Forgiving The Enemy Quotes & Sayings

If dead things love, if earth and water distinguish friends from enemies, I should like to possess their love. I should like the green earth not to feel my step as a heavy burden. I should like her to forgive that she for my sake is wounded by plough and harrow, and willingly to open for my dead body. — Selma Lagerlof

When you are ill make haste to forgive your enemies, for you may recover. — Ambrose Bierce

Refusing to forgive is like ingesting a lethal dose of poison and hoping it kills my enemy. — Max Lucado

With a little time, and a little more insight, we begin to see both ourselves and our enemies in humbler profiles. We are not really as innocent as we felt when we were first hurt. And we do not usually have a gigantic monster to forgive; we have a weak, needy, and somewhat stupid human being. When you see your enemy and yourself in the weakness and silliness of the humanity you share, you will make the miracle of forgiving a little easier. — Lewis B. Smedes

Don't forgive and never forget; Do unto others before they do unto you; and third and most importantly, keep your eye on your friends, because your enemies will take care of themselves! — JR

You should forgive your enemies and if you haven't any, just forgive a few of your friends. — Howard Marion-Crawford

An unforgiving nature reflects in your face. Holding negative energy drags down the facial muscles, puckers one's frown and causes lines around the mouth. Working daily on forgiveness (forgiving oneself as well as one's enemies) is the cheapest, most effective facelift in the whole wide world. All it requires is love and discipline. — Sarah Miles

I do not have to forgive my enemies, I have had them all shot. — Ramon Maria Narvaez, 1st Duke Of Valencia

The most faithful disciples of Christ have been builders of peace, to the point of forgiving their enemies, sometimes even to the point of giving their lives for them. — Pope John Paul II

The Bible tells us to forgive our enemies, not our friends — Margot Asquith

You, Bedouin of Libya who saved our lives, though you will dwell forever in my memory yet I shall never be able to recapture your features. You are Humanity and your face comes into my mind simply as man incarnate. You, our beloved fellowman, did not know who we might be, and yet you recognized us without fail. And I, in my turn, shall recognize you in the faces of all mankind. You came towards me in an aureole of charity and magnanimity bearing the gift of water. All my friends and all my enemies marched towards me in your person. It did not seem to me that you were rescuing me: rather did it seem that you were forgiving me. And I felt I had no enemy left in all the world. — Antoine De Saint-Exupery

We must forgive our enemies. I can truly say that not a day has passed since the war began that I have not prayed for them. — Robert E.Lee

Doing an Injury puts you below your Enemy; Revenging one makes you but even with him; Forgiving it sets you above him. — Benjamin Franklin

To forgive freely, is what we owe to our enemy; to forget not, is what we owe to ourselves. — Amelia Barr

Hope that had sparked in my chest now lit a fire, and I fanned it, wanting it to burn hot and bright, because hope ... hope was not the enemy. It was a friend, a savior. Hope was more than a new beginning. Hope was tomorrow, and hope was the symbol that I would get better, that I would undo the bad choices that I'd made, and that I would never make them again. Hope was more than a chance of redemption. It was the promise of one day finding absolution, of forgiving myself.
But it was more than that. Hope was also today, and today was so very important. There would be no more rushing through seconds and minutes. I promised myself that. I was going to live, and it was going to be hard at times. There would be setbacks and days when everything would feel dull and tarnished somehow, but I had hope and I had the knowledge to face what was causing me to suffer. I had my friends. I had Tanner.
And most importantly, I had myself. — Jennifer L. Armentrout

When he [Christ] says 'Forgive your enemies', it is not for the sake of the enemy but for one's own sake that he says so, and because Love is more beautiful than Hate. — Oscar Wilde

Unforgiveness is a strategic "design," craftily implemented by you enemy to "outwit" you, to cripple your effectiveness in prayer and your power to stand against him victoriously. Which is why, if I were your enemy, I would do everything possible to keep you from forgiving anyone and everyone who's done you any wrong. — Priscilla Shirer

The friend who holds up before me the mirror, conceals not my smallest faults, warns me kindly, reproves me affectionately, when I have not performed my duty, he is my friend, however little he may appear so. But if a man praises and lauds me, never reproves me, overlooks my faults, and forgives them before I have repented, he is my enemy, however much he may appear my friend. — Johann Gottfried Herder

Chastity, non-injury, forgiving even the greatest enemy, truth, faith in the Lord, these are all different Vrittis. Be not afraid if you are not perfect in all of these; work, they will come. He who has given up all attachment, all fear, and all anger, he whose whole soul has gone unto the Lord, he who has taken refuge in the Lord, whose heart has become purified, with whatsoever desire he comes to the Lord, He will grant that to him. Therefore worship Him through knowledge, love, or renunciation. — Swami Vivekananda

The sun should not set upon our anger, neither should he rise upon our confidence. We should forgive freely, but forget rarely. I will not be revenged, and this I owe to my enemy; but I will remember, and this I owe to myself. — Charles Caleb Colton

Great souls forgive not injuries till time has put their enemies within their power, that they may show forgiveness is their own. — John Dryden

When you don't forgive you permit your enemies to live rent free in your head -evict them today. — Lee Ezell

Don't forgive your enemies for their sake - do it for your sake. — Bill Bartmann

People would rather debate doctrine or beliefs or tradition or interpretation than actually do what Jesus said. It's not rocket science. Just go do it. Practice loving a difficult person or try forgiving someone. Give away some money. Tell someone thank you. Encourage a friend. Bless an enemy. Say, "I'm sorry." Worship God. You already know more than you need to know. — John Ortberg

It is not enjoined upon us to forget, but we are told to forgive, our enemies. — Edwin Hubbel Chapin

Just deciding to forgive isn't enough because willpower alone won't work - we need divine strength from God. As He gives us the strength, we need to pray for our enemies and bless them. Praying for those who have hurt us is vital to successfully forgiving them. — Joyce Meyer

Your mind can be your enemy or friend. If you always follow your heart, your mind will feel neglected. If you follow only your mind, your heart will never forgive you. Never ignore your conscience, yet always be conscious of reason. Make your heart and mind friends and you will have peace of mind throughout life's seasons. — Suzy Kassem

We English are good at forgiving our enemies; it releases us from the obligation of liking our friends. — P.D. James

When a man but half forgives his enemy, it is like leaving a bag of rusty nails to interpose between them. — Hugh Latimer

We must forgive our enemies. — Robert E.Lee