Top 30 Forgiving Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness.”

— Corrie ten Boom

Also featured in: Christian Motivational Quotes, Emotion Quotes, Peace Quotes, Compassion Quotes, Healing Quotes

2. “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

Also featured in: Emotion Quotes, Reflection Quotes, Peace Quotes, Healing Quotes, Forgiveness Quotes

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

— Marianne Williamson

Also featured in: Inner Peace Quotes, Healing Quotes, Forgiveness Quotes

4. “The only way to peace is forgiveness.”

— Pope John Paul II

Also featured in: Harmony Quotes, Forgiveness Quotes

5. “Forgiveness is a gift to yourself. It frees you from the past, past experiences, and past relationships. It allows you to live in the present time. When you forgive yourself and forgive others, you are indeed free.”

— Louise Hay

Also featured in: Recovery Quotes, Mental Health Quotes, Healing Quotes, Forgiveness Quotes

6. “If we really want to love we must learn how to forgive.”

— Mother Teresa

Also featured in: Relationship Quotes, Emotional Quotes, Love Life Quotes, Inspirational Life Quotes

7. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

— Paul the Apostle

Also featured in: Christian Quotes, Scripture Quotes, Compassion Quotes, Virtue Quotes, Forgiveness Quotes

8. “He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

Also featured in: Morality Quotes, Values Quotes, Love You Quotes, Forgiveness Quotes

9. “There is no future without forgiveness.”

— Nelson Mandela

Also featured in: Harmony Quotes, Forgiveness Quotes

10. “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

Also featured in: Recovery Quotes, Forgiveness Quotes, Hurt Quotes

11. “Forgiving someone isn’t just about doing good to another. It’s also about healing a scar in your own heart.”

— Nouman Ali Khan

Also featured in: Forgiveness Quotes

12. “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

Also featured in: Recovery Quotes, Mental Health Quotes, Healing Quotes, Forgiveness Quotes

13. “Nothing in the Christian life is more important than forgiveness-our forgiveness of others and God’s forgiveness of us.”

— John F. MacArthur

Also featured in: Forgiveness Quotes

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

— Mahatma Gandhi

Also featured in: Quotes About Strength, Famous Quotes, Important Quotes, Inspiring Quotes

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

— Will Smith

Also featured in: Short Quotes About Life, Character Quotes, Healing Quotes

16. “Forgive, but don’t forget.”

— Tupac Shakur

17. “Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”

— Carrie Fisher

Also featured in: Toxic Relationship Quotes

18. “When you forgive, you love. And when you love, God’s light shines upon you.”

— Jon Krakauer

Also featured in: Moving On Quotes

19. “God forgives us and remembers our sin no more; therefore, stop remembering what God has forgotten.”

— Joyce Meyer

Also featured in: Grace Quotes, Guilt Quotes

20. “President Lincoln was once criticized for his attitude toward his enemies. “Why do you try to make friends of them?” asked an associate. “You should try to destroy them.” “Am I not destroying my enemies,” Lincoln gently replied, “when I make them my friends?””

— Abraham Lincoln

21. “Forgive but do not forget, or you will be hurt again. Forgiving changes the perspectives. Forgetting loses the lesson.”

— Paulo Coelho

22. “The lesson is that you can still make mistakes and be forgiven.”

— Robert Downey Jr.

23. “Everyone makes mistakes. The wise are not people who never make mistakes, but those who forgive themselves and learn from their mistakes.”

— Ajahn Brahm

24. “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

— John the Apostle

Also featured in: Scripture Quotes, Conscience Quotes, Guilt Quotes

25. “Forgiveness of sin strikes the root of all pain.”

— T. B. Joshua

26. “Humility has such power. Apologies can disarm arguments. Contrition can defuse rage. Olive branches do more good than battle axes ever will.”

— Max Lucado

Also featured in: Make A Difference Quotes, Humility Quotes

27. “Learn to forgive yourself and to forgive others.”

— Morrie Schwartz

28. “If today were your last, would you do what you’re doing? Or would you love more, give more, forgive more? Then do so! Forgive and give as if it were your last opportunity. Love like there’s no tomorrow, and if tomorrow comes, love again.”

— Max Lucado

Also featured in: Love Life Quotes, Happy Sunday Quotes, Beautiful Good Morning Quotes

29. “Don’t go into the new year holding a grudge from last year. Leave the hurts and disappointments behind.”

— Joel Osteen

Also featured in: Positive Quotes for Women, Recovery Quotes, Peace of Mind Quotes

30. “Confession is the sacrament of the tenderness of God, his way of embracing us.”

— Pope Francis