No Matter What Happens Between Us, I Will Always Choose Forgiveness

“Because I will forget her, yes. That which came together will fall apart imperceptibly slowly, and I will forget, but she will forgive my forgetting, just as I forgive her for forgetting me.”

— John Green, Chip, amazon.com

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

— Demi Lovato, amazon.com

“We can't really affect the circumstances on what does happen to us, but we can affect how we respond to it. And I thought that it was important for us to be able to forgive and to move on. Because if we devolve with it, you can imagine the anger and hurt that you continue to have.”

— Vivian Stringer, amazon.com

“In the end, it seems to me that forgiveness may be the only realistic antidote we are offered in love, to combat the inescapable disappointments of intimacy.”

— Elizabeth Gilbert, amazon.com

“You must forgive those who hurt you, even if whatever they did to you is unforgivable in your mind. You will forgive them not because they deserve to be forgiven, but because you don’t want to suffer and hurt yourself every time you remember what they did to you. It doesn’t matter what others did to…”

— Don Miguel Ruiz, amazon.com

“Compassion is the key to this, all of this. If we could all stop and breathe and find more room for compassion, for forgiveness, for proud and honest love for everyone around us, my goodness what a tidal wave of change would spill across the planet.”

— Tyler Knott Gregson, tylerknott.com

“Forgiveness has always felt like the most beautiful second chance. Like the answer to a prayer you didn’t know you were asking. Like freedom in a way you never imagined. Like a burden finally lifted from your tired shoulders.”

— Marisa Donnelly, thoughtcatalog.com

“Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.”

— Gautama Buddha, amazon.com

“Forgiveness doesn't mean you let the forgiven stomp all over you once again. Forgiveness means you've found a way forward that acknowledges harm done and hurt caused without letting either your anger or your pain rule your life or define your relationship with the one who did you wrong.”

— Cheryl Strayed, amazon.com

“I learned to love forgiveness. I learned that granting it gave me healing, that asking for it gave me humility and strength. I learned that we are all sinners, all a little broken, all looking for something to help us back on our feet again, all looking for someone to say that we’re doing alright, j…”

— Marisa Donnelly, thoughtcatalog.com

“Forgiveness doesn’t mean you have to make amends with who hurt you. It doesn’t mean befriending them, sympathizing with them or validating what they have done to you. It just means accepting that they’ve left a mark on you. And that for better or for worse, that mark is now your burden to bear. It m…”

— Heidi Priebe, thoughtcatalog.com

“I think I’ve forgiven people that haven’t deserved it. But I’m okay with that. I’m okay with that because my heart doesn’t hurt any longer. Because there’s no bitterness hidden deep in my chest. Because pain is only temporary, and I have chosen happiness. Because forgiveness taught me that I am stro…”

— Marisa Donnelly, thoughtcatalog.com

“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, amazon.com

“I choose forgiveness because I deserve to heal.”

— Marisa Donnelly, thoughtcatalog.com

“Forgiveness means knowing that the past is over, the dust has settled and the destruction left in its wake can never be reconstructed to resemble what it was. It’s accepting that there’s no magic solution to the damage that’s been caused. It’s the realization that as unfair as the hurricane was, you…”

— Heidi Priebe, thoughtcatalog.com

“For some reason we think that having a guarded heart is strong. We believe that letting people in, that letting go is weak. But the truth is, learning to trust, to open, to forgive, and to release your pain—those are the strongest things you can do.”

— Marisa Donnelly, thoughtcatalog.com

“The truth about forgiveness is that it sets your heart free.”

— Marisa Donnelly, thoughtcatalog.com

“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, amazon.com

“Forgiveness builds you. It builds you because it helps you erase negativity and instead embrace the good that’s all around you. Forgiveness blesses you. Forgiveness rescues you. Forgiveness strengthens you because it makes your heart a powerful weapon. In forgiving, you help the one that has hurt yo…”

— Marisa Donnelly, thoughtcatalog.com

“The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive.”

— John Green, amazon.com

“Forgive them. All of your Thems. The more Thems you can forgive, the lighter you'll feel.”

— Karen Salmansohn, twitter.com

“Set yourself free, sweet soul. You can smile now. You are free to breathe without caution. The past is nothing but sand on the soles of your shoes, mud on your old car tires, and dusty Polaroid pictures on your refrigerator. Set yourself free and stop setting yourself on fire for every wrong thing t…”

— Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, thoughtcatalog.com

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

— Mahatma Gandhi, amazon.com

“Let it all go with everything you have inside your chest, every piece of anxiety you’re holding on to and every ounce of anger you feel towards yourself along and the world. Just breathe it all out and let it disappear into the air. The tears that are forming in your eyes, let them freely run down y…”

— Becca Martin, thoughtcatalog.com

“It’s time to forgive yourself for the people who walked away. For the ones who didn’t fight, for the ones who made you feel like you were not worthy of being loved the way you loved others. It’s time to forgive yourself for the way in which you trusted, the way in which you let them leave fingerprin…”

— Bianca Sparacino, thoughtcatalog.com

“Write everything down, pour your heart out in that journal and don’t stop until you feel free. Until you feel you’ve finally released all your thoughts and you can breathe easier. Then light the pages on fire and watch them burn in front of your eyes. Forget about them. Let the thoughts go. Forgive…”

— Becca Martin, thoughtcatalog.com

“Life becomes easier when you learn to accept an apology you never got.”

— Robert Brault, goodreads.com

“Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain— and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.”

— Dale Carnegie, amazon.com

“Forgiveness is the release of all hope for a better past.”

— Buddy Wakefield, amazon.com

“Love doesn’t conquer all. Love ends. And it begins again.”

— Dawson Leery, amazon.com