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The Power of Forgiveness |
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| Articles and other material on the PeaceWeek 2006 theme: The Power of Forgiveness | |||||||||
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"If you devote your life to seeking revenge, first dig two graves." Confucius. |
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How to Forgive: One Scholar's Views To forgive is not to condone, to excuse, to accept, to reconcile, and certainly not to forget, says Robert D. Enright, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. A person who has been hurt must consciously choose to forgive - a moral choice that is one step along a path that takes time to complete, he contends. He lays out these steps to true forgiveness:
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“If you devote your life to seeking revenge, first dig two graves.” Confucius “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” Mahatma Gandhi “If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.” Nelson Mandela “There is a hard law . . . when an injury is done to us, we never recover until we forgive.” Alan Paton: “Forgiveness is me giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me.” Anonymous "Forgiveness is one of the key ideas in this world. It is not just some nebulous, vague idea that one can easily dismiss. It has to do with uniting people through practical politics. Without forgiveness there is no future." Archbishop Desmond Tutu “To forgive is not just to be altruistic. It is the best form of self-interest.” Archbishop Desmond Tutu "Studies show that letting go of anger and resentment can reduce the severity of heart disease and, in some cases, even prolong the lives of cancer patients." ABC News, January 2, 1998, “Persistent unforgiveness is part of human nature, but it appears to work to the detriment not just of our spiritual well-being but our physical health as well. The subject is one of the hottest fields of research in clinical psychology today, with more than 1,200 published studies, up from just 58 as recently as 1997.” Newsweek June 27, 2005 “Forgiveness is freeing up and putting to better use the energy once consumed by holding grudges, harboring resentments, and nursing unhealed wounds. It is rediscovering the strengths we always had and relocating our limitless capacity to understand and accept other people and ourselves.” Sidney and Suzanne Simon “Forgiveness is the final form of love.” Reinhold Niebuh “Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” Mark Twain “He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.” George Herbert “Forgiveness is the economy of the heart... forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits.” Hannah Moore “Why is it necessary to forgive? Forgiveness releases you from the burden of bitterness and hate. It takes enormous energy to hate and to keep that hate in place. Forgiveness brings freedom whereas revenge is neither sweet nor gratifying, its just a hollow feeling.” Leonard J. Roos "Forgiveness is another way of admitting, 'I'm human, I make mistakes, I want to be granted that privilege and so I grant you that privilege.' " Philip Yancey “Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.” Paul Boese “When we forgive evil we do not excuse it, we do not tolerate it, we do not smother it. We look the evil full in the face, call it what it is, let its horror shock and stun and enrage us, and only then do we forgive it.” Lewis B. Smedes “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 “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.“ Lewis B. Smedes |
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