Henri Nouwen Quotes

Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly. The hard truth is that all people love poorly. We need to forgive and be forgiven every day, every hour increasingly. That is the great work of love among the fellowship of the weak that is the human family.

Life is an adventure in forgiveness.

Dear Lord, please show me everything I need to understand about forgiveness and surrender

The Lord heareth the prayers of those who ask to put aside hatred. But he is deaf to those who would flee from love.

I think there are more people waiting to forgive me than I need to forgive them.

Forgiving is love's toughest work, and love's biggest risk. If you twist it into something it was never meant to be, it can make you a doormat or an insufferable manipulator. Forgiving seems almost unnatural. Our sense of fairness tells us people should pay for the wrong they do. But forgiving is love's power to break nature's rule.

How can I forgive if you are not ready to give up that which caused you to stumble?

You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well.

I've spent quite a bit of my life as a meditation teacher and writer commending the strengths of love and compassion.

It's important to recognize that forgiveness is more than mere words; it's a heart attitude that induces a spiritual transformation.

I learned a long time ago that some people would rather die than forgive. It's a strange truth, but forgiveness is a painful and difficult process. It's not something that happens overnight. It's an evolution of the heart.

The people who did you wrong or who didn't quite know how to show up, you forgive them. And forgiving them allows you to forgive yourself too.

When you make a decision to forgive it's a decision that you have to make intellectually.

The ability to forgive is one of man's greatest achievements.

My self healing lies in praying for those who have harmed me.

I do understand how hate eats at the soul and how to purge yourself of hate.

We all say things sometimes to hurt people, so it's important to forgive and have peace with others and forgive and be at peace with yourself.

You have to work on forgiveness and love, and that includes your own self.

Forgiveness is a very personal and intimate thing. Forgiveness is not something that you can speak for others because it includes not only your desire and will, your reflection and intellect, but also your emotions.

I think there are different levels of forgiveness.

I think one of the most important things in evolving is forgiveness.

Forgiveness isn't just the absence of anger. I think it's also the presence of self-love, when you actually begin to value yourself.

I'm a spiritual dude, and a part of me is forgiving.

I think the hardest thing in life is to forgive. Hate is self destructive. If you hate somebody, you're not hurting the person you hate, you're hurting yourself. It's a healing, actually, it's a real healing...forgiveness.

The secret of forgiving everything is to understand nothing.