--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I will never forgive the boys who raped…" description: "\"“I will never forgive the boys who raped me and I am a thousand percent comfortable with that because forgiving them will not free me from anything. I”..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73b/roxane-gay-520_forgive_i-will-never-forgive-the-boys-who-raped_2354450.png" --- # I will never forgive the boys who raped me and I am a… ![“I will never forgive the boys who raped me and I am a thousand percent comfortable with that because forgiving them will not free me from anything. I” quote by Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73b/roxane-gay-520_forgive_i-will-never-forgive-the-boys-who-raped_2354450.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73b/roxane-gay-520_forgive_i-will-never-forgive-the-boys-who-raped_2354450.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73b/roxane-gay-520_forgive_i-will-never-forgive-the-boys-who-raped_2354450.png) > ““I will never forgive the boys who raped me and I am a thousand percent comfortable with that because forgiving them will not free me from anything. I”” [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She refuses to forgive her rapists, asserting that forgiveness would not liberate her, emphasizing personal agency over societal expectations. **In simple terms:** She chooses not to forgive because it wouldn't free her. Key Takeaway Honor personal boundaries and self‑definition. Themes trauma justice personal agency forgiveness Mood defiant reflective Type personal ethical When to use this quote - therapy - activism - support groups - public discourse Key Concepts self‑empowerment psychological autonomy ethical stance Questions to Reflect On - How does refusing forgiveness affect healing? - When is forgiveness beneficial or harmful? A Different Perspective Forgiveness can be a complex, personal choice, not a universal remedy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Forgiveness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgiveness/) [Forgiving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgiving/) ## Related quotes > [Dont cry over a guy, let the guy cry over you, because girls give and forgive, but boys get and forget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana/dont-cry-over-a-guy-let-the-guy-cry-over-you-because-girls-give-and/) [Ana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana/) > [Don't cry for a boy , let hem cry for you , because girls give & forgive , & boys get & forget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spido/don-t-cry-for-a-boy-let-hem-cry-for-you-because-girls-give-forgive/) Spido > [Dont cry for a boy. Let him cry for you. Because girls give and forgive, and boys get and forget.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dont-cry-for-a-boy-let-him-cry-for-you-because-girls-give-and-forgive/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Politicians can forgive almost anything in the way of abuse; they can forgive subversion, revolution, being contradicted, exposed as liars, even ridiculed, but they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-waugh/politicians-can-forgive-almost-anything-in-the-way-of-abuse-they-can/) [Auberon Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-waugh/) > [Life is too short to waste time harboring bad feelings about anyone. Forgive, forget, then move on!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-austin/life-is-too-short-to-waste-time-harboring-bad-feelings-about-anyone/) [Denise Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-austin/) > [Be gentle with yourself, learn to love yourself, to forgive yourself, for only as we have the right attitude toward ourselves can we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilferd-peterson/be-gentle-with-yourself-learn-to-love-yourself-to-forgive-yourself/) [Wilferd Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilferd-peterson/) > [“Forgiveness is the process of dropping off your emotional baggage.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-fargo/forgiveness-is-the-process-of-dropping-off-your-emotional-baggage/) [Tim Fargo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-fargo/) > [We must not forget; but we must forgive. Suffering often such compassion from the Jewish community. It was Jewish groups in the US who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/we-must-not-forget-but-we-must-forgive-suffering-often-such/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [Women will forgive anything. Otherwise, the race would have died out long ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/women-will-forgive-anything-otherwise-the-race-would-have-died-out/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [The Bible says forgive your debtors; the world says "sue them for their dough."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-sunday/the-bible-says-forgive-your-debtors-the-world-says-sue-them-for-their/) [Billy Sunday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-sunday/) > [The more you rejoice in your own forgiveness, the quicker you will be to forgive others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/the-more-you-rejoice-in-your-own-forgiveness-the-quicker-you-will-be/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [More courage is required to forgive than is required to take up arms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ramos-horta/more-courage-is-required-to-forgive-than-is-required-to-take-up-arms/) [Jose Ramos-Horta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ramos-horta/) > [If you can't forgive and forget, pick only one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-brault/if-you-can-t-forgive-and-forget-pick-only-one/) [Robert Brault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-brault/) > [Forgive yourself for not being the richest, the thinnest, the tallest, the one with the best hair. Forgive yourself for not being the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/forgive-yourself-for-not-being-the-richest-the-thinnest-the-tallest/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [Forgive us our trespasses," says Margarethe, "and get out of our way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/forgive-us-our-trespasses-says-margarethe-and-get-out-of-our-way/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) ## More by Roxane Gay > [“Human endurance fascinates me, probably too much because more often than not, I think of life in terms of enduring instead of living.