Henri Nouwen Quotes

One has to grow hard but without ever losing tenderness.

'Tis more noble to forgive, and more manly to despise, than to revenge an Injury.

No half-heartedness and no worldly fear must turn us aside from following the light unflinchingly.

There's no operation where you can have your anger cut out. But if you work on yourself, as you get better, you'll be more capable of seeing others as flawed human beings. That makes it easier to forgive.

Harshness is conquered by gentleness, hatred by love, lethargy by zeal and darkness by light.

Anyone who wants to be truly free must be willing to stand alone in the truth.

Let weakness learn meekness.

The human capacity for burden is like bamboo- far more flexible than you'd ever believe at first glance.

Accept what you can not change-change that which is unacceptable.

I was not offended, my love. An insult is like a drink; it affects one only if accepted. And pride is too heavy baggage for my journey.

But the human spirit is resilient. God made us so. He gave us the ability to forgive. To leave our past behind. To look forward instead of back.

forgive yourself for what you aren't able to do, the ones who aren't able to acknowledge their ownselves are bound to fail

When someone offends you, you can raise your spirits to heights where offenses cannot reach.

what doesn't kill you not only make you stronger, but also more honest.

In taking revenge upon our enemies, we are only even with them; in passing over their malice we are superior.

Faith is stronger than so-called reality.

A man in the wrong may more easily be convinced than one half right.

Life never forgives weaknesses.

The only revenge which is essentially Christian is that of retaliating by forgiveness.

We can teach a good, formal lesson on forgiveness as a Christian virtue and all the doctrines that are attached to it. But to be in a real-life situation, a work camp or a trip or some other activity with young people where real forgiveness needs to happen, that's a different situation altogether. And that is where the deepest learning will occur.

Forgiveness belongs to those who know how to love in the first place.

The soft and weak can overcome the hard and strong.

If someone does me injury I must desire that this injury shall not degrade me. I must desire this out of love for him who inflicts it, in order that he may not really have done evil.

All of us have areas of weakness. God wants these character flaws to show us how totally dependent we are upon Him. When we handle them properly, they drive us into a deeper, more intimate relationship with the Lord. But uncontrolled weakness wreaks havoc in a person's life.