Apology & Forgiveness Quotes for Letters

“Forgiveness is choosing to love. It is the first skill of self-giving love.”

— Mahatma Gandhi

“Words spoken in anger are the hardest to take back, and the most important to apologize for.”

— Unknown

“The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.”

— Harriet Beecher Stowe

“When you realize you've made a mistake, make amends immediately. It's easier to eat crow while it's still warm.”

— Dan Heist

“Chocolate says 'I'm sorry' so much better than words.”

— Rachel Vincent

“Forgive me for my mistakes, I am still a child learning the lessons of life.”

— Unknown

“We are all mistaken sometimes; sometimes we do wrong things, things that have bad consequences. But it does not mean we are evil.”

— Alison Croggon

“A stiff apology is a second insult. The injured party does not want to be compensated because he has been wronged; he wants to be healed because he has been hurt.”

— G.K. Chesterton

“Forgiveness is above all a personal choice, a decision of the heart to go against the natural instinct to pay back evil with evil.”

— Pope John Paul II

“Apologizing does not always mean you are wrong and the other person is right. It means you value your relationship more than your ego.”

— Unknown

“There is nothing so advantageous to a man than a forgiving disposition.”

— Terence

“Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning.”

— Desmond Tutu

“The hardest words to say are often the most important ones: I was wrong, and I am sorry.”

— Unknown

“Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a constant attitude.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

“When a deep injury is done to us, we never heal until we forgive.”

— Nelson Mandela

“A relationship that survives an honest apology grows stronger at the broken places.”

— Unknown

“Genuine apology means you have the courage to be humble.”

— Steve Brunkhorst

“Apologies require vulnerability, and vulnerability requires courage.”

— Unknown

“An apology is a good way to have the last word.”

— Unknown

“Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.”

— Oscar Wilde

“I was wrong. I'm sorry. Three little words that can mend almost anything, when they are truly meant.”

— Unknown

“Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for the truth.”

— Benjamin Disraeli

“The art of a sincere and heartfelt apology is one of the greatest skills you will ever learn.”

— Jeanette LeBlanc

“Forgiveness is me giving up the right to hurt you for hurting me.”

— Anonymous

“Never ruin an apology with an excuse.”

— Benjamin Franklin

“Forgiveness means letting go of the hope for a better past.”

— Lama Surya Das

“I am sorry for the pain I caused you. If I could take it back, I would.”

— Unknown

“Apology accepted does not always mean trust restored. Give it time.”

— Unknown

“Would 'sorry' have made any difference? Does it ever? It's just a word. One word against a thousand actions.”

— Sarah Ockler

“Real regret is shown through actions, not just spoken words.”

— Unknown

“To forgive is wisdom, to forget is genius.”

— Joyce Cary

“Never forget the nine most important words of any family: I love you. You are beautiful. Please forgive me.”

— H. Jackson Brown Jr.

“Before we can forgive one another, we have to understand one another.”

— Emma Goldman

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

— Mahatma Gandhi

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

— Lewis B. Smedes

“My bad deeds do not define me. My response to them does.”

— Unknown

“Own your mistakes before they own you.”

— Unknown

“Apology is a lovely perfume; it can transform the clumsiest moment into a gracious gift.”

— Margaret Lee Runbeck

“I can have peace of mind only when I forgive rather than judge.”

— Gerald Jampolsky

“I would rather lose my pride to keep you than keep my pride and lose you.”

— Unknown

“An apology might be classified as the acid test of character.”

— Unknown

“An honest apology is a bridge back to the ones we hurt.”

— Unknown

“It takes a great deal of character strength to apologize quickly out of one's heart rather than out of pity.”

— Stephen Covey

“Anyone can make mistakes, but only the wise learn from them and seek forgiveness.”

— Unknown

“Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember.”

— Lewis B. Smedes

“Life becomes easier when you learn to accept an apology you never got.”

— Robert Brault

“Let us forgive each other — only then will we live in peace.”

