--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are some things that are so…" description: "\"There are some things that are so unforgivable that they make other things easily forgivable.\" — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f0/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-505_impossible_there-are-some-things-that-are-so-unforg_1408243.png" --- # There are some things that are so unforgivable that they… ![“There are some things that are so unforgivable that they make other things easily forgivable.” quote by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f0/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-505_impossible_there-are-some-things-that-are-so-unforg_1408243.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f0/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-505_impossible_there-are-some-things-that-are-so-unforg_1408243.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f0/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-505_impossible_there-are-some-things-that-are-so-unforg_1408243.png) > “There are some things that are so unforgivable that they make other things easily forgivable.” [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Some offenses are so severe they make other wrongs seem minor, highlighting a hierarchy of moral gravity. **In simple terms:** Severe offenses outweigh lesser ones. Key Takeaway Recognize moral hierarchies. Themes ethics forgiveness severity Mood thoughtful empathetic Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - legal sentencing - restorative practices - personal relationships - public apologies Key Concepts moral judgment relativism justice Questions to Reflect On - How do we assess moral weight? - When should forgiveness be granted? A Different Perspective Severity can be subjective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Easily Forgivable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easily-forgivable-4954539/) [Forgivable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgivable-535370/) [Impossible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impossible/) [Things Unforgivable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-unforgivable-4954538/) [Unforgivable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unforgivable/) [Unforgivable Make](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unforgivable-make-4954540/) ## Related quotes > [Truth may hurt but it sets you free and makes you feel more forgivable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/truth-may-hurt-but-it-sets-you-free-and-makes-you-feel-more-forgivable/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them. - Bruce Lee”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-langston/mistakes-are-always-forgivable-if-one-has-the-courage-to-admit-them-2/) [K. Langston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-langston/) > [“Weakness is acceptable, forgivable, around family. But not when lives and wars hang in the balance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-aveyard/weakness-is-acceptable-forgivable-around-family-but-not-when-lives/) [Victoria Aveyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-aveyard/) > [People do bad things in their lives. And those sort of things are forgivable. That's half the point of having confession in church -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/macaulay-culkin/people-do-bad-things-in-their-lives-and-those-sort-of-things-are/) [Macaulay Culkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/macaulay-culkin/) > [Everything is forgivable if you leave after a one night stand, as long as you were good in bed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/everything-is-forgivable-if-you-leave-after-a-one-night-stand-as-long/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [“His action was inexcusable, but it was forgivable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ingerson/his-action-was-inexcusable-but-it-was-forgivable/) [David Ingerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ingerson/) > [Few books today are forgivable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/few-books-today-are-forgivable/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [Mistakes are mistakes..but they arent always forgivable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/km-ii/mistakes-are-mistakes-but-they-arent-always-forgivable/) [KM II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/km-ii/) > [At the end of the day, a loving family should find everything forgivable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-v-olsen/at-the-end-of-the-day-a-loving-family-should-find-everything/) [Mark V. Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-v-olsen/) > [“Deep down inside, each of us knows what our truths are. It is forgivable to lose them...It is unforgivable not to reclaim them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holli-kenley/deep-down-inside-each-of-us-knows-what-our-truths-are-it-is/) [Holli Kenley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holli-kenley/) > [Few books today are forgivable. Black on canvas, silence on the screen, an empty white sheet of paper are perhaps feasible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/few-books-today-are-forgivable-black-on-canvas-silence-on-the-screen/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [A mistake is always forgivable, rarely excusable and always unacceptable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fripp/a-mistake-is-always-forgivable-rarely-excusable-and-always/) [Robert Fripp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fripp/) > [Mistakes are almost always forgivable if you have the courage to admit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/mistakes-are-almost-always-forgivable-if-you-have-the-courage-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/mistakes-are-always-forgivable-if-one-has-the-courage-to-admit-them/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [My experience of people is that they are infinitely forgivable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bettany/my-experience-of-people-is-that-they-are-infinitely-forgivable/) [Paul Bettany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bettany/) ## More by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie > [“What I’ve noticed being here is that many English people are in awe of America but also deeply resent it,” Obinze added. “Perfectly true,”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/what-i-ve-noticed-being-here-is-that-many-english-people-are-in-awe/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [If you followed the media you'd think that everybody in Africa was starving to death, and that's not the case; so it's important to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/if-you-followed-the-media-you-d-think-that-everybody-in-africa-was/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [“Because human beings lived then in a world in which physical strength was the most important attribute for survival; the physically stronger person was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/because-human-beings-lived-then-in-a-world-in-which-physical-strength/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [To return to the books of my childhood is to yield to the strain of nostalgia that is curious about the self I once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/to-return-to-the-books-of-my-childhood-is-to-yield-to-the-strain-of/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [I think white women need to wake up and say, 'Not all women are white,' three times in front of the mirror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/i-think-white-women-need-to-wake-up-and-say-not-all-women-are-white/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings in the way that boys are. If we have sons, we don't mind knowing about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/we-teach-girls-that-they-cannot-be-sexual-beings-in-the-way-that-boys/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [“Alexa, and