What are "Forgive Yourself Quotes"?
Making mistakes is human. However, you may struggle to process guilt from your errors or forgive yourself for past mistakes. However, self-forgiveness is an incredible healing tool that leads to a happier and more fulfilling life.
What is Forgiveness - Oprah's Aha! Moment
Let’s quickly start with the basics and wrap our heads around “forgiveness”. As you watch this Qprah video pay attention to how the definition is about forgiving someone else and then take a moment to reflect on how this could be applied to forgiving yourself.
“Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could be any different.”
The Importance of Self-Forgiveness
Self-forgiveness involves uncomfortable emotions and facts, but it will improve your mental well-being, relationships, career, and physical health. Instead of critiquing yourself for every mistake and failure, you will learn to embrace yourself as an imperfect human being who fails now and then. As a result, you will enjoy peace of mind and focus on things that are important to you.
Watch this TedX Talk on self-forgiveness to see this concept in action.
How "Forgive Yourself Quotes" Can Help You
36 Forgive Yourself Quotes
Quote 1 –
“Forgiveness is choosing to love. It's the first skill of self-giving love.”
Quote 2 –
“Forgiving yourself, not guilt, increases personal accountability.” @DavidDBurnsMD
Quote 3 –
“It’s toughest to forgive ourselves. So it’s probably best to start with other people. It’s almost like peeling an onion. Layer by layer, forgiving others, you really do get to the point where you can forgive yourself.”
Quote 4 –
“If we all hold on to the mistake, we can't see our own glory in the mirror because we have the mistake between our faces and the mirror; we can't see what we're capable of being. You can ask forgiveness of others, but in the end, the real forgiveness is in one's own self.” - @DrMayaAngelou
Quote 5 –
“Forgiveness doesn't change the past, but it does change the future.”
Quote 6 –
“Perhaps, if you knew then what you know now, you would have done it differently. You are a different person today. Forgive yourself, and move on.” - @GermanyKent
Quote 7 –
“Love yourself, accept yourself, forgive yourself, and be good to yourself, because, without you, the rest of us are without a source of many wonderful things.”
Quote 8 –
“Forgiveness is really a gift to yourself – have the compassion to forgive others and the courage to forgive yourself.” – @Ma_Radmacher
Quote 9 –
“We all make mistakes, don’t we? But if you can’t forgive yourself, you’ll always be an exile in your own life.” – @csittenfeld
Quote 10 –
“Forgiveness is for yourself because it frees you. It lets you out of that prison you put yourself in.” – @LouiseHay
Quote 11 –
“All we have to do is forgive ourselves wholly and completely for ever thinking that we aren't good enough!” – @JodiAman
Quote 12 –
“Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any different.” – @Oprah
Quote 13 –
“How unhappy is he who cannot forgive himself.”
Quote 14 –
“The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward.” – @SteveMaraboli
Quote 15 –
“Once you forgive yourself, the self-rejection in your mind is over. Self-acceptance begins, and the self-love will grow so strong that you will finally accept yourself just the way you are. That's the beginning of the free human race. Forgiveness is the key.” – @donMiguelRuiz
Quote 16 –
“Never forget that to forgive yourself is to release trapped energy that could be doing good work in the world.”
Quote 17 –
“The more you know yourself, the more you forgive yourself.”
Quote 18 –
“Forgiveness is man’s deepest need and highest achievement.”
Quote 19 –
“It's such a great moment of liberation when you learn to forgive yourself, let the burden go, and walk out into a new path of promise and possibility.” – @Johnodonohue
Quote 20 –
“Forgiving yourself, believing in yourself, and choosing to love yourself are the best gifts one could receive.” – @BrittBurgunder
Quote 21 –
“Our sorrows and wounds are only healed when we touch them with compassion.”
Quote 22 –
“No one can or will ever feel your pain as much as you. Forgive yourself for the past, seize the gift of the present moment.”
