Elizabeth Bowen Quotes

What was the point of being able to forgive, when deep down, you both had to admit you'd never forget?

Forgiveness doesn't sit there like a pretty boy in a bar. Forgiveness is the old fat guy you have to haul up a hill.

If you are going to forgive a person, Liz decides, it is best to do it sooner rather than later. Later, Liz knows from experience, could be sooner than you thought.

I have discovered that most people who tell me that they cannot forgive a person who wronged them are handicapped by a mistaken understanding of what forgiving is.

To forgive or not to forgive... are those my only choices?

The worst part of all is that, without forgiveness, bitterness is all that is left

My experience has shown me that many people struggle with forgiveness of self and/or others.

Life without forgiveness is unbearable.

What we forgive too freely doesn't stay forgiven.

Forgiveness isn’t something I’m preoccupied with — turning the other cheek isn’t my trip.

Forgiveness isn’t my best thing. Easier staying pissed. But I’m tired of being pissed all the time. Tired of feeling hurt by stuff that can never be fixed because it is an indelible part of the past.

That which is denied cannot be healed.

I know forgiveness is a man's duty, but, to my thinking, that can only mean as you're to give up all thoughts o' taking revenge: it can never mean as you're t' have your old feelings back again, for that's not possible.

Understanding is often a prelude to forgiveness, but they are not the same, and we often forgive what we cannot understand (seeing nothing else to do) and understand what we cannot pardon.

What have I to forgive and whom?

Forgiveness is not an occasional act. It is a permanent attitude. That which I was not but could have been. That which I would have done but did not do. Can I find the fortitude to remember in truth,to understand, to submit, to forgive and to be free to move on in time?

Forgiveness has its comforts, but it can never give you back what you've lost.

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

I don't want closure, I don't know what that means or why you would want it.

I think there are different levels of forgiveness.

Then she made up her mind.It was absurd to pretend that he did not exist.It no longer hurt her to see him. She opened the door wide and let him into her life again.

I think that maybe forgiveness is like change - it comes in small steps. (256)

We each have been betrayed. Let yourself picture and remember the many ways this is true. Feel the sorrow you have carried from this past. Now sense that you can release this burden of pain by gradually extending forgiveness as your heart is ready.

Forgiveness is a choice, but it is not an option.