The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but never forget.
[Thomas Szasz, 1973]
You can forgive all right but be very, very wary, all the same.
[Thomas Szasz, 1973]
You can forgive all right but be very, very wary, all the same.
I used to be naive by this thought of the day, now I am just a bitch...who kills those who deserve to be forgotten but not forgiven. :)
ReplyDeleteEagerly awaiting your next post! :)
ReplyDeleteForgiveness is a powerful weapon but not all understand that. Not to forgive chews a person up inside until he/she can think of nothing else. Forgiving releases you from the destructive contract and lets you get on with life. The problem then is the other person's.
ReplyDeleteIt rather depends on the fault that requires forgiving. If it's minor, there's no problem.
ReplyDeleteForgiveness for major 'crimes' is hard, and I can only manage a kind of forgiveness-with-reservations (of the do-it-again-and-you're-dead! type) I never forget these.
The problem I see is that there is often, especially in partnerships, one person quite convinced he/she is right and creates a "crime" the other has committed but it is not necessarily so. It might have been failing to come up to an unrealistic expectation or something equally innocuous.
ReplyDeleteEven when someone has failed me badly, it might have been for psychological reticence reasons, forgetting due to tiredness etc.
Not all the time, mind. Most times the crime is clear but not always as clear as one party vehemently supposes.
I am with the latter category, forgive but not forget. There is also a bit more to this than meets the eye. The not forgetting part is very useful with other encounters as life goes on!
ReplyDeleteAm I missing something here? I thought forgiveness was the essence of Christianity.
ReplyDeleteHaving read the Bible, Welshcakes, you'd no doubt know Romans 12:20/21:
ReplyDelete"Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Easier said than done.
Cherie - true.