Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela Quotes & Sayings

Perpetrators who receive the gift of forgiveness are given a chance to change — Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela

For perpetrators, when they apologize and experience remorse, it gives them a chance to reclaim their own humanity. Some rise to the moral challenge. Others of course don't care, and they continue acting with contempt. — Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela

An act of forgiveness sets the victim apart from the perpetrator, who failed to act humanly towards the victim at the time he committed his crime. — Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela

Forgiveness does not overlook the deed. It rises above it. — Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela

A genuine apology focuses on the feelings of the other rather than on how the one who is apologizing is going to benefit in the end. It seeks to acknowledge full responsibility for an act, and does not use self-serving language to justify the behavior of the person asking forgiveness. A sincere apology does not seek to erase what was done. No amount of words can undo past wrongs. Nothing can ever reverse injustices committed against others. But an apology pronounced in the context of horrible acts has the potential for transformation. It clears or 'settles' the air in order to begin reconstructing the broken connections between two human beings. — Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela