“Compassion disarms the defenses of others. Compassion rarely stimulates anger in others, making hostile or destructive defenses unnecessary, thereby breaking the cycle of reciprocal and escalating aggression. It is virtually impossible to sustain aggression in the face of compassionate behavior.”
— Steven Stosny, The Powerful Self, p. 30
“There is a natural movement to loving, as well. It does not begin and end any more than it remains fixed at one point in our lives. It is continuous and ever expanding, finding abundant expression in new experiences, while living forever in warm memories.”
— Leo Buscaglia, Born for Love, p. 24
“You can disagree completely and still have compassion for one another.”
–Steven Stosny, The Powerful Self, p. 30
“When the players are mature enough and care enough to stop keeping score, the contest is over. Love has declared another victory.”
— Leo Buscaglia, Born for Love, p. 25
“It is not that love is blind, it is, rather, that love sees what is essential.”
— Leo Buscaglia, Born for Love: Reflections on Loving, p. 18
“We can’t forgive: that’s the work of the Spirit. We’re too damaged. But we can be willing. And in the meantime, try not to break his fingers.”
–Anne Lamott, quoting a friend in Grace (Eventually), p. 194
“You’ve got to wonder what Jesus was like at seventeen. They don’t even talk about it in the Bible, he was apparently so awful.”
–Anne Lamott, Grace (Eventually), p. 192
“But forgiveness means that this real and horrible offense shall not separate us. Forgiveness means that we will no longer use the offense to drive a wedge between us, hurting and injuring one another. Forgiveness means that the power of love that holds us together is greater than the power of the offense that separates us. That is forgiveness. In forgiveness we are releasing our offenders so that they are no longer bound to us. In a very real sense we are freeing them to receive God’s grace. We are also inviting our offenders back into the circle of fellowship.”
— Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, p. 188
“Forgiveness is not acting as if things are just the same as before the offense. We must face the fact that things will never be the same. By the grace of God they can be a thousand times better, but they will never again be the same.”
— Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, p. 188
“No, we remember, but in forgiving we no longer use the memory against others.”
– Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, p. 187