Every hour or so she asks how I'm feeling, and I hear her giving reports on the phone to her friends. "He's doing better today. A little trouper, doesn't complain at all." I like hearing her talk about me, as if I matter.

Apart from forgiveness, the monstrous past may awake at any time from hibernation to devour the present. And also the future.

In a letter to his brother, C. S. Lewis mentioned that he prayed every night for the people he was most tempted to hate, with Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini heading the list. In another letter he wrote that as he prayed for them, he meditated on how his own cruelty might have blossomed into something like theirs. He remembered that Christ died for them as much as for him, and that he himself was not "so different from these ghastly creatures.

It was a kind face, and yet it was strong and fearless too.

it is never too late to make things right.

Detached forgiveness—there is a reduction in negative feelings toward the offender, but no reconciliation takes place. Limited forgiveness—there is a reduction in negative feelings toward the offender, and the relationship is partially restored, though there is a decrease in the emotional intensity of the relationship. Full forgiveness—there is a total cessation of negative feelings toward the offender, and the relationship is fully restored.

The ultimate proof of total forgiveness takes place when we sincerely petition the Father to let those who have hurt us off the hook—even if they have hurt not only us, but also those close to us.

nine out of ten people I have had to forgive sincerely do not feel they have done anything wrong. It is up to me to forgive them from my heart — and then keep quiet about it.

Sometimes you just have to extend a little grace to people. Not because they deserve it - but because we don't deserve it either.

There are far more kind and honest people than there are courageous people.

Human beings tend to much more quickly forget the good others have done for them than the bad others have done to them. That's human nature.

Remembering—the good others have done, the evil others have done, and one's moral obligations—is an indispensable aspect of a good and meaningful life.