Lewis B. Smedes

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

It takes one person to forgive, it takes two people to be reunited.

When we forgive evil we do not excuse it, we do not tolerate it, we do not smother it. We look the evil full in the face, call it what it is, let its horror shock and stun and enrage us, and only then do we forgive it.

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

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. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future.