100 Forgiveness Quotes That Will Free Yourself

By Maxime Lagacé

Maxime is the founder of WisdomQuotes. He has been collecting quotes since 2004. His goal? To help you develop a calm and peaceful mind. Learn more about him on his about page.

Please enjoy this list of 100 forgiveness quotes. I hope you’ll find inspiration to live a more peaceful life. And please don’t forget: we all make mistakes. You’ll discover quotes about Einstein, Dalai Lama, Gandhi, and more. Enjoy!

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Weak people revenge. Strong people forgive. Intelligent people ignore. Albert Einstein

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It is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned. Francis of Assisi

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Tell them you still love them, and they will get the message. Yoko Ono

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To understand everything is to forgive everything. Osho

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A noble spirit finds a cure for injustice in forgetting it. Publius Syrus

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Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace. Buddha

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If you cannot forgive yourself, you cannot forgive others. D. Muthukrishnan

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Forgiveness is man’s deepest need and highest achievement. Horace Bushnell

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To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it. Confucius

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Love the sinner and hate the sin. Augustine of Hippo

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The simple truth is, we all make mistakes, and we all need forgiveness. Desmond Tutu

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The highest result of education is tolerance. Helen Keller

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I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him. Booker T. Washington

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If you haven’t any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble. Bob Hope

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Your ego is not ready to forgive but your soul is. Maxime Lagacé

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The Best Forgiveness Quotes

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forgiveness quotes forgive others because deserve peace mel robbins wisdom sea water rocks

Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace. Mel Robbins

If you want to see the brave, look to those who can return love for hatred. If you want to see the heroic, look to those who can forgive. Bhagavad Gita

It is for God to punish wicked people; we should learn to forgive. Emily Brontë

The remarkable thing is that we really love our neighbor as ourselves: we do unto others as we do unto ourselves. We hate others when we hate ourselves. We are tolerant toward others when we tolerate ourselves. We forgive others when we forgive ourselves. We are prone to sacrifice others when we are ready to sacrifice ourselves. Eric Hoffer

They might not deserve forgiveness but I deserve peace, so I forgive them. Chris Ruden (Source)

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

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Forgetting is the only revenge and the only forgiveness. Jorge Luis Borges

I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become. Unknown

Can you hate someone for what they have done, but still love them for whom they had been? Jodi Picoult (Sing You Home)

Wrongs are often forgiven, but contempt never is. Our pride remembers it forever. Lord Chesterfield

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The only thing evil can’t stand is forgiveness. Fred Rogers

You either get bitter or you get better. It’s that simple. You either take what has been dealt to you and allow it to make you a better person, or you allow it to tear you down. Josh Shipp

Any fool knows men and women think differently at times, but the biggest difference is this. Men forget, but never forgive; women forgive, but never forget. Robert Jordan

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Let no man pull you low enough to hate him. Martin Luther King Jr

Until we can forgive, we remain locked in our pain and locked out of the possibility of experiencing healing and freedom, locked out of the possibility of being at peace. Desmond Tutu

There is great freedom in not needing to await the forgiveness of another. Kapil Gupta

We should learn to accommodate ourselves to “wrongness”, striving always to adopt a more forgiving, humorous and kindly perspective on its multiple examples in ourselves and in our partners. Alain de Botton (Why You Will Marry the Wrong Person)

Without forgetting it is quite impossible to live at all. Friedrich Nietzsche

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

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

Happiness is a choice. Forgiveness is a choice. Acceptance, anger, desire, love…all choices. Your time. Your choice. Scott Shaw

While revenge weakens society, forgiveness gives it strength. 14th Dalai Lama

As we grow in wisdom, we pardon more freely. Madame de Stael

Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself. Marcus Aurelius

Part 2. Forgiveness Quotes That Are…

The Most Famous Forgiveness Quotes

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Searching for a famous forgiveness quote? Check out those by Shakespeare, Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, etc.
forgiveness quotes weak can never forgive attribute strong mahatma gandhi wisdom nature water

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

Love truth, but pardon error. Voltaire

Without forgiveness, there’s no future. Desmond Tutu

If we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive. Mother Teresa

Forgiveness is choosing to love. It is the first skill of self-giving love. Mahatma Gandhi

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

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

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. Martin Luther King Jr

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

Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any different, it’s accepting the past for what it was, and using this moment and this time to help yourself move forward. Oprah Winfrey

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

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

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Forgiveness is just another name for freedom. Byron Katie

Compassion and love are the source of all spiritual qualities: forgiveness, tolerance, all the virtues. 14th Dalai Lama