— Leo Tolstoy

“A genuine apology is like an antibiotic; a fake apology is like a sugar pill.”

— Randy Pausch

“Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were.”

— Cherie Carter-Scott

“It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.”

— William Blake

“Pride makes apologies hard; love makes them possible.”

— Unknown

“An apology given just to appease one's conscience is self-serving and better left unspoken.”

— Evinda Lepins

“The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward.”

— Steve Maraboli

“Love in the real world means saying you're sorry ten times a day.”

— Kathie Lee Gifford

“Apologies aren't meant to change the past, they are meant to change the future.”

— Kevin Hancock

“It's one thing to say you're sorry. It's another thing entirely to show it.”

— Unknown

“Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.”

— Bruce Lee

“I know saying sorry won't undo what happened, but I hope it can be the start of making things right.”

— Unknown

“The best apology is changed behavior.”

— Unknown

“Sincere apologies are for those that make them, not for those to whom they are made.”

— Greg LeMond

“Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace.”

— Jonathan Lockwood Huie

“There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love.”

— Bryant H. McGill

“An apology is the superglue of life! It can repair just about anything.”

— Lynn Johnston

“Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting.”

— William Arthur Ward

“Forgiveness is the final form of love.”

— Reinhold Niebuhr

“Keep your words soft and tender because tomorrow you may have to eat them.”

— Unknown

“True remorse is never just a regret over consequence; it is a regret over motive.”

— Mignon McLaughlin

“Sometimes 'sorry' is not enough, but it is always a place to start.”

— Unknown

“One of the most lasting pleasures you can experience is the feeling that comes over you when you genuinely forgive an enemy — whether he knows it or not.”

— O.A. Battista

“Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself.”

— Tony Robbins

“Nothing inspires forgiveness quite like revenge.”

— Scott Adams

“Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.”

— Paul Boese

“If we all hold on to the mistake, we can't see our own glory in the mirror because we have the mistake between our faces and the mirror.”

— Maya Angelou

“Without forgiveness, there's no future.”

— Desmond Tutu

“A meaningful apology has three parts: I'm sorry. It was my fault. How do I make it right?”

— Unknown

“Sorry means you feel the pulse of other people's pain as well as your own, and saying it means you take a share of it.”

— Craig Silvey

“Forgiveness liberates the soul. It removes fear. That is why it is such a powerful weapon.”

— Nelson Mandela

“Sometimes the person you hurt the most is the person you love the most.”

— Unknown

“Saying sorry to someone is hard, but putting your pride aside for someone is even harder.”

— Unknown

“If I did anything wrong, it was loving you too much and showing it too little.”

— Unknown

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”

— Mark Twain

“Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred.”

— Corrie ten Boom

“Humility is the true key to an honest apology.”

— Unknown

“An apology is the first step toward healing a wounded relationship.”

— Unknown

“He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

“Only the brave know how to forgive. A coward never forgives; it is not in his nature.”

— Laurence Sterne

“The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. The first to forget is the happiest.”

— Unknown

“The remedy for wrongs is to forget them.”

— Publilius Syrus

“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

“I'm sorry isn't always enough to repair the damage, but it's the only honest place to begin.”

— Unknown

“Right actions in the future are the best apologies for bad actions in the past.”

— Tryon Edwards

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”

— Lewis B. Smedes

“Gorgeous hair is the best revenge — but a sincere apology is the best resolution.”

— Unknown

“In some families, 'please' is described as the magic word. In our house, however, it was 'sorry.'”

— Margaret Laurence

“How unhappy is he who cannot forgive himself.”

— Publilius Syrus

“To err is human; to forgive, divine.”

— Alexander Pope

“The past cannot be changed, but a sincere apology can change everything that comes after it.”

— Unknown

“An apology without change is just manipulation.”

— Unknown

“Being sorry is the first step. Being better is the rest of the journey.”

— Unknown

“When you forgive, you in no way change the past — but you sure do change the future.”

— Bernard Meltzer