The word “forgive” comes from the Old English forgiefan “give, grant, allow; remit (a debt), pardon (an offense),” also “give up” and “give in marriage”; from for- (“completely,”) + giefan (“to give or receive”).

The dictionary definition of “forgive” is to cease to feel resentment, to give up resentment, or to grant relief from payment.

Some synonyms of forgiveness are: mercy, compassion, grace, charity, and overlooking.

I read somewhere once that a definition for forgiveness could be “to give up my right to hurt you for hurting me.” All humans experienced hurt and sometimes it seems that us moms are on the top of that list. A positive mom extends forgiveness because harboring negative feelings hurts her and her family.

A positive mom strives to make the conscious, voluntary, and deliberate decision to release resentment, regardless of whether they are sorry or actually deserve forgiveness, while knowing not every relationship will be or should be restored, and forgiveness is not the absence of boundaries.

Positive Quotes About FORGIVENESS

“When you forgive, you in no way change the past – but you sure do change the future.“~ Bernard Meltzer

“When you are happy you can forgive a great deal.” ~ Princess Diana

“It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody.” ~ Maya Angelou

“When you choose to forgive those who have hurt you, you take away their power.”~ Anonymous

“Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could’ve been any different. But it doesn’t mean inviting the past into your present or future.” ~ Oprah

“One of the secrets of a long and fruitful life is to forgive everybody everything every night before you go to bed.” ~ Bernard Baruch

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

“Forgiveness is realizing that what you thought happened, didn’t.” ~ Byron Katie

“To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.” ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

“The more you forgive, the stronger you become.“~  Kevin Keenoo

“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.

“Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.”~ John F. Kennedy

“We are all on a life long journey and the core of its meaning, the terrible demand of its centrality is forgiving and being forgiven.” ~ Martha Kilpatrick

“True forgiveness is when you can say, ‘Thank you for that experience.’” ~ Oprah Winfrey

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace.”~ Jonathan Huie

“To forgive is to remove a block in your awareness and to open to love’s presence.” ~ A Course in Miracles

“Forgiveness is the final form of love.” ~  Reinhold Niebuhr

“Forgiveness is not to give the other person peace. Forgiveness is for you. Take that opportunity.” ~  Mackenzie Phillips

“Men who do not forgive women their little faults will never enjoy their great virtues.“~  Kahlil Gibran

“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

“If you can’t forgive and forget, pick one.” ~ Robert Brault

“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

“I will look at the past, but I will not stare at it.“~ M. Spio

“Forgiveness doesn’t excuse their behavior. It prevents their behavior from destroying your heart.” ~ Hemant Smarty

“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

“Forgiveness is the process of dropping off your emotional baggage.” ~ Tim Fargo

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” ~ Lewis B. Smedes

“What is forgiven is usually well remembered.”~  Louis Dudek

“Forgiving other people does not mean that they will get away with what they did to you, it means that You are set free from the pain they have caused you. Forgiveness is the hardest lesson we are here to learn to master, but it is possible with time and patience.” ~ Jeanette Coron

“I can have peace of mind only when I forgive rather than judge.” ~ Gerald Jampolsky

“To err is human; to forgive, divine.”~  Alexander Pope

“Learn forgiveness. If you are the person who has been wronged, always remember that you have the power to forgive. No one else can give this power to you. Amazingly, by releasing resentment or negative feelings, you are the one who benefits most of all.” ~ Cheryl Hitchcock

“Without forgiveness, there’s no future.” ~ Desmond Tutu

“The man who forgives is far stronger than the man who fights.“~ Nathan Croall

“Only the brave know how to forgive. … A coward never forgave; it is not in his nature.” ~ Laurence Sterne

“To be wronged is nothing, unless you continue to remember it.”~ Confucius

“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.” -~ Katherine Ponder

“Forgiveness in no way requires that you trust the one you forgive.” ~ Wm. Paul Young

“There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love.” ~ Bryant H. McGill

“Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.”~  Bruce Lee

“Forgiveness is for yourself because it frees you. It lets you out of that prison you put yourself in.“~ Louise L. Hay

“Forgiving doesn’t mean forgetting, it means choosing to remember love instead.”~  Kyle Gray

“Forgiveness is a reflection of loving yourself enough to move on.”~  Dr. Steve Maraboli

“The most important thing that I learned in growing up is that forgiveness is something that, when you do it, you free yourself to move on.” ~ Tyler Perry

“No one should have to go through life without forgiveness. It’s essential.”~ C. Kennedy Omorphi

“To me, forgiveness is the cornerstone of healing.“~ Sylvia Fraser

“A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.”~  Robert Quillen

“Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: love, prayer, and forgiveness.” ~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

“There is nobility in compassion, a beauty in empathy, a grace in forgiveness.”~  John Connolly

“Sincere forgiveness isn’t colored with expectations that the other person apologize or change. Don’t worry whether or not they finally understand you. Love them and release them. Life feeds back truth to people in its own way and time-just like it does for you and me.” ~ Sara Paddison

“Forgiveness is the giving, and so the receiving, of life.“~ George MacDonald

“The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. And the first to forget is the happiest.” ~ Anonymous

“One forgives to the degree that one loves.”~  Francois de La Rochefoucauld

“To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.” ~ Robert Muller

“Forgiveness makes you feel better. As soon as you forgive, you’re free.“~ Karen Kingsbury

