--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Not to forgive is to be imprisoned by the…" description: "\"“Not to forgive is to be imprisoned by the past, by old grievances that do not permit life to proceed with new business. Not to forgive is to yield one..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/lance-morrow-17667_business_not-to-forgive-is-to-be-imprisoned-by-th_531574.jpg" --- # Not to forgive is to be imprisoned by the past, by old… ![“Not to forgive is to be imprisoned by the past, by old grievances that do not permit life to proceed with new business. Not to forgive is to yield oneself to another's control... to be locked into a sequence of act and response, of outrage and revenge, tit for tat, escalating always. The present…” quote by Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/lance-morrow-17667_business_not-to-forgive-is-to-be-imprisoned-by-th_531574.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/lance-morrow-17667_business_not-to-forgive-is-to-be-imprisoned-by-th_531574.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/lance-morrow-17667_business_not-to-forgive-is-to-be-imprisoned-by-th_531574.jpg) > ““Not to forgive is to be imprisoned by the past, by old grievances that do not permit life to proceed with new business. Not to forgive is to yield oneself to another's control... to be locked into a sequence of act and response, of outrage and revenge, tit for tat, escalating always. The present is endlessly overwhelmed and devoured by the past. Forgiveness frees the forgiver. It extracts the forgiver from someone else's nightmare.”” [Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Forgiveness releases one from being trapped by past grievances, allowing forward movement and personal freedom. **In simple terms:** Forgiving frees you from past pain. Key Takeaway Choose forgiveness to move forward. Themes forgiveness freedom psychology conflict resolution Mood reflective hopeful serene Type philosophical motivational psychological When to use this quote - relationship counseling - personal reflection - conflict mediation Key Concepts release personal growth emotional health Questions to Reflect On - What would you gain by forgiving? - When is forgiveness harmful? A Different Perspective Forgiveness can be difficult when injustice is severe. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Forgiveness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgiveness/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Tit For Tat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tit-for-tat/) ## Related quotes > [Not to forgive is to be imprisoned by the past, by old grievances that do not permit life to proceed with new business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/not-to-forgive-is-to-be-imprisoned-by-the-past-by-old-grievances-that-2/) [Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/) > [Forgiveness frees the forgiver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/forgiveness-frees-the-forgiver/) [Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/) > [“My business is to forgive others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-kristian-goldmund-aumann/my-business-is-to-forgive-others/) sir kristian goldmund aumann > [“Forgiveness was such a tricky business. One could forgive with all sincerity one moment and then be overcome by feelings of anger and ill-use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-harbaugh/forgiveness-was-such-a-tricky-business-one-could-forgive-with-all/) Claudia Harbaugh > [Waiting for our parents to love us finally perpetuates feelings of being a victim while letting go of the past, forgiveness and gratitude propagate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/waiting-for-our-parents-to-love-us-finally-perpetuates-feelings-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Forgiveness allows us to live in the sunlight of the present, not the darkness of the past. Forgiveness alone, of all our human actions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-nerburn/forgiveness-allows-us-to-live-in-the-sunlight-of-the-present-not-the/) [Kent Nerburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-nerburn/) > [Forgiveness is a stunning principal, your ticket out of hate and fear and chaos. I know what regret feels like; I've earned my credentials.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-johnson/forgiveness-is-a-stunning-principal-your-ticket-out-of-hate-and-fear/) [Barbara Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-johnson/) > [The only cure of the pain of past is forgiveness. And realizing the fact that everyone deserves to have another chance in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/the-only-cure-of-the-pain-of-past-is-forgiveness-and-realizing-the/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [Forgiveness is for yourself because it frees you. It lets you out of that prison you put yourself in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/forgiveness-is-for-yourself-because-it-frees-you-it-lets-you-out-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Peace cannot come without the engagement of those who have been before. Gen. Dostum will make peace possible. He was engaged in conflict of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashraf-ghani/peace-cannot-come-without-the-engagement-of-those-who-have-been/) [Ashraf Ghani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashraf-ghani/) > [“Forgiveness also frees you from the unbearable weight of holding on to an offense. It has been said that holding on to unforgiveness is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voddie-baucham-jr/forgiveness-also-frees-you-from-the-unbearable-weight-of-holding-on/) [Voddie