Happy people are not their own enemies, do not carry on an endless war with their souls. We may be fiercely at… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
If you cannot free people from their wrongs and see them as the needy people they are, you enslave yourself to your… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Don't do it quickly, but don't wait too long... If we wait too long to forgive, our rage settles in and claims… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Gandhi was right: if we all live by 'an eye for an eye' the whole world will be blind. The only way… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Spoken forgiveness, no matter how heartfelt, works best when we do not demand the response we want. I mean that when we… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
If we say that monsters [people who do terrible evil] are beyond forgiving, we give them a power they should never have...they… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Once we have forgiven, however, we get a new freedom to forget. This time forgetting is a sign of health; it is… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
I am personally thankful that we live together in a large moral house even if we do not drink at the same… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
The moments of grace usually give us more than one good thing we can do, and we do well if we manage… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
You and I were created for joy, and if we miss it we miss the reason for our existence. If our joy… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Can you stop your memory on a dime, put it in reverse, and spin it in another direction the way you can… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
When we forgive someone, we do not forget the hurtful act, as if forgetting came along with the forgiveness package, the way… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
When you give up vengeance, make sure you are not giving up on justice. The line between the two is faint, unsteady,… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Nothing is more private than a woman's body; it is her physical, emotional, and moral citadel. She cannot be free at all if she… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
...Forgiving is not having to understand. Understanding may come later, in fragments, an insight here and a glimpse there, after forgiving. — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
The God who has the whole world in his hands has grace for the whole world in his heart. — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Nobody sees reality whole; we all need others to show us the parts of it that they see better than we do. Nobody sees… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
I have discovered that most people who tell me that they cannot forgive a person who wronged them are handicapped by a mistaken understanding… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Spoken forgiveness, no matter how heartfelt, works best when we do not demand the response we want. I mean that when we tell people… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
We feel properly embarrassed when we are caught doing something that makes us look inept, knuckleheaded, or inappropriate. Maybe the difference is this: we… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
When I feel the joy of receiving a gift my heart nudges me to join creation's ballet, the airy dance of giving and receiving,… — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Our sense of fairness tells us that people should pay for the wrong they do. — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
Gratitude is the best feeling I would ever have, the ultimate joy of living. — Lewis B. Smedes Copy Share Image
![“If we say that monsters [people who do terrible evil] are beyond forgiving, we give them a power they should never have...they are given the power to keep their evil alive in the hearts of those who suffered most. We give them power to condemn their victims to live forever with the hurting memory…” quote by Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/73a/lewis-b-smedes-4850_alive_if-we-say-that-monsters-people-who-do-te_940482.jpg)
