Jesus Himself stresses that only those who grant forgiveness will receive it.

Whatever someone did to you in the past has no power over the present. Only you give it power.

They may be nothing like you, he had written, they may surprise you, they may even repel you when their behavior is out of control, when they climb out their windows and drink underage and break every rule, but you will love them in a way you had not thought possible before, no matter who they turn out to be.

what does love matter in a world where it's so easy to hurt someone?

There are none who can fight as fiercely as a mother and a daughter, and none who can forgive more completely.

Tell me you won't walk away again and I'll call the whole thing off.

Families are the Nurseries of all Societies: and the First combinations of mankind.

if a person doesn't speak her mind she will carry her resentment until it burns her

Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. —WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Oh, Celie, unbelief is a terrible thing. And so is the hurt we cause others unknowingly.

Hard to be Christ too, say Shug. But he manage. Remember that. Thou Shalt Not Kill, He said. And probably wanted to add on to that, Starting with me. He knowed the fools he was dealing with.

Try not to hold her fears against her. At the end she understood, and believed. And forgave-whatever there was to forgive.