Forgiveness does not mean condoning what has been done. Forgiving means abandoning your right to pay back the perpetrator in his own coin.
Interpretation
Forgiveness is about letting go of resentment, not excusing wrongdoing.
This quote by Desmond Tutu emphasizes the true essence of forgiveness. It clarifies that forgiving someone does not equate to accepting or condoning their actions; rather, it involves relinquishing the desire for revenge or retribution. Such an act of forgiveness is not only a personal liberation from anger and hurt but also a moral stance that emphasizes compassion over vengeance.
In practice
In a public speaking event discussing conflict resolution, one might say, 'As Desmond Tutu wisely stated, forgiveness does not mean condoning what's done...'
The fossil reserves that have already been discovered exceed what can ever be safely used. Yet companies spend half a trillion dollars each year searching for more fuel. They should redirect this money toward developing clean energy solutions
As much as the world has an instinct for evil and is a breeding ground for genocide, holocaust, slavery, racism, war, oppression, and injustice, the world has an even greateer instinct for goodness, rebirth, mercy, beauty, truth, freedom and love.
When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.
Children are a wonderful gift. They have an extraordinary capacity to see into the heart of things and to expose sham and humbug for what they are.
Religion is like a knife: you can either use it to cut bread, or stick in someone's back.
Gaza is going to test who believes in the worth of human beings.
Try to acquire the virtues you believe lacking in your brothers. Then you will no longer see their defects, for you will no longer have them yourself.
For the people who ostensibly wish me well or are worried about my immortal soul, I say I take it kindly.
I don't write a book so that it will be the final word; I write a book so that other books are possible, not necessarily written by me.
or the first time in my life I understood the meaning of the word never. And it's really awful. You say the word a hundred times a day but you don't really know what you're saying until you're faced with a real "never again."
Others may try to feed our ego, but it is up to us to constrain it.
First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.