“The first thing that happens when you’re happy is you start forgiving everyone.“~ Marty Rubin

“We think that forgiveness is weakness, but it’s absolutely not; it takes a very strong person to forgive.” ~ T. D. Jakes

“Blame keeps wounds open. Only forgiveness heals.”~  Thomas S. Manson

“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

“If we really want to love we must learn how to forgive.”~  Mother Theresa

“We don’t forgive people because they deserve it. We forgive them because they need it—because we need it.“~ Bree Despain

“Love is an endless act of forgiveness.”~ Jan Karon

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

“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

“Always forgive your enemies – nothing annoys them so much.”~ Oscar Wilde

“Hate. It has caused a lot of problems in this world, but it has not solved one yet.” ~ Maya Angelou

“Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting.”~ William Arthur Ward

“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

“Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.” ~ Paul Boese

“Always forgive, but never forget, else you will be a prisoner of your own hatred, and doomed to repeat your mistakes forever.” ~ Wil Zeus

“It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.” ~ William Blake

“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

“Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude.”~  Martin Luther King, Jr.

“I have learned, that the person I have to ask for forgiveness from the most is: myself. You must love yourself. You have to forgive yourself, every day, whenever you remember a shortcoming, a flaw, you have to tell yourself “That’s just fine”. You have to forgive yourself so much, until you don’t even see those things anymore. Because that’s what love is like.”~ C. JoyBell C.

“A life lived without forgiveness is a prison.” ~ William Arthur Ward

“Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you are.” ~  Cherie Carter-Scott

“When we forgive, the slave we free is ourselves.”~ Edward M. Hallowell

“He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.” ~ George Herbert

“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

“Without forgiveness life is governed by… an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.”~ Roberto Assagioli

“A life lived without forgiveness is a life lived in the past.”~ Asa Don Brown

“Throughout life people will make you mad, disrespect you and treat you bad. Let God deal with the things they do, because hate in your heart will consume you too.” ~ Will Smith

“Forgiveness is really just another word for freedom.”~ Julie Lessman

“Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it foregoes revenge and dares to forgive an injury.“~ Edwin Hubbel Chapin

“He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.” ~ George Herbert

“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

“Forgiveness is the key to the heart’s shackles.”~ Richard Paul Evans

“Forgive all who have offended you, not for them, but for yourself.” ~ Harriet Nelson

 “Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.” ~ Steve Maraboli

“Forgiveness is the sweetest revenge.” ~ Isaac Friedmann

“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.” ~  Louis B. Smedes

“Life is an adventure in forgiveness.” ~ Norman Cousins

“We are all mistaken sometimes; sometimes we do wrong things, things that have bad consequences. But it does not mean we are evil, or that we cannot be trusted ever afterward.” ~  Alison Croggon

“The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world.” ~ Marianne Williamson

“Forgiveness isn’t approving what happened. It’s choosing to rise above it.” ~ Robin Sharma

“Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.” ~ Hannah Arendt

“The ability to forgive is one of man’s greatest achievements.“~  Bryant H. McGill

“I guess forgiveness, like happiness, isn’t a final destination. You don’t one day get there and get to stay.” ~ Deb Caletti

“Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.” ~ Indira Gandhi

“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 misperceptions.” ~ Gerald G. Jampolsky

“What I cannot love, I overlook.” ~ Anaïs Nin

“The act of forgiveness takes place in our own mind. It really has nothing to do with the other person.” ~ Louise Hay

“How unhappy is he who cannot forgive himself.” ~ Publilius Syrus

“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

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

“As long as you don’t forgive, who and whatever it is will occupy a rent-free space in your mind.” ~ Isabelle Holland

“Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.“~ Nelson Mandela

“Forgiveness must be immediate, whether or not a person asks for it. Trust must be rebuilt over time. Trust requires a track record.” ~ Rick Warren

“Forgiveness spares the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits.”~ Hannah More

“To understand somebody else as a human being, I think, is about as close to real forgiveness as one can get.” ~ David Small

“There is a hard law. When an injury is done to us, we never recover until we forgive.” ~ Alan Paton

“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

“Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning.” ~ Desmond Tutu

“Sometimes people need to know they could be forgiven to have the strength to change.”~ J. Leigh Bralick

“Forgiving is easier when we understand that forgiving someone else means that we are freeing ourselves of an unnecessary burden.”~ Donna Goddard

“Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself.” ~ Tony Robbins

“The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.“~ Thomas Szasz

“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

“Sweet mercy is nobility’s true badge.”~ William Shakespeare

“Always pray to have eyes that see the best in people, a heart that forgives the worst, a mind that forgets the bad, and a soul that never loses faith in God.” ~  Anonymous

“Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.” ~  C.S. Lewis

“Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were.” ~ Cherie Carter-Scott

“Before we can forgive one another, we have to understand one another.” ~ Emma Goldman

“Forgiveness is like faith. You have to keep reviving it.” ~ Mason Cooley

“We learn our lessons; we get hurt; we want revenge. Then we realize that actually, happiness and forgiving people is the best revenge.”~ Madonna

“Without forgiveness life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.” ~  Roberto Assagioli

“I forgive myself and set myself free.” ~ Louise Hay

“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

“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

What is your favorite positive quote about forgiveness? Forgiveness is the crown of greatness, a conscious decision to not allow anger to poison your heart – it will set you free! Share your thoughts below! 

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