A Quote by Martin Luther King, Jr.

The words 'I will forgive you, but I'll never forget what you've done' never explain the real nature of forgiveness.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Quote Topics

Done Explain Forget Forgive Forgiveness Nature Never Never Explain Never Forget Real Will Words

Quote Author

Martin Luther King, Jr.
American - Leader
January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968

I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note - torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one.

Henry Ward Beecher

When we forgive someone, we do not forget the hurtful act, as if forgetting came along with the forgiveness package, the way strings come with a violin. Begin with the basics. If you forget, you will not forgive at all. You can never forgive people for things you have forgotten about. You need to forgive precisely because you have not forgotten what someone did; your memory keeps the pain alive long after the hurt has stopped. Remembering is the storage of pain. It is why you need to be healed in the first place.

Lewis B. Smedes

All men are chums who will never leave each other in the lurch. A chum doesn't forgive, he just forgets - women forgive everything but never forget. Being forgiven is very unpleasant.

Tove Jansson

If a person has done wrong, is conscious of what he has done and does not say sorry, I ask God to take him into account. I forgive him, but he does not receive that forgiveness, he is closed to forgiveness. We must forgive, because we were all forgiven. It is another thing to receive that forgiveness.

Pope Francis

True reconciliation is never cheap, for it is based on forgiveness which is costly. Forgiveness in turn depends on repentance, which has to be based on an acknowledgment of what was done wrong, and therefore on disclosure of the truth. You cannot forgive what you do not know.

Desmond Tutu

Religion is spelled 'D-O', because it consists of the things people do try to somehow gain God's forgiveness and favor. But the problem is that you never know when you've done enough. But thankfully, Christianity is spelled differently. It's spelled 'D-O-N-E', which means that what we could never for ourselves, Christ has already done for us. To become a real Christian is to humbly receive God's gift of forgiveness and to commit to following His leadership.

Bill Hybels

Any fool knows men and women think differently at times, but the biggest difference is this. Men forget, but never forgive; women forgive, but never forget.

Robert Jordan

Forgiveness is enshrined in the Lord's prayer - forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. These scriptures point to the power of forgiveness not only as a way to absolve transgressions but to ensure that the person extending forgiveness will be forgiven of theirs.

Anthea Butler

I think forgiveness is probably one of the greatest forms of self-love there is because you don't do forgiveness for anybody else. My captors will never care if I forgive them... It will not make a day of difference to them at all, but it will make a huge difference to me.

Elizabeth Smart

Men forget, but never forgive; women forgive, but never forget.

Robert Jordan

Some people you can forgive and forget. Some people you cannot forgive or forget. There are other people you can forgive and not forget. So there's people you can forgive and forget. Forgive and not forget. It depends on what they've done.

Bill Duke

Never forget the nine most important words of any family- I love you. You are beautiful. Please forgive me.

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Forgive and forget, but never forget to forgive. You may find a happier heart is the key to a happier life.

Mahatma Gandhi

The one who forgives never brings up the past to that person's face. When you forgive, it's like it never happened. True forgiveness is complete and total.