Colum McCann Quotes

It is not easy to talk about peace to people who are mourning every day.

There's a lot of bitterness, there's a lot of anger out there. We all have to work hard to heal those wounds.

I will always forgive but I will never forget.

What is forgiveness? An emotion? A coping mechanism? An element of deepest faith? A way for the heart and soul to combat the type of hate, anger, rage and a thirst for revenge that could ultimately consume a person? All of those and more?

There is no forgiveness, justice, or healing on any level when hate is involved.

America needed recovery, not revenge. The hate had to be drained and the healing begun.

Without forgiveness, there's no future.

I've had a few arguments with people, but I never carry a grudge. You know why? While you're carrying a grudge, they're out dancing.

I forgave the DAR many years ago. You lose a lot of time hating people.

My way of thinking is to create a situation where we rally everyone together and create peace and pardon people, to not forget about the past - because we need to learn from it - but to mainly think about the future.

I'd like to be more forgiving. There are times when I've had a hard time forgiving people who have betrayed me.

Forgiveness isn't about condoning what has happened to you or someone else's actions against you.

I had to learn compassion. Had to learn what it felt like to hate, and to forgive and to love and be loved. And to lose people close to me. Had to feel deep loneliness and sorrow. And then I could write.

Love soothes wounds, while hatred and violence deepen them.

If war illuminates love, love offers the possibility of allowing some light to be brought back out of the shadows. It's almost as if they buttress and make possible an understanding of each other.

Without forgiveness life is governed by... an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.

I don't think I have the power to forgive.

Protesting is good, but healing is better. We need to see America heal.

It's not so easy to forgive.

If you're in a dark place, you're there for a reason. And the only way to get through to those kids or to other people going through the same thing is really to meet them in that dark place and then slowly bring them to the light.

I can never hold a grudge against anyone, even if I know that he has done something wrong to me.

I always struggled with the idea of forgiving my enemies.

There's always room to mend broken hearts, I suppose.

Patience, time, love, it heals all.

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.