Without forgiveness, life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.
— Robert Assagioli quoted in Gospel Days by Joan Chittister

Perhaps forgiveness is the last thing mentioned in the Creed because it is the last thing learned in life. Perhaps none of us can understand the forgiveness of God until we ourselves have learned to forgive.
— Joan Chittister in In Search of Belief

If you want to see the brave, look at those who can forgive. If you want to see the heroic, look at those who can love in return for hatred.
— The Bhagavad Gita quoted in Legacy of the Heart by Wayne Muller

The practice of forgiveness is not only, or even primarily, a way of dealing with guilt. Instead, its central goal is to reconcile, to restore communion — with God, with one another, and with the whole creation.
— L. Gregory Jones in Practicing Our Faith edited by Dorothy C. Bass

Never forget that to forgive yourself is to release trapped energy that could be doing good work in the world.
— D. Patrick Miller

Forgiveness is something freely granted, whether earned or deserved; something lovingly offered without thought of acknowledgment or return. It is our way of mirroring the goodness in the heart of a person rather than raising up the harshness of their actions....it allows us to live in the sunlight of the present, not the darkness of the past. Forgiveness alone, of all our human actions, opens up the world to the miracle of infinite possibility.
— Kent Nerburn in Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace

The capacity to forgive is the capacity to let go of ego.
— David Richo in Shadow Dance

The whole witness of Jesus' life and death is to the unfathomable depths of God's forgiveness. English poet and artist William Blake cites the capacity of Jesus to forgive another, and to reenter vulnerably into the deepest relation with another, as the strongest evidence of his being God in the flesh.
— Douglas V. Steere in Dimensions of Prayer

The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world.
— Marianne Williamson in A Return to Love

Forgiveness seems to remain a theme waiting to be explored in depth in our present age. This deep and extensive kind of loving of enemies, while it has long roots in our tradition, seems to have become a theme of special urgency in our contemporary world.
— Wendy Wright in The Rising

Forgiveness is a complex experience that changes an offended person's spiritual feelings, emotions, thoughts, actions, and self-confidence level. I believe learning to forgive the hurts and grudges of our life may be an important step for us to feel more hopeful and spiritually connected and less depressed. These changes improve our health and give us more energy to create a better life for ourselves. They allow our bodies to function in an optimal way.
— Fred Luskin in Forgive for Good