59 Forgiveness Quotes That Make Letting Go a Little Easier

Forgiveness. Yeah, it’s one of those things that sounds amazing in theory, right? We all want to be enlightened enough to forgive that jerk who cut us off in traffic or the friend who forgot our birthday (again).

But when it comes down to actually letting go of the hurt and moving on, forgiveness can feel like trying to eat soup with a fork—it’s frustrating and slow, but eventually, you get there. Maybe.

In my case, it took me way too long to realize that forgiveness isn’t about giving someone else a pass; it’s about giving yourself the permission to let go. Trust me, once you start doing that, it feels like you just dropped a 100-pound backpack you didn’t even know you were carrying.

So, in the spirit of letting go, I’ve pulled together 59 forgiveness quotes to help you finally ditch that emotional baggage. Let’s get to it.

Quotes On Forgiving Others

1. “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” – Mahatma Gandhi
2. “Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace.” – Jonathan Lockwood Huie
3. “Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a constant attitude.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
4. “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
5. “You can’t forgive without loving. And I don’t mean sentimentality. I don’t mean mush. I mean having enough courage to stand up and say, ‘I forgive. I’m done with it.’” – Maya Angelou
6. “Forgiving someone else doesn’t give them a free pass. It gives you a free pass to move on.” – Charles F. Glassman
7. “It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.” – William Blake

8. “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.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
9. “Forgive, forget. Bear with the faults of others as you would have them bear with yours.” – Phillips Brooks
10. “Before we can forgive one another, we have to understand one another.” – Emma Goldman
11. “Forgive me my nonsense, as I also forgive the nonsense of those that think they talk sense.” – Robert Frost
12. “Forgiveness is the best form of love. It takes a strong person to say they’re sorry, and an even stronger person to forgive.” – Yolanda Hadid
13. “The more you are able to forgive then the more you are able to love.” – Stephen Richards

Forgiveness Quotes About The Past

14. “When you forgive, you in no way change the past – but you sure do change the future.” – Bernard Meltzer
15. “To forgive is to refuse to contaminate the future with the errors of the past.” – Craig D. Lounsbrough
16. “Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.” – Paul Boese
17. “Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.” – Lily Tomlin
18. “Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any different.” – Oprah Winfrey
19. “Let go. Why do you cling to pain? There is nothing you can do about the wrongs of yesterday. It is not yours to judge. Why hold on to the very thing which keeps you from hope and love?” – Leo Buscaglia
20. “Learn from the past, be thankful for the past, forgive the mistakes of the past, and let it go.” – Debasish Mridha
21. “You cannot win your future if you cannot forgive your past.” – Ikechukwu Joseph
22. “The act of forgiveness is the act of returning to present time. And that’s why when one has become a forgiving person, and has managed to let go of the past, what they’ve really done is they’ve shifted their relationship with time.” – Caroline Myss

Self-Forgiveness Quotes

23. “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” – Lewis B. Smedes
24. “Forgive yourself for not knowing what you didn’t know before you learned it.” – Maya Angelou
25. “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
26. “Forgive someone today. Especially if that someone is you.” – Gina Greenlee
27. “Forgive yourself first. Let go of past hurts and direct your spirit to goodness and hope by having gratitude.” – Janet Taylor Spence
28. “People can be more forgiving than you can imagine. But you have to forgive yourself. Let go of what’s bitter and move on.” – Bill Cosby
29. “Forgiveness is a reflection of loving yourself enough to move on.” – Steve Maraboli
30. “No one can or will ever feel your pain as much as you. Forgive yourself for the past, seize the gift of the present moment.” – K.J. Kilton

Forgiveness Quotes For Healing and Letting Go

31. “Without forgiveness, life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.” – Roberto Assagioli
32. “The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world.” – Marianne Williamson
33. “When a deep injury is done to us, we never heal until we forgive.” – Nelson Mandela
34. “Forgiveness is the giving, and so the receiving, of life.” – George MacDonald
35. “Holding a grudge doesn’t make you strong; it makes you bitter. Forgiving doesn’t make you weak; it sets you free.” – Dave Willis
36. “Remember, when you forgive, you heal. And when you let go, you grow.” – Victoria Hanley
37. “Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.” – Hannah Arendt
38. “When you forgive, you heal. When you let go, you grow.” – Victoria Hanley
39. “Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” – Mark Twain
40. “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe
41. “Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” – Saint Augustine
42. “Holding on to anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” – Buddha
43. “Forgiveness is not about forgetting. It is about letting go of another person’s throat.” – William Paul Young
44. “Life becomes easier when you learn to accept an apology you never got.” – Robert Brault
45. “There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness.” – Josh Billings
46. “Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself.” – Suzanne Somers
47. “Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting.” – William Arthur Ward
48. “True forgiveness is when you can say, ‘Thank you for that experience.’” – Oprah Winfrey
49. “Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning.” – Desmond Tutu
50. “Forgiveness is the final form of love.” – Reinhold Niebuhr

51. “It’s not an easy journey, to get to a place where you forgive people. But it is such a powerful place because it frees you.” – Tyler Perry
52. “There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love.” – Bryant H. McGill
53. “Forgiveness is strength. The strength to move ahead without any resentment.” – Lailah Gifty Akita
54. “You don’t need strength to let go of something. What you really need is understanding.” – Guy Finley
55. “Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.” – Oscar Wilde
56. “I can forgive, but I can’t forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a canceled note—torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one.” – Henry Ward Beecher
57. “To forgive is wisdom, to forget is genius. And easier. Because it’s true. It’s a new world every day.” – Joyce Cary
58. “Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.” – Indira Gandhi
59. “Letting go doesn’t mean that you don’t care about someone anymore. It’s just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself.” – Deborah Reber