“Gandhi was right: if we all live by ‘an eye for an eye’ the whole world will be blind. The only way out is forgiveness.”
— Sidney
International Forgiveness Institute
Share
We believe that forgiveness is a choice. In doing so, an amazing transformation begins. When you forgive, you may benefit the person you forgive.
The International Forgiveness Institute is dedicated to helping people gain knowledge about forgiveness and to use that knowledge for personal, group, and societal renewal. If you have been deeply hurt by another, you can choose to forgive rather than hold on to debilitating anger and resentment. The black clouds of anxiety and depression give way to enhanced self-esteem and genuine feelings of ho
"The decision to forgive is a wonderful way to open up the heart and the mind. Those who focused on their anger before making a decision to forgive often find that, after making the decision, they are able to view the offender in a new light."
(Robert Enright, Forgiveness Is a Choice, p. 140)
"When we are deeply injured, our view of the world can sometimes change. Injustice can cause people, who were optimistic and trusting, to become cynical and embittered."
(Robert Enright, Forgiveness Is a Choice, p. 120)
"Forgiveness can be instrumental in reversing a worldview that embraces bitterness and pushes goodness aside." (Robert Enright, Forgiveness Is a Choice, p. 121)
07/22/2026
Today’s Essential Read on the Psychology Today website:
Crossing the Finish Line When It Is Hard to Forgive Are you in a forgiveness process only to feel stuck, unable to complete the process? If so, these methods may help you persevere with success.
"How does one know if she has forgiven? You tend to feel sorrow over the circumstance instead of rage, you tend to feel sorry for the person rather than angry with him."
(Clarissa Pinkola Estes)
"Forgiveness is the answer to the child's dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is made clean again."
(Dag Hammarskjold, Markings, 1964)
"It takes direct action to extinguish resentments. The forgiveness process may require us to stir up the coals of resentment, drown them with specific actions, and then stir them again to prove to ourselves that the resentment is no longer a danger to us or to others."
(Robert Enright, Forgiveness Is a Choice, p. 34)
"Forgiving is one step in the process toward reconciliation. Reconciliation without forgiveness is often no more than an armed truce in which each side patrols the demilitarized zone looking for incursions by the other and waiting to resume hostilities."
(Robert Enright, Forgiveness Is a Choice, p. 30-31)
"In spite of everything that our offenders have done, we are willing to treat them as members of the human community." (Robert Enright, Forgiveness Is a Choice, p. 25-26)
“Forgiving is rediscovering the shining path of peace that at first you thought others took away when they betrayed you.”
— Dodinsky
Want your school to be the top-listed School/college in Madison?
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
Location
Address
Madison, WI