growth and Character
138. “Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: love, prayer, and forgiveness.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.
139. “To understand somebody else as a human being, I think, is about as close to real forgiveness as one can get.” – David Small
140. “It is only imperfection that complains of what is imperfect. The more perfect we are, the more gentle and quiet we become towards the defects of others.” – Joseph Addison
141. “More people should apologize, and more people should accept apologies when sincerely made.” – Greg LeMond
142. “Forgiveness is making a conscious decision to live in the present, even if the past still hurts.” – Anonymous
143. “A mistake is always forgivable, rarely excusable, and always unacceptable.” – Robert Fripp
144. “I can have peace of mind only when I forgive rather than judge.” – Gerald Jampolsky
145. “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
146. “When one forgives, two souls are set free.” – Anonymous
147. “As long as you don’t forgive, who and whatever it is will occupy a rent-free space in your mind.” – Isabelle Holland
148. “Certainly, people make mistakes in their life. I’m no different. I’ve made mistakes. When people mess up, forgive them. When I mess up, I ask for forgiveness.” – Michele Bachmann
149. “Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting.” – William Arthur Ward
150. “Forgiveness is a choice, but it is not an option.” – Joel Osteen
Did These Quotes Inspire You to Forgive and Move On?
Forgiveness is a complex internal process that every person has to go through. It is a concept rooted in love and kindness that will test our principles.
Without the capacity to forgive, we can never grow and face our fears. Remember that no matter how much hurt someone’s actions have caused, it is our responsibility to heal from the painful experience. Most of all, forgiveness is a powerful tool that will set us free from the past.
We hope that these quotes were able to help and encourage you to forgive. After all, the only person who can help yourself is you. So go on and live a happier life by being a forgiving person!
Which forgiveness quote is your favorite? What is your biggest takeaway from these quotes? Comment your answers below!