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/human-endurance-fascinates-me-probably-too-much-because-more-often/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“Being useful was a balm.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/being-useful-was-a-balm/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [No woman or man is any one thing and the men in my stories, well, some of them are good and some of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/no-woman-or-man-is-any-one-thing-and-the-men-in-my-stories-well-some/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“I was a daydreamer and I resented being pulled out of my daydreams to deal with the business of living.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-was-a-daydreamer-and-i-resented-being-pulled-out-of-my-daydreams-to/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [Feminism is, I hope, a way to a better future for everyone who inhabits this world. Feminism should not be something that needs a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/feminism-is-i-hope-a-way-to-a-better-future-for-everyone-who-inhabits/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [Fiction offers escape but it also interrogates the world we live in, whether the past, present or future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/fiction-offers-escape-but-it-also-interrogates-the-world-we-live-in/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“I've noticed while cooking, how ingredients in their individual and naked state and be a bit repulsive but necessary, kind of like people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-ve-noticed-while-cooking-how-ingredients-in-their-individual-and/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“I shouted, “This is not right,” knowing my words were useless. 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I worry that little will come of these discussions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/there-has-been-and-there-will-continue-to-be-vigorous-discussions/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [Writing, at its best and truest, can offer solace and salvation for both readers and writers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/writing-at-its-best-and-truest-can-offer-solace-and-salvation-for/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“I knew I was in love with The Hunger Games when I did not want to get off the treadmill”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-knew-i-was-in-love-with-the-hunger-games-when-i-did-not-want-to-get/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“Just because you survive something does not mean you are strong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/just-because-you-survive-something-does-not-mean-you-are-strong/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“Celebrities understand the economy of thinness, and most of them are willing to participate in that economy, taking to social media, where they pose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/celebrities-understand-the-economy-of-thinness-and-most-of-them-are/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) [Explore all 503 Roxane Gay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) ## More Forgive quotes > [“So in practicing blanket forgiveness you first assume that in any current condition of pain or discomfort there is some anger involved, even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/serge-kahili-king/so-in-practicing-blanket-forgiveness-you-first-assume-that-in-any/) Serge Kahili King > [Do what is given to you, and do it well, and you will have done enough...live together in the forgiveness of your sins. Forgive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-what-is-given-to-you-and-do-it-well-and-you-will-have-done-enough/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The public, more often than not, will forgive mistakes, but it will not forgive trying to wiggle out of one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-grizzard/the-public-more-often-than-not-will-forgive-mistakes-but-it-will-not/) [Lewis Grizzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-grizzard/) > [Im so sorry,i screwed up again.i didnt meant hurting you.please,forgive me,again?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/redeyeen/im-so-sorry-i-screwed-up-again-i-didnt-meant-hurting-you-please/) Redeyeen > [“He fell back. 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Forgive yourself for not being the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/forgive-yourself-for-not-being-the-richest-the-thinnest-the-tallest/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [If you can't forgive and forget, pick only one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-brault/if-you-can-t-forgive-and-forget-pick-only-one/) [Robert Brault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-brault/) > [I feel people relate with your entire journey and forgive your mistakes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rahul-vaidya/i-feel-people-relate-with-your-entire-journey-and-forgive-your/) [Rahul Vaidya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rahul-vaidya/) > [More courage is required to forgive than is required to take up arms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ramos-horta/more-courage-is-required-to-forgive-than-is-required-to-take-up-arms/) [Jose Ramos-Horta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ramos-horta/) > [“The Bible says, “You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. 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