Forgiveness

If any foes of mine are there, I pardon every one:
I hope that man and womankind will do the same by me.
~ William Allingham, The Winding Banks of Erne; or, Adieu to Belashanny

Forgiveness of enemies can only come upon their repentance.
~ William Blake, Annotations to Lavater (1788).

It is easier to forgive an Enemy than to forgive a Friend.
~ William Blake, from Jerusalem (1804). The Worship of God

Mutual Forgiveness of each vice
Such are the Gates of Paradise.
~ William Blake, For the Sexes: The Gates of Paradise Prologue

The cut worm forgives the plough.
~ William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-93). Proverbs of Hell

The glory of Christianity is to conquer by forgiveness.
~ William Blake, from Jerusalem (1804). To The Deists

Betwixt the stirrup and the ground,
Mercy I ask'd; mercy I found.
~ William Camden, Remaines concerning Britaine (1605).

The essential and unbounded mercy of my Creator is the foundation of my hope, and a broader and surer the universe cannot give me.
~ William Ellery Channing (D.D.), Discourse At The Dedication of the Second Congregational Unitarian Church, New York (1826). Unitarian Christianity Most Favorable to Piety

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

I seem forsaken and alone,
I hear the lion roar;
And ev'ry door is shut but one,
And that is Mercy's door.
~ William Cowper, from Olney Hymns (1779). Book III: On the Rise, Progress, Changes, and Comforts of the Spiritual Life. The Waiting Soul

Mercy to him that shows it, is the rule.
~ William Cowper, The Task (1785). Book VI. The Winter Walk At Noon

The kindest and the happiest pair
Will find occasion to forbear,
And something every day they live,
To pity, and perhaps, forgive.
~ William Cowper, Mutual Forbearance, Necessary to the Happiness of the Married State

There is mercy in every place,
And mercy, encouraging thought!
Gives even affliction a grace
And reconciles man to his lot.
~ William Cowper, Verses Supposed to be Written by Alexander Selkirk (1782).

Forgiveness is not for the other person, forgiveness is for you.
~ Bill Ferguson

The only vice that cannot be forgiven is hypocrisy. The repentance of a hypocrite is itself hyprocrisy.
~ William Hazlitt, in Selected Essays of William Hazlitt (1930). Characteristics (written in 1823)

We as often repent the good we have done as the ill.
~ William Hazlitt, in Selected Essays of William Hazlitt (1930). Characteristics (written in 1823)

A good memory is a valuable thing, but it is also well if you have a good forgetory.
~ (Col.) William C. Hunter, Brass Tacks (1910).

Your mild replies, if you but hold in,
Will never make, but cure a scolding.
After a quarrel, while you live,
Let the next business be -- forgive.
~ William Hutton, from Poems, chiefly tales (1804). Maxims

For him who confesses, shams are over and realities have begun; he has exteriorized his rottenness. If he has not actually got rid of it, he at least no longer smears it over with a hypocritical show of virtue -- he lives at least upon a basis of veracity.
~ William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902). Other Characteristics

A woman can forgive a man for the harm he does her, but she can never forgive him for the sacrifices he makes on her account.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence (1919).

People will sometimes forgive you the good you have done them, but seldom the harm they have done you.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, from A Writer's Notebook (1949).

If there is something to pardon in everything, there is also something to condemn.
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, The Will to Power (1901).

Force may subdue, but love gains, and he that forgives first wins the laurel.
~ William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693).

She sat with hands as if to bless,
And looked with grave ethereal eyes;
Ensouled by ancient Quietness,
A gentle priestess of the Wise.
~ George William (A.E.) Russell, Collected Poems by A.E. (1913). Forgiveness

And earthly power doth then show likest God's,
When mercy seasons justice.
~ William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill.
~ William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet. Act III, scene i

My heart prays for him, though my tongue do curse.
~ William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors

Nothing emboldens sin so much as mercy.
~ William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens. Act III, scene v

Pray now, forget and forgive.
~ William Shakespeare, King Lear. Act IV, scene vii

Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge.
~ William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus

The quality of mercy is not strained,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blessed;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes.
~ William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice. Act IV, scene i

To revenge is no valour, but to bear.
~ William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens

. . . We do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.
~ William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

When thou dost ask me blessing, I'll kneel down,
And ask of thee forgiveness.
~ William Shakespeare, King Lear

True repentance hates the sin, and not merely the penalty; and it hates the sin most of all because it has discovered and felt God's love.
~ William Mackergo Taylor

We forgive injuries, we survive even our remorse for great wrongs that we ourselves commit; but I doubt if we ever forgive slights of this nature put upon us, or forget circumstances in which our self-love has been made to suffer.
~ William Makepeace Thackeray, from Sketches and Travels in London (1847). On a Lady in an Opera-box

Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting.
~ William Arthur Ward

Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hate. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness.
~ William Arthur Ward

Friendship flourishes at the fountain of forgiveness.
~ William Arthur Ward

Many promising reconciliations have broken down because, while both parties came prepared to forgive, neither party came prepared to be forgiven.
~ Charles Williams

Because I spent the strength Thou gavest me
In struggle which Thou never didst ordain,
And have but dregs of life to offer Thee --
O Lord, I do repent.
~ Sarah Williams

So today I apologize to you all -- the children of America and South Africa -- who must cope every day with dangerous street gangs. I no longer participate in the so-called gangster lifestyle, and I deeply regret that I ever did. . . . My goal is to reach as many young minds as possible to warn you about the perils of a gang lifestyle.
~ Stanley Tookie Williams, in Institute for the Prevention of Youth Violence "Tookie's Corner" (tookie.com) (13 April 1997). The Apology

What power has love but forgiveness?
~ William Carlos Williams, from Journey to Love (1955). Asphodel, That Greeny Flower

Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.
~ Marianne Williamson

Forgiveness is the stroke of God within us. The American people haven't ignored what he did. He asked for forgiveness and the American people gave it to him. Theirs is the higher morality.
~ Marianne Williamson (on Williegate), Detroit Free Press (13 February 1999). No outrage? Fine, says one worthy woman

The first step in forgiveness is the willingness to forgive.
~ Marianne Williamson

The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world.
~ Marianne Williamson

Confession is simply a Hospital of Souls, where the Good Samaritan, through the instrumentality of the priest, goes about binding up wounds and pouring in oil and wine; a hospital where the Divine Physician displays his healing art.
~ Alfred Wilson, Pardon and Peace (1947).

They live happiest who have forgiven most.
~ Robert Anton Wilson, in Kindred Spirit Magazine, Issue 40 (Interview; Autumn 1997). Radical Intelligence

The best of what we do and are,
Just God, forgive!
~ William Wordsworth