Baucham Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voddie-baucham-jr/) > [We can carry the burden of hurt throughout our lives. We can make the hurt that we have experienced the defining aspect of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/we-can-carry-the-burden-of-hurt-throughout-our-lives-we-can-make-the/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [“forgiveness helps people control their emotions so they maintain good judgment. They do not waste precious energy trapped in anger and hurt over things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-luskin/forgiveness-helps-people-control-their-emotions-so-they-maintain-good/) Frederic Luskin > [“Although many successful givers start from the default of trusting others’ intentions, they’re also careful to scan their environments to screen for potential takers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-m-grant/although-many-successful-givers-start-from-the-default-of-trusting/) [Adam M. Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-m-grant/) > [“I’d be more than happy to let you survey my physical perfection in its entirety. But only if I get to see you, too.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-dare/i-d-be-more-than-happy-to-let-you-survey-my-physical-perfection-in/) [Tessa Dare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-dare/) ## More by Lance Morrow > [As American productivity, once the exuberant engine of national wealth, has dipped to an embarrassingly uncompetitive low, Americans have shaken their heads: the country's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/as-american-productivity-once-the-exuberant-engine-of-national-wealth/) [Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/) > [Human ingenuity has given centuries to the goal of ensuring that the human body might move around at an even 68 degrees all year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/human-ingenuity-has-given-centuries-to-the-goal-of-ensuring-that-the/) [Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/) > [Vatican II was a force that seized the mind of the Roman Catholic Church and carried it across centuries from the 13th to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/vatican-ii-was-a-force-that-seized-the-mind-of-the-roman-catholic/) [Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/) > [ Over the years, he \[Everett Dirksen\] developed a style of infinitely subtle fustian, whose effect can still be remotely approximated by sipping twelve-year-old bourbon,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/over-the-years-he-everett-dirksen-developed-a-style-of-infinitely/) [Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/) > [Not to forgive is to be imprisoned by the past, by old grievances that do not permit life to proceed with new business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/not-to-forgive-is-to-be-imprisoned-by-the-past-by-old-grievances-that-2/) [Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/) > [Religious hatreds tend to be merciless and absolute.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/religious-hatreds-tend-to-be-merciless-and-absolute/) [Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/) > [People travel because it teaches them things they could learn no other way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/people-travel-because-it-teaches-them-things-they-could-learn-no/) [Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/) > [Africa has a genious for extremes, for the beginning and the end. It seems simultaneously connected to some memory of Eden and to some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/africa-has-a-genious-for-extremes-for-the-beginning-and-the-end-it/) [Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/) > [Forgiveness frees the forgiver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/forgiveness-frees-the-forgiver/) [Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/) > [“Evil possesses an instinct for theater, which is why, in an era of gaudy and gifted media, evil may vastly magnify its damage by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/evil-possesses-an-instinct-for-theater-which-is-why-in-an-era-of/) [Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/) > [“America needs to relearn a lost discipline, self-confident relentlessness...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/america-needs-to-relearn-a-lost-discipline-self-confident/) [Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/) > [Never forget the power of silence, that massively disconcerting pause which goes on and on and may last induce an opponent to babble and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/never-forget-the-power-of-silence-that-massively-disconcerting-pause/) [Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/) > [The Clinton's secret is that they live in a morally discontinuous universe-events do not have consequences, and what happened 15 minutes ago has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/the-clinton-s-secret-is-that-they-live-in-a-morally-discontinuous/) [Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/) > [Never try to wear a hat that has more character than you do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/never-try-to-wear-a-hat-that-has-more-character-than-you-do/) [Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/) > [A rattlesnake loose in the living room tends to end all discussion of animal rights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/a-rattlesnake-loose-in-the-living-room-tends-to-end-all-discussion-of/) [Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/) [Explore all 36 Lance Morrow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/) ## More Business quotes > [Companies with cultures that