Quote 23 –
“The simple truth is, we all make mistakes, and we all need forgiveness.” – @TheDesmondTutu
Quote 24 –
“True forgiveness is a self-healing process which starts with you and gradually extends to everyone else.” – @drrobertholden
Quote 25 –
“Bring it up, make amends, forgive yourself. It sounds simple, but don’t think for a second that it's easy. Getting free from the tyranny of past mistakes can be hard work, but definitely worth the effort. And the payoff is health, wholeness, and inner peace. In other words, you get your life back”
Quote 26 –
“The journey to forgiveness begins in pain and ends in hope.”
Quote 27 –
“Your inner critic is simply a part of you that needs more self-love.” – @AmyLeighMercree
Quote 28 –
“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”
Quote 29 –
“When we give ourselves self-compassion, we are opening our hearts in a way that can transform our lives.” – @self_compassion
Quote 30 –
“Forgive someone today. Especially if that someone is you.” – @TheGinaGreenlee
Quote 31 –
“The only person we have the right or the power to forgive is ourselves. For everything else, there is the Art of Acceptance.” – @bnidhuibhir
Quote 32 –
“Take a walk through the garden of forgiveness and pick a flower of forgiveness for everything you have ever done. When you get to that time that is now, make a full and total forgiveness of your entire life and smile at the bouquet in your hands because it truly is beautiful.”
Quote 33 –
“To love yourself, you must forgive yourself of your mistakes – all the things you’ve done or left undone.” – @jenapincott
Quote 34 –
“When you forgive, you in no way change the past – but you sure do change the future.” –
Quote 35 –
“When you initially forgive, it's like letting go of a hot iron. There is initial pain, and the scars will show, but you can start living again.”
Quote 36 –
“We forgive others, yet we rarely forgive ourselves. It's time to forgive yourself.” –
7 Tips to Use "Forgive Yourself Quotes"
There are many ways to put forgive yourself quotes to work. You might start by picking two or three that really resonate with you right now. Then you can try using them in multiple ways to internalize and own the ideas being shared through these wise people.
Try to find ways to implement or practice the actual reflection and daily practice so the idea starts becoming the way you think, respond, and act on a daily basis and before you know it you will be more self-compassionate and self-forgiving. Over time you will find you are more empathetic not only to yourself but to others as well.
Here are some ideas to try…
1. Speak some "Forgive Yourself Quotes" to yourself as daily reminders
So I’m a fan of Kristen Neff’s quote “When we give ourselves self-compassion, we are opening our hearts in a way that can transform our lives.”
What if I started saying this 3 times a day as part of my daily routine? I would be planting seeds and reflecting on self-compassion, right? In doing so, my heart would start opening and it would make self-forgiveness easier and more common and this would transform my life.
I could say it in the morning when I wake up, take a moment to say and reflect on it at lunch, and then plant this idea in my consciousness at bedtime. If I did this 3 times a day for a few weeks imagine how this idea would start to seek into my unconscious and become how I start treating myself with kindness and respect on a deeper level.
2. Share them with family and friends on social media to spread positivity
As you become more skilled at your own self-forgiveness you will start to notice when family and friends are being critical of themselves. By having a few of these quotes internalized and memorized you can share them with family and friends.
I like Jena Pincott’s quote “To love yourself, you must forgive yourself of your mistakes – all the things you’ve done or left undone.” You can see that if this is one you internalized and lived – how easy it might be to gently share with family and friends.
If done in a gentle nurturing and supportive way this could really help your friend to remember that practicing self-love means forgiving ourselves even in tough times or when we make mistakes.
Sharing these ideas could become something you do and something you are known for. In my eyes helping people is a really powerful way to live life to the fullest and build deeper connections with friends and family.