Let the brain go to work, let it meet the heart and you will be able to forgive. Maya Angelou

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. 14th Dalai Lama

I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice. Abraham Lincoln

Forget, forgive; conclude, and be agreed. William Shakespeare

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Short Forgiveness Quotes

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One-liners, short forgiveness quotes, sayings, thoughts, and captions for your bio, social status, self-talk, motto, mantra, signs, posters, wallpapers, and backgrounds.
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To err is human; to forgive, divine. Alexander Pope

Forgotten is forgiven. F. Scott Fitzgerald

Be you. Do you. For you. Wesley Snipes

Forgive and it relieves you. Maya Angelou

Choosing to hate is proving your inferiority. Maxime Lagacé

What I cannot love, I overlook. Anais Nin

Forgiveness is an act of self-love. Don Miguel Ruiz

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To understand all is to forgive all. French proverb

Forgiveness is the sweetest revenge. Isaac Friedmann

Don’t waste time scratching the itch. Maxime Lagacé

Those who understand evil pardon it. George Bernard Shaw

Hating someone makes them important. Forgiving them makes them obsolete. Unknown

Sweet mercy is nobility’s true badge. William Shakespeare

Forgive and forget. Not revenge and regret. Unknown

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We pardon to the extent that we love. François de La Rochefoucauld

The mind cannot forgive. Only you can. Eckhart Tolle

Choose to forgive and free your heart. Desmond Tutu

Forgive them even if they are not sorry. Julian Casablancas

There are difficult things about you too. Alain de Botton

As long as it’s not malicious, just forgive. Shane Parrish (fs.blog)

I remember everything but forgive anyway. Erica Jong

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

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To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you. Louis B. Smedes

There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness. Josh Billings

You’re a slave to everyone you haven’t forgiven. Lawrence King

Forgiving people who harmed you in the past is a good for your soul. Dan Go (Source)

The closer you are to someone, the harder it is to apologize. Maxime Lagacé

Fools resist while wise men laugh. Maxime Lagacé

Your past is over; it cannot touch you. Forgive all involved, including yourself. Marianne Williamson

Inspirational Forgiveness Quotes

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forgiveness quotes memories heavy want fly forgive maxime lagace wisdom balloons

Memories are heavy. Those who truly want to fly forgive. Maxime Lagacé

An apology is the super glue of life. It can repair just about anything. Lynn Johnston

How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours. Wayne Dyer

Kiss slowly, laugh insanely, love truly, forgive quickly. Paulo Coelho

Every one of us has the capacity to love, to forgive, to understand, and to be compassionate. Thich Nhat Hanh

If we can forgive what’s been done to us… If we can forgive what we’ve done to others… If we can leave our stories behind. Our being victims and villains. Only then can we maybe rescue the world. Chuck Palahniuk

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

The cruel always believe the kind are weak. But human decency and goodness can also move human affairs. David Frum

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

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

When we can recognize and forgive ignorant actions of the past, we gain the strength to constructively solve the problems of the present. 14th Dalai Lama

Forgiveness is a reflection of loving yourself enough to move on. Steve Maraboli

On the whole, my impression is that mercy bears richer fruits than any other attribute. Abraham Lincoln

Strive to be first: first to nod, first to smile, first to compliment, and first to forgive. Rhonda Byrne

Forgiveness is the only thing that cleans the slate, dissolving the old so the new can come in. Marianne Williamson

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

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Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? Abraham Lincoln

Related: How to Forgive Someone When It’s Hard: 30 Tips to Let Go of Anger (tinybuddha.com)

Part 3. Conclusion

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Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt 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

Further Readings

Now, I hope you enjoyed these inspiring forgiveness quotes. If you did, please share them with a friend today!

Do you forgive easily? What’s your favorite forgiveness quote? And remember: words can transform your life, if you find the right ones.

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Author Bio

maxime lagace

Maxime Lagacé started collecting quotes in 2004 after he lost his girlfriend in a car accident.

In search of meaning, he dived in the self-improvement world, psychology and trail running.

Books, blogs, quotes and nature became his guide.

He started journaling, reflecting, writing his thoughts, feelings and quotes.

His goal was to understand his pain, his depression, his fears, his lack of motivation and inspiration.

He finished his software engineering degree in 2007 at the École de Technologie Supérieure de Montréal.

A few years later, he started his first website to share his love of quotes.

Maxime is a father of two, husband, and INFJ.

Other notable interests of Maxime are health (mental and physical), meditation, bananas, SEO, human potential, and education.

You can find him on X, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube.

Last update

April 15, 2022

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