Apologies aren’t always easy. It takes a lot of self-awareness, emotional maturity, and personal accountability to offer a sincere apology.
Even when we don’t mean to hurt someone, we must try our best to understand that person’s feelings and make a genuine effort.
Equally, it’s essential to learn how to forgive. Life can be complicated at times, and we hurt others without meaning to.
Understanding that nobody is perfect and allowing people to make mistakes take a lot of pressure off you and that person for things to be perfect. Accepting an apology can be difficult, but practicing forgiveness is a type of self-love that frees you from the toxicity of resentment and held grudges.
In this article, we’ve included a long list of apology quotes about apologies and forgiveness. So if you have an apology to make or forgiveness to offer, take inspiration from the passages we’ve included below.
Apology quotes
‘Life becomes easier when you learn to accept an apology you never got.’ – Robert Brault
‘True remorse is never just a regret over consequence; it is a regret over motive.’ – Mignon McLaughlin
‘Apologizing does not always mean you’re wrong and the other person is right. It just means you value your relationship more than your ego.’
Mark Matthews
‘The ability of a person to atone has always been the most remarkable of human features.’ – Leon Uris
‘An apology is a lovely perfume; it can transform the clumsiest moment into a gracious gift.’ – Margaret Lee Runbeck
‘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
‘An apology given just to appease one’s conscience is self-serving and better left unspoken!’ – Evinda Lepins
‘You can always say sorry, But the real apology is when you hear the sadness in their voice and see the look in their eyes. And you realize that they have hurt themselves just as much.’ – Kid Cudi
‘A meaningful apology is one that communicates three R’s: regret, responsibility, and remedy.’ – Beverley Engel
‘The art of a sincere and heartfelt apology is one of the greatest skills you will ever learn.’ – Jeanette LeBlanc
‘A genuine apology is like an eleventh-hour rain on a dusty crop. Grossly overdue, but miraculously just in time.’ – Jacqueline A. Bussie
‘I wish for you the wisdom to realize that forgiveness has nothing to do with an apology.’ – Steve Maraboli
‘An apology can be a wonderful thing so long as it is infrequent and from the heart. However, beware of the person who justifies bad behavior with apologies. For them, it is a means to an end, and quite often at your expense.’ – Gary Hopkins
‘A sincere and warmly-expressed apology can produce the same effects as morphine on a suffering soul.’ – Richelle E. Goodrich
‘Apologies aren’t meant to change the past, they are meant to change the future.’
Kevin Hancock
‘In order for there to be peace, it may mean that a person needs to apologize for a wrong spirit or attitude. – Stanford Murrell
‘Forgive me for being so ordinary while claiming to know so extraordinary a God.’ – Jim Elliot
‘I believe that things should be let go once they are discussed. Apology accepted. End of story.’ – Brad Goreski
‘If an apology is followed by an excuse or a reason, it means they are going to commit the same mistake again they just apologized for.’ – Amit Kalantri
Forgive me. I’m sorry quotes
‘Saying ‘I’m sorry is saying ‘I love you with a wounded heart in one hand and your smothered pride in the other.’ – Richelle E. Goodrich
‘It is incredible how many hertz can be healed by the two words, ‘I’m sorry.” – Matshona Dhliwayo
‘When you forgive, you free your soul. But when you say I’m sorry you free two souls.’
Donald L. Hicks
‘Be the hero of hearts; learn to say I’m sorry.’ – Richelle E. Goodrich
‘I have learned that sometimes “sorry” is not enough. Sometimes you actually have to change.’ – Claire London
‘Apologize quickly when you wrong someone, because ‘I’m sorry has no value in the grave.’
Lakesha Cruise
‘Never forget the nine most important words of any family – I love you. You are beautiful. Please forgive me.’ – H. Jackson Brown Jr
‘Play fair. Don’t hit people. Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.’ – Robert Fulghum
‘It’s very hard for me to say I’m sorry… but I do.’ – Joe Nichols
Relationship forgiveness quotes
‘I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.’ – Abraham Lincoln
‘Let us forgive each other — only then will we live in peace.’ – Leo Tolstoy
‘Without forgiveness and love, you will live with resentment, bitterness, malice, and strife which result in more pain. You can never love without forgiving. Forgiveness deepens your ability to love and frees you from pain.’
Kemi Sogunle
‘If our hearts are filled with unconditional love and true forgiveness, we are sure to experience miracles in our lives.’ – Michael Mirdad
‘Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.’ – Corrie ten Boom
‘We are told that people stay in love because of chemistry, or because they remain intrigued with each other, because of many kindnesses, because of luck. But part of it has got to be forgiveness and gratefulness.’ – Ellen Goodman
‘To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.’ – Lewis B. Smedes
‘Once a woman has forgiven her man, she must not reheat his sins for breakfast.’
Marlene Dietrich
‘Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.’ – Gautama Buddha
‘As long as you don’t forgive, who and whatever it is will occupy a rent-free space in your mind.’ – Isabelle Holland
‘The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.’ – Mahatma Gandhi
‘It is important that we forgive ourselves for making mistakes. We need to learn from our errors and move on.’ – Steve Maraboli
‘When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free.’ – Katherine Ponder
‘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. – Lewis B. Smedes
‘There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love.’
Bryant H. McGill
‘Life is an adventure in forgiveness.’ – Norman Cousins
‘Without forgiveness life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.’ – Roberto Assagioli
‘Forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you are.’ – Cherie Carter-Scott
‘A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.’
Robert Quillen
Why is it important to apologize?
An apology is recognizing that you hurt someone and offering them your sorry words to let them know you understand what you did.
A good apology can be reparative – knowing that someone is remorseful for what they did can help us feel empathy and make us more likely to forgive them when they hurt us.
How to apologize
More important than a general apology is a sincere one. A good, heartfelt apology is made up of the following elements:
- Acceptance of responsibility
- Awareness of what went wrong
- Remorse
- A verbal apology
- Commitment to making amends
Why is it important to forgive?
Just as it’s essential to know how to apologize, it’s also important to understand how to accept apologies. Forgiveness can be tough for someone who has hurt you, but understand that forgiveness is not always about the other person.
When we hold onto grudges and resentment, we do a greater disservice to ourselves than to the other person. Forgiveness offers many personal benefits, such as:
1. A healthier relationship with other areas of your life
Not forgiving someone leads to resentment and prolonged anger that can affect other areas of your life. When your mind is consumed with negative feelings and even a desire for revenge toward someone, you’re less able to be present and loving in other areas of your life.
2. Less stress
Anger, resentment, and hostility keep your cortisol levels high. Cortisol is one of the body’s stress hormones, and a high level of it in the system is strongly associated with the onset or provocation of mental and physical health issues, including depression, anxiety, cardiovascular issues, and a weakened immune system.
3. Improved relationships
Real forgiveness can lead to a healthier and more mature relationship dynamic. Forgiveness is a matter of looking within, and the increased self-awareness that comes with it boosts your awareness of the other person and what you two are trying to achieve within the relationship.
Conclusion
Hopefully, the quotes about apologies and forgiveness included above have inspired you to apologize or forgive in your own life.
If you have an apology to make, do your best to make it sincere. A fake apology means you’re not being your authentic self, which has consequences for your relationship and your life.
Finally, remember to be patient with yourself if you struggle to forgive someone. It’s important to eventually forgive, not just for the relationship but for your own health and well-being.
Still, don’t fake forgiveness. If you tell someone that you forgive them, but in reality, you don’t just yet, you’ll do a great disservice to yourself, that person, and the relationship between you.
Take all the time you need to forgive so that when you eventually do, it’s genuine.