the other guests, and perhaps even Georgina, all understood the fleeing from war, from the kind of poverty that crushed human souls,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/alexa-and-the-other-guests-and-perhaps-even-georgina-all-understood/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [“I discovered race in America and it fascinated me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/i-discovered-race-in-america-and-it-fascinated-me/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [“It was not as if he did not know what living in Lagos could do to a woman married to a young and wealthy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/it-was-not-as-if-he-did-not-know-what-living-in-lagos-could-do-to-a/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [“They have the kinds of things we can eat.' An unease crept up on Ifemelu. She was comfortable here, and she wished she were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/they-have-the-kinds-of-things-we-can-eat-an-unease-crept-up-on/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [If I were not African, I wonder whether it would be clear to me that Africa is a place where the people do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/if-i-were-not-african-i-wonder-whether-it-would-be-clear-to-me-that/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [“But race is not biology; race is sociology. Race is not genotype; race is phenotype. Race matters because of racism. And racism is absurd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/but-race-is-not-biology-race-is-sociology-race-is-not-genotype-race/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [I like the U.S. and feel gratitude towards it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/i-like-the-u-s-and-feel-gratitude-towards-it/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [I’m very feminist in the way I look at the world, and that worldview must somehow be part of my work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/i-m-very-feminist-in-the-way-i-look-at-the-world-and-that-worldview/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [Perhaps it is time to debate culture. The common story is that in 'real' African culture, before it was tainted by the West, gender…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/perhaps-it-is-time-to-debate-culture-the-common-story-is-that-in-real/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) [Explore all 491 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) ## More Impossible quotes > [Making movies seemed so impossible as far as getting my ideas funded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boots-riley/making-movies-seemed-so-impossible-as-far-as-getting-my-ideas-funded/) [Boots Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boots-riley/) > [All Germany was in turmoil. Revolutionaries seized power in the cities of Munich, Hanover and Cologne. One regional German government after another was toppled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cross-giblin/all-germany-was-in-turmoil-revolutionaries-seized-power-in-the-cities/) [James Cross Giblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cross-giblin/) > [Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt. That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-ochs/even-though-you-can-t-expect-to-defeat-the-absurdity-of-the-world-you/) [Phil Ochs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-ochs/) > [History is, in its essentials, the science of change. It knows and it teaches that it is impossible to find two events that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-bloch/history-is-in-its-essentials-the-science-of-change-it-knows-and-it/) [Marc Bloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-bloch/) > [We have a fear of facing ourselves. That is the obstacle. Experiencing the innermost core of our existence is very embarrassing to a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/we-have-a-fear-of-facing-ourselves-that-is-the-obstacle-experiencing/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius; and the feminine situation has up to the present rendered this becoming practically impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/one-is-not-born-a-genius-one-becomes-a-genius-and-the-feminine/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [every being is unique.god neva creates carbon copies,he alys creates originals.he is truly a creator.he neva repeats.but man goes on living in imitation.we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-being-is-unique-god-neva-creates-carbon-copies-he-alys-creates/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is not enough to dream of the Impossible Love - it is necessary to conquer it too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/it-is-not-enough-to-dream-of-the-impossible-love-it-is-necessary-to/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [I've heard from the movie marketplace that James Cameron did such a killer job with 'Titanic' that it's almost impossible to do anything better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/i-ve-heard-from-the-movie-marketplace-that-james-cameron-did-such-a/) [Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) > [Among the many factors that make a return to halcyon days of the first decades of the postwar era virtually impossible is the decline…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gilpin/among-the-many-factors-that-make-a-return-to-halcyon-days-of-the/) [Robert Gilpin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gilpin/) > [Ronaldo is just an athlete. He works so hard and back to back; he is always there. But if you work hard, can you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-davids/ronaldo-is-just-an-athlete-he-works-so-hard-and-back-to-back-he-is/) [Edgar Davids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-davids/) > [In such a diversity it was impossible I should be disposed to melancholy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-boone/in-such-a-diversity-it-was-impossible-i-should-be-disposed-to/) [Daniel Boone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-boone/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. 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Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-l-trump/) [Browse all 7,633 Impossible quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impossible/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are some things that are so unforgivable that they make other things easily forgivable.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/there-are-some-things-that-are-so-unforgivable-that-they-make-other/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Impossible" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/there-are-some-things-that-are-so-unforgivable-that-they-make-other/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f0/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-505_impossible_there-are-some-things-that-are-so-unforg_1408243.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f0/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-505_impossible_there-are-some-things-that-are-so-unforg_1408243.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f0/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-505_impossible_there-are-some-things-that-are-so-unforg_1408243.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are some things that are so unforgivable that they make other things easily forgivable.” — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There are some things that are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/there-are-some-things-that-are-so-unforgivable-that-they-make-other/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/there-are-some-things-that-are-so-unforgivable-that-they-make-other/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```