Louise Hay Quotes

Forgiveness means accepting what is or what has been and becoming willing to see it differently. You cannot un-hear what you have heard or un-see what you have seen. What you can do is stop believing that what occurred has somehow left you broken, damaged and wounded. While forgiveness ain’t easy, it’s the most important inner work you can do within your mind and heart.

Forgiving is, first of all, a way of helping yourself to get free of the unfair pain somebody caused you.

I think forgiveness is probably one of the greatest forms of self-love there is because you don't do forgiveness for anybody else. My captors will never care if I forgive them... It will not make a day of difference to them at all, but it will make a huge difference to me.

As I forgive, I set myself free and experience the bliss of inner peace.

Forgiving isn't something you do for someone else. It's something you do for yourself. It's saying, 'You're not important enough to have a stranglehold on me.' It's saying, 'You don't get to trap me in the past. I am worthy of a future.

Forgiveness is first for you, the forgiver...to release you from something that will eat you alive; that will destroy your joy and your ability to love fully and openly. Do you think this man cares about the pain and torment you have gone through? If anything, he feeds on that knowledge. Don't you want to cut that off? And in doing so, you'll release him from a burden that he carries whether he knows it or not--acknowledges it or not.

Though I can't change what happened, I can choose how to react. And I don't want to spend the rest of my life being bitter and locked up.

Forgiveness is not to give the other person peace. Forgiveness is for you. Take that opportunity.

Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself.

Forgiveness is a CHOICE, not a feeling.

Your past is just a story. And once you realize this it has no power over you.

Forgiving is...recognizing the injury, owning the pain, & reaching out.

Forgiving doesn't make the person who hurt you feel better, it makes you feel better.

Forgiveness is a gift you give to yourself

When I forgive other people, I let them go, I free them from my ignorance. And as soon as I do, I feel lighter, brighter and better.

When you haven't forgiven those who've hurt you, you turn back against your future. When you do forgive, you start walking forward.

Weigh the true advantages of forgiveness and resentment to the heart. Then choose.

Forgiveness is a process of giving up the old for something new. Old experiences and memories that we hold on to in anger, resentment, shame, or guilt cloud our spirit mind. The truth is, everything that has happened had to happen. It was a growth experience. There was something you needed to know or learn. If you stay angry, hurt, afraid, ashamed, or guilty, you miss the lesson. You will be stuck in a cloud of pain.

To experience emotional freedom, we must accept, surrender, and let go of our wounds. We must be willing to take responsibility for what we're holding on to, which is usually a hurt or pain from the past that leaves us feeling victimized.

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.

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.

We all have our demons. When we finally learn to let them go, we get to live and be free.

I learned to forgive myself, and that enabled me to forgive my mother as a person.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned is, “It’s okay.” It’s okay for me to be kind to myself. It’s okay to be wrong. It’s okay to get mad. It’s ok to be flawed. It’s okay to be happy. It’s okay to move on.

Forgive yourself and forgive others around you.