Bell Hooks Quotes

I want to see these bad, bad, bad, bad men come to grips with their humanity.

The Christian - the biblical - concept of mercy toward wrongdoers only exists in relation to justice. Showing mercy, in relation to wrongdoing, means treating someone better than they deserve.

Today we have to learn all over again that love for the sinner and love for the person who has been harmed are correctly balanced if I punish the sinner in the form that is possible and appropriate.

I have heard it said that the measure of a civilization is how it treats those who have hurt it. I think a further measure is how it treats those who deeply disappoint it.

I feel humanity is often displayed in how we react to our mistakes and the misdeeds committed against us.

You can't legislate into existence an act of forgiveness and a true confession; those are mysteries of the human heart, and they occur between one individual and another individual, not a panel of judges sitting asking questions, trying to test your truth.

Humanity is never so beautiful as when praying for forgiveness, or else forgiving another.

The essence of justice is mercy.

To me, I think justice is part of forgiving, if it is well done with love.

I am not going to condemn anybody. That's where religion gets a bad name, when people get holier than thou. We are all human. If my children make a mistake, I want them to know it is all right and they should try harder next time.

Love is stronger than justice.

I don't believe in vengeance. Really, when all is said and done, I probably don't believe in punishment.

Redemption should be part of politics, because it’s part of the human pageant.

Forgiveness is a basis for moral and ethical behavior.

I'm a believer in forgiveness. I have worked with people who have been in gangs and now dedicate their lives to helping inner city kids. I've run offender services with teachings of responsibility, empathy and understanding of the victims at their heart. I've seen people change.

I think I am a living example of Modi's capacity to forgive.

'Ida' is about humanity, about guilt and forgiveness. It's not a film that deals with an issue as such. It's more universal.

Justice is not Healing. Healing cometh only by suffering and patience, and maketh no demand, not even for Justice. Justice worketh only within the bonds of things as they are... and therefore though Justice is itself good and desireth no further evil, it can but perpetuate the evil that was, and doth not prevent it from the bearing of fruit in sorrow.

It isn't easy, it doesn't count if it's easy, it's the hardest thing. Forgiveness. Which is maybe where love and justice finally meet.

There are some duties we owe even to those who have wronged us. There is, after all, a limit to retribution and punishment.

To pardon the oppressor is to deal harshly with the oppressed.

By paying our other debts, we are equal with all mankind; but in refusing to pay a debt of revenge, we are superior.

I am grateful that I live in a nation where most believe that one's punishment should fit their wrongdoing and that ours is a nation that judges an individual by both what he has done and how he has changed.

We do not celebrate the death of our enemies.

Even as I stand here and admit that we have made mistakes I still believe that as the people of America sit in judgment on each party, they will recognize that our mistakes were mistakes of the heart. They'll recognize that.