celebrate diverse opinions and encourage the exchange of ideas have an advantage when solving difficult problems. A company that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-mcmillon/companies-with-cultures-that-celebrate-diverse-opinions-and-encourage/) [Doug McMillon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-mcmillon/) > [You can laugh at me, but I understand show business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ksenia-sobchak/you-can-laugh-at-me-but-i-understand-show-business/) [Ksenia Sobchak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ksenia-sobchak/) > [“Start a business, not a startup”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/start-a-business-not-a-startup/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [I'm a business first and foremost so whatever my business is, it's separate from my personal. It's like whatever I do business wise, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/snoop-dogg/i-m-a-business-first-and-foremost-so-whatever-my-business-is-it-s/) [Snoop Dogg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/snoop-dogg/) > [Many early-stage entrepreneurs make one simple mistake: Describing this 'big picture' in vague concepts and words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunil-nagaraj/many-early-stage-entrepreneurs-make-one-simple-mistake-describing/) [Sunil Nagaraj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunil-nagaraj/) > [Nobody has a crystal ball, and part of evolving a business plan is to say, 'I might have said we're going left, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-kavanaugh/nobody-has-a-crystal-ball-and-part-of-evolving-a-business-plan-is-to/) [Ryan Kavanaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-kavanaugh/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [ “\[S\]ometimes, when you are a food person, the possible irrelevance of what you are doing doesn’t cross your mind until it’s too late. (Once,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-ephron/s-ometimes-when-you-are-a-food-person-the-possible-irrelevance-of/) [Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-ephron/) > [If you have a different mindset, you will have a different outcome: if you make different choices from your peers, your life will then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-ma/if-you-have-a-different-mindset-you-will-have-a-different-outcome-if/) [Jack Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-ma/) > [“Some say the Earth is angry Because he wants no company; I say the Earth is angry Because he lives alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/some-say-the-earth-is-angry-because-he-wants-no-company-i-say-the/) [N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/) > [ If the State does not acquire supremacy over \[vast private\] enterprises, it becomes their puppet, and they become the real State. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/if-the-state-does-not-acquire-supremacy-over-vast-private-enterprises/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [It's not just that families can't buy a home or start a business without some savings tucked away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cooper/it-s-not-just-that-families-can-t-buy-a-home-or-start-a-business/) [Jim Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cooper/) > [I'm not into business at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-mercury/i-m-not-into-business-at-all/) [Freddie Mercury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-mercury/) > [I've long believed one of the mainsprings of our own liberty has been the widespread ownership of property among our people and the expectation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/i-ve-long-believed-one-of-the-mainsprings-of-our-own-liberty-has-been/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) [Browse all 39,016 Business quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Not to forgive is to be imprisoned by the past, by old grievances that do not permit life to proceed with new business. Not to forgive is to yield oneself to another's control... to be locked into a sequence of act and response, of outrage and revenge, tit for tat, escalating always. The present is endlessly overwhelmed and devoured by the past. Forgiveness frees the forgiver. It extracts the forgiver from someone else's nightmare.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lance Morrow" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/not-to-forgive-is-to-be-imprisoned-by-the-past-by-old-grievances-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Business" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/not-to-forgive-is-to-be-imprisoned-by-the-past-by-old-grievances-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/lance-morrow-17667_business_not-to-forgive-is-to-be-imprisoned-by-th_531574.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/lance-morrow-17667_business_not-to-forgive-is-to-be-imprisoned-by-th_531574.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/lance-morrow-17667_business_not-to-forgive-is-to-be-imprisoned-by-th_531574.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Not to forgive is to be imprisoned by the past, by old grievances that do not permit life to proceed with…” — Lance Morrow", "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": "Lance Morrow", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Not to forgive is to be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/not-to-forgive-is-to-be-imprisoned-by-the-past-by-old-grievances-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/not-to-forgive-is-to-be-imprisoned-by-the-past-by-old-grievances-that/#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 } } ] } ```