#Reconciliation Quotes

“Come, gentlemen, I hope we shall drink down all unkindness.”

“This we prescribe, though no physician; Deep malice makes too deep incision; Forget, forgive; conclude and be agreed; Our doctors say this is no month to bleed.”

“So, good night unto you all. Give me your hands, if we be friends, and Robin shall restore amends.”

“Gloucester, we have done deeds of charity, made peace of enmity, fair love of hate, between these swelling wrong-incensed peers.”

“By Heaven, my soul is purg'd from grudging hate; And with my hand I seal my true heart's love”

“Come, go with us, speak fair; you may salve so,Not what is dangerous present, but the losOf what is past.”

“We are asking the nations of Europe between whom rivers of blood have flowed, to forget the feuds of a thousand years and work for the larger harmonies on which the future depends.”

“Set we forward; letA Roman and a British ensign waveFriendly together. So through Lud's town march,And in the temple of the great JupiterOur peace we'll ratify, seal it with feasts.Set on there! Never was a war did cease,Ere bloody hands were washed, with such a peace.”

“And, when the votes are counted, let everybody, including the candidates, get into a good humor as quick as they got into a bad one.”

“I regret the ending of our friendship and hope one day before we die, we'll make peace with each other . . . No rush.”

“I was called a terrorist yesterday, but when I came out of jail, many people embraced me, including my enemies, and that is what I normally tell other people who say those who are struggling for liberation in their country are terrorists.”

“It is necessary to heal the wounds of the past If you are going to build your country and to have unity. I am working with people who fought me very bitterly before the elections. It was my responsibility as the man who is leading the majority party, my responsibility to heal the wounds of the past and to work with people who were my opponents.”

“Sport has the power to overcome old divisions and create the bond of common aspirations”

“At the southern tip of the continent, a rich reward is in the making, an invaluable gift is in the preparation, for those who suffered in the name of all humanity when they sacrificed everything - for liberty, peace, human dignity and human fulfillment.The value of our shared reward will and must be measured by the joyful peace which will triumph, because of the common humanity that bonds both black and white into one human race, will have said to each one of us that we shall all live like the children of paradise.”

“Our task is not to liberate the oppressed, but to liberate the oppressors”

“Good men and women can be mobilized to ensure that South Africa is united and that the spirit of reconciliation is strengthened and that progress in this country takes place as fast as it can.”

“South Africans must recall the terrible past so that we can deal with it, forgiving where forgiveness is necessary but never forgetting.”

“The principle of nonviolent resistance seeks to reconcile the truths of two opposites-Acquiescence and violence -while avoiding the extremes and immoralities of both.”

“A second basic fact that characterizes nonviolence is that it does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his friendship and understanding.”

“We forgive but not forgotten”

“The message of reconciliation, of nation-building, of granting amnesty, indemnity, has struck a powerful, favorable chord. And people can understand that we're here not for purposes of retribution but to forget the past and to build our country.”

“We understand it still that there is no easy road to freedom. We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world. Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world. Let freedom reign.”

“I appeal to the Youth and those on the ground: start talking to each other across divisions of race and political organizations.”

“If you are negotiating you must do so in a spirit of reconciliation, not from the point of view of issuing ultimatums.”

“Let us give practical recognition to the injustices of the past,by building a future based on equality&social justice”

“There is no future without forgiveness”

“The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come. The time to build is upon us.”

“True reconciliation does not consist in merely forgetting the past.”

“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”

“Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace.”

“The method of nonviolence seeks not to humiliate and not to defeat the oppressor, but it seeks to win his friendship and his understanding. And thereby and therefore the aftermath of this method is reconciliation.”

“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.”

“When bitter enemies make peace, surely some bitterness remains.”

“The Negro needs the white man to free him from his fears. The white man needs the Negro to free him from his guilt.”

“The words 'I will forgive you, but I'll never forget what you've done' never explain the real nature of forgiveness.”

“If we have injured someone, giving him the opportunity to make a joke about us is often enough to provide him personal satisfaction, or even to win his good will.”

“People with clenched fists can not shake hands.”

“Reconciliation with our enemies is simply a desire to better our condition, a weariness of war, or the fear of some unlucky thing from occurring.”

“When we seek reconciliation with our enemies, it is commonly out of a desire to better our own condition, a being harassed and tired out with a state of war, and a fear of some ill accident which we are willing to prevent.”

“Turn enemies into friends by doing something nice for them.”

“Envy is more incapable of reconciliation than hatred is.”

“One minute of reconciliation is worth more than a whole life of friendship!”

“When we face problems or disagreements today, we have to arrive at solutions through dialogue. Dialogue is the only appropriate method. One-sided victory is no longer acceptable. We must work to resolve conflicts in a spirit of reconciliation and always keep in mind the interests of others.”

“There is, hidden or flaunted, a sword between the sexes till an entire marriage reconciles them.”

“We must work to resolve conflicts in a spirit of reconciliation and always keep in mind the interests of others. We cannot destroy our neighours! We cannot ignore their interests!”

“Non-violence means dialogue, using our language, the human language. Dialogue means compromise; respecting each other’s rights; in the spirit of reconciliation there is a real solution to conflict and disagreement. There is no hundred percent winner, no hundred percent loser—not that way but half-and-half. That is the practical way, the only way.”

“May I tell you why it seems to me a good thing for us to remember wrong that has been done us? That we may forgive it.”

“Forgiving and being forgiven are two names for the same thing. The important thing is that a discord has been resolved.”

“We remember the surge and we remember the Awakening -- when the abyss of chaos turned toward the promise of reconciliation. By battling and building block by block in Baghdad, by bringing tribes into the fold and partnering with the Iraqi army and police, you helped turn the tide toward peace.”