“To love yourself, you must forgive yourself of your mistakes – all the things you’ve done or left undone.” – @jenapincott
There are multiple ways you can share – including these…
3. Print and frame one of your favorite forgive myself quotes
I am someone who likes beautiful artwork surrounding me and really enjoy when it is inspirational and supports my growth. You could take a quote and hire an artist or graphic designer to add design style on one of these quotes making it like a piece of art.
Or if you are creative or crafty it might be a fun project to do yourself. You could do a painting, calligraphy, a collage, or needlepoint. Whatever art/craft is in your wheelhouse or that sounds fun.
Imagine creating and viewing a framed piece of art with one of these “forgive yourself quotes” on it. How uplifting could this be? How could the repetition of seeing this quote over and over again be?
4. Make the quotes your phone or computer background
Today we spend a lot of time on computers and smartphones. Why not leverage this by supporting our personal health and growth? Just like the above idea of making a quote a cool piece of art to see on a regular basis in your home, why not do a similar thing for your digital home?
I personally have an inspirational image on my iPhone home screen wallpaper so I am constantly reminded of my goal and what I am working on building in my life and in my business. You can do the same on your phone home screen or lock screen as well as on your computer or tablet. This has been a really powerful reminder for me that keeps me focused on what is important to me and what I am working on in my life.
5. Write them in your journal
I am not a master journaler, but I know journaling can be a powerful self-development and healing tool. You could add the quote(s) you like on the cover of your journal. You might also add it at the top of all your journal pages to review and reflect on as you journal or you could just write the quote from time-to-time.
There is some science that explores how physically writing things down can really help you lock the idea into your mind and/or connect with the concept in a deeper way.
Heck, you might even recall back in high school teachers punishing you by writing some idea to try to work on changing behavior. We are kind of doing the same, but not trying to punish ourselves but we could write a quote 10 times, or 20 times, or 50 times or whatever to help us really lock in some of these powerful ideas and to start applying them to our lives as soon as possible.
We could also read the quote and reflect on how it makes us feel or use them as a writing prompt of sorts to explore either feelings or maybe thoughts on how to apply the concepts more within our life.
6. Print the quotes on t-shirts and mugs
If you like coffee or tea getting these quotes again on a mug that you use often could reinforce the concepts on a regular basis. The same is true with t-shirts. If you are a t-shirt person every day you wear this t-shirt is a day you constantly reflect on the powerful concept. These options also offer the ability to potentially have a conversation about this quote and why it resonates with you which can offer another strong way to connect deeper with the quote by verbalizing it and its meaning to you to a friend.
7. Place the quotes on your vision board
BONUS PRACTICE: Forgive Yourself Quotes used in Meditations
If you know me well, you know I am pretty passionate about meditation. Try using forgive yourself quotes or a single forgive yourself quote as an intention from time-to-time. You could use it for your meditation is another way to just… kind of marinade your mind, body, and spirit in this concept or quote.
It could even become a part of a Metta or Loving Kindness meditation where you add part of it to your verbal cues – “May I learn to forgive myself” or “May I free myself by self-forgiveness” or whatever. You might also explore using a short one while chanting or as a daily mantra.
Forgive Yourself Quotes Conclusion
Self-forgiveness isn’t easy, but it’s necessary to improve physical and mental health. The quotes above will help you kickstart the self-forgiveness journey as you also learn to be compassionate towards yourself.
I hope a few of the quote really resonate with you and that one or two of the tips for using the quotes inspired you to try building a new healthy habit to establish a new or stronger “Forgive Yourself” practice.
Good Luck!
Peace, Love, and Respect to you, my friend!
Want to try adding mindfulness and meditation to your self-care routine? Click below to get several self-compassion meditations to start using as soon as you sign up.
Want to dig deeper into what might be causing the internal struggles and self-criticism? You might want to explore internal limiting beliefs you have. Self-limiting beliefs and being critical on yourself are a real problem that can keep you locked up. Minimize your self-limiting beliefs by understanding them better with the free Limiting Beliefs Assessment Test!