understanding

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. God bless those who see beyond our flaws painted in bold strokes.

God always brings someone into your life that has traveled the same path and knows the rocks you climbed to get to the end of the trail.

...lose your mind so that you can gain a new way of knowing.

Words matter, but what matters more than words is forgiveness and compassion.

She had been so vulnerable, and Norah wanted only to protect her. But that vulnerability was tied to a massive mistake, a perception of herself too damaged to love. If Norah got anything from this book, it's that we're all damaged. The tragedy is letting it define you.

Never leave a situation unless you know what you needed and what you were never going to get.

Compassion does not have to be a face-to-face relationship. Forgiveness does not imply friendship. Understanding why someone has inflicted pain on us is how we set ourselves free of the past, not how we excuse someone's behaviour so they can continue to abuse us.

There is a saying that to understand is to forgive, but that is an error, so Papa used to say. You must forgive in order to understand. Until you forgive, you defend yourself against the possibility of understanding...If you forgive, he would say, you may indeed still not understand, but you will be ready to understand, and that is a posture of grace.

Act with God's compassion, mercy and forgiveness in mind and you will always be right. Act with revenge in your heart and you will always be wrong.

There__ a Chinese word that means __oul sister,_ and that is the word I would use to address you in my heart. Listen to me, soul sister: Fate or luck or destiny already put you through hell once. Please don__ make it worse by condemning yourself. There is no choice that would have left you feeling no guilt. Every time I watch Adam struggle to speak, every time I see another child laugh and point at him, every time I watch his face fall as he realizes he is not going to be treated like the other kids, I feel wrenched by guilt just as you did when you heard my story. Life is hard. We make the best choices we can. Condemnation, whether it comes from around you or inside you, only robs the world of another dram of compassion. God knows, we need all the compassion we can get. If you promise to try to forgive yourself, I__l try to forgive myself as well. I think, in my heart of hearts, that there is nothing for either one of us to forgive.

And He will judge and will forgive all, the good and the evil, the wise and the meek . . . And when He has done with all of them, then He will summon us. __ou too come forth,_ He will say, __ome forth ye drunkards, come forth, ye weak ones, come forth, ye children of shame!_ And we shall all come forth, without shame and shall stand before him. And He will say unto us, __e are swine, made in the Image of the Beast and with his mark; but come ye also!_ And the wise ones and those of understanding will say, __h Lord, why dost Thou receive these men?_ And He will say, __his is why I receive them, oh ye wise, this is why I receive them, oh ye of understanding, that not one of them believed himself to be worthy of this._ And He will hold out His hands to us and we shall fall down before him . . . and we shall weep . . . and we shall understand all things! Then we shall understand everything! . . . and all will understand

you__e so afraid of everyone pitying you that you__ rather nurture their contempt than accept their forgiveness"- Stacey Michaels

you__e so afraid of everyone pitying you that you__ rather nurture their contempt than accept their forgiveness" - Stacey Michaels

I let my anger consume me.___t__ understandable,_ she said.__t may be understandable,_ replied Pug, __ut it is no more forgivable for being understandable.

When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth__eople getting no sleep day or night-- then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.

The difference between a moral person and a person of honor is that the latter regrets a discreditable act, made out of weakness and tries to make amends with their life when they find the opportunity to say they are sorry is lost.

I can always forgive where I understand.

... but if I've learned one thing, it's this: forgiveness is crucial. If you can't forgive someone you're mad at, that anger will poison you. You have to learn to let it go"... "people have reasons for doing the things that they do, especially when they care about you. You may not always understand what they are, but if you can try to understand the person then you might see that they really care, despite what happened."pg 100 Meredith to Vlad