Alan Paton Quotes

To me, forgiveness is the cornerstone of healing.

If you are bitter, you are like a dry leaf that you can just squash, and you can get blown away by the wind. There is much more wisdom in forgiveness.

I never hold a grudge.

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.

The most important thing that I learned in growing up is that forgiveness is something that, when you do it, you free yourself to move on.

For me, the healing process starts with graciousness and forgiveness.

It's not easy to forgive. I definitely don't forget, but I do forgive and I think that you should.

It's not an easy journey, to get to a place where you forgive people. But it is such a powerful place, because it frees you.

At least in my life, I cannot hold onto grudges. It's a waste of energy, a waste of time.

People can be more forgiving than you can imagine. But you have to forgive yourself. Let go of what's bitter and move on.

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

Forget like a child any injury done by somebody immediately. Never keep it in the heart. It kindles hatred.

A personal offense is like a scratch on a phonograph record. I couldn't move my thoughts beyond my pain. It kept repeating, as if I were stuck within its grooves. There was only one way to play beyond it. I had to forgive them, so my heart could take its form again.

If we can find forgiveness in our hearts for those who have caused us hurt and injury, we will rise to a higher level of self-esteem and well-being.

Most of us need time to work through pain and loss. We can find all manner of reasons for postponing forgiveness. One of these reasons is waiting for the wrongdoers to repent before we forgive them. Yet such a delay causes us to forfeit the peace and happiness that could be ours.

Hate is self-destructive. If you hate somebody, you're not hurting the person you hate. You're hurting yourself. And that's a healing. Actually, it's a real healing, forgiveness.

Carrying a grudge is a heavy burden. As you forgive, you will feel the joy of being forgiven.

No one really forgives unless he has been hurt.

How does one know if she has forgiven? You tend to feel sorrow over the circumstance instead of rage, you tend to feel sorry for the person rather than angry with him. You tend to have nothing left to say about it all.

Forgiveness is a way of opening up the doors again and moving forward, whether it's a personal life or a national life.

If there are people you haven't forgiven, you're not going to really awaken. You have to let go.

When you forgive somebody, it doesn't necessarily mean you want to invite them to your table.

Forgiveness in any aspect of something that is complex is the greatest tool.

The act of choosing to forgive is not easy at the moment of hurt and pain, but in the long run, it is the only way to go.

The heart of who I am as a person and as a man is forgiveness, after forgiving my father for a lot of things that were done when I was child.