Forgiveness lightens the spirit and makes room for healing. It doesn’t excuse harm; it frees the heart to keep growing with courage and compassion. As Leo Tolstoy reminds us: “One must put oneself in everyone’s position. To understand everything is to forgive everything.”

“Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs.” ~ Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“The more people know, the more they forgive.” ~ Confucius

“Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” ~ Mark Twain

“Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy? Forgive yourself and stop punishing yourself.” ~ Louise L. Hay

“The best of what we do and are, Just God, forgive!” ~ William Wordsworth

“Forgiveness is the economy of the heart… Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits.” ~ Hannah More

“Any man can seek revenge; it takes a king or a prince to grant a pardon.” ~ Arthur J. Rehrat

“Forgiveness is a gift of high value. Yet it costs nothing.” ~ Betty Smith

“Genuine forgiveness does not deny anger but faces it head-on.” ~ Alice Miller

“By far the strongest poison to the human spirit is the inability to forgive oneself or another person. Forgiveness is no longer an option but a necessity for healing.” ~ Caroline Myss

“Oh God, I say not hear my prayers! I say: Blot with forgiving pen my sins away!” ~ Shaikah Saadi

“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, Wake-Up Calls

“The motto should not be: Forgive one another; rather, understand one another.” ~ Emma Goldman

“A forgiveness ought to be like a canceled note, torn in two and burned up, so that it never can be shown against the man.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher