Oscar WildeAttributed
Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.
Source: Widely attributed; no primary source located
Checked quotes about forgiveness
7 quotes with a known source.
Mahatma GandhiSourced
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
Source: Young India (2 April 1931)
Marcus AureliusSourced
The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like the wrong doer.
Source: Meditations 6.6, tr. George Long
Abraham LincolnSourced
With malice toward none, with charity for all…
Source: Second Inaugural Address (4 March 1865)
BuddhaSourced
Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love.
Source: Dhammapada, v. 5, tr. Max Müller
Alexander PopeSourced
To err is human, to forgive divine.
Source: An Essay on Criticism (1711)
Martin Luther King Jr.Sourced
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Source: Strength to Love (1963)
Famous, but not theirs
Quotes about forgiveness that are usually credited to the wrong person.
Mahatma GandhiNot theirs
An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.
Actually: Never found in Gandhi's writings; it became famous through the 1982 film Gandhi. Similar lines appear earlier from others.
BuddhaNot theirs
Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.
Actually: Not in any Buddhist scripture. It is a modern paraphrase loosely based on a commentary by Buddhaghosa (5th century).