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By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher. – Socrates quote

Sometimes reality has a way of sneaking up and biting us in the ass. And when the dam bursts, all you can do is swim. The world of pretend is a cage, not a cocoon. We can only lie to ourselves for so long. We are tired, we are scared, denying it doesn’t change the truth. Sooner or later we have to put aside our denial and face the world. Head on, guns blazing. De Nile. It’s not just a river in Egypt, it’s a freakin’ ocean. So how do you keep from drowning in it? – Meredith Baxter quote

If addiction is judged by how long a dumb animal will sit pressing a lever to get a “fix” of something, to its own detriment, then I would conclude that netnews is far more addictive than cocaine. -  Rob Stampfli quote

Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names – John Fitzgerald Kennedy quote

I’ve learned that no matter how good a friend someone is, they’re going to hurt you every once in awhile and you must forgive them for that.

Fast for Fear of Choking (You can’t refuse to do the thing you need to just because there is a slight chance to fail.) – Chinese Proverb quote

I may have my pride, but my pride does not have me.

A stiff apology is a second insult… The injured party does not want to be compensated because he has been wronged; he wants to be healed because he has been hurt. – G. K. Chesterton quote

Never ruin an apology with an excuse. Kimberly Johnson quote

I’ve never known any human being, high or humble, who ever regretted, when nearing life’s end, having done kindly deeds. But I have known more than one millionaire who became haunted by the realization that they had led selfish lives. – Barry C. Forbes quote

You can bend it and twist it… You can misuse and abuse it… But even God cannot change the Truth. – Michale Levy

Judge a person by their questions, rather than their answers. – Voltaire

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. – George Santayana

The coward calls the brave man rash, the rash man calls him a coward.

Try and fail, but don’t fail to try. How long should you try? Until.

One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure its worth watching.

Nobody can hurt me without my permission. Mahatma Gandhi

My wisdom comes from my own personal experiences, my knowledge from the experiences of others; if it were the other way around I couldn’t trust myself. – Antoinette Forsythe

When thought becomes excessively painful, action is the finest remedy. – Salman Rushdie

We think too small. Like the frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view. — Mao Tse-Tung

For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. -Ecclesiastes

Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours. Cesar Chavez

Love is a decision – not an emotion.

Before enlightenment – chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment – chop wood, carry water. Zen Buddhist Proverb

Arguing with a fool proves there are two. Doris M. Smith

Men soon the faults of others learn. A few their virtues, too, find out. But is there one I have a doubt; Who can his own defects discern? Sanskrit Proverb

Then you will have success if you are careful to observe the decrees and laws that the LORD gave Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged. 1 Chronicles 22:13

No one ever choked to death swallowing his pride

Are you not ashamed of caring so much for the making of money and for fame and prestige, when you neither think nor care about wisdom and truth and the improvement of your soul? Socrates

Image Credit: Philosophers Club by Thomas Hawk,  Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

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She said, “To err is human, to forgive divine. To forget is something I consider on a case to case basis; there are many occasions where I have forgiven and forgotten, however, if the individual still exhibits the past characteristics and will be an active part of my life, I remain vigilant; I don’t forget.”

He said – No! You can’t do that! You have to forget! That’s the whole point of forgiveness. If you are still holding on to the past then that isn’t forgiving. That’s so unfair to that person. That means you are being a hypocrite.

She said – I am a believer in the Bible and I don’t know of any passage in the Bible that tells me to forget. I choose to learn from the past and that may require that I do not forget that someone could still hurt me. It’s not unfair to that person! They must accept the consequences of their behaviour; they must accept that some people may not ever trust them again and I think that if their behaviour hasn’t changed, they shouldn’t be fully trusted.

He said – No! You have to give people a chance! You can’t hold the past over them! You have to forget! No one is perfect! The Bible says to forgive and forget!

She said – Let me give you an example of what I mean. As a child, two men in my family abused me, in one scenario I remembered vividly what had taken place. My mother later told me that since then, he had become saved. In the second scenario, I couldn’t remember what had happened at all, but I knew that he had abused me.

There came a time when I had to face them both. I went to the home of the first and as our eyes met, a peace came over me; I could see that this was not the same man that I knew as a child. He was different! In that moment, I completely forgave him and forgot about the past. I then had a lovely evening with him and the family. Over the years we kept in touch and when he died I cried. Remember, in this scenario, I had a vivid memory of the past.

When I met with the second (of whom I had no memory of the events), the moment I saw him I was overcome with a sick feeling in my stomach. He walked over to me with a smirk on his face. He then hugged me and squeezed my bottom; his behaviour was inappropriate and very disrespectful. The last time this man saw me I was but a child of only 10 years; this meeting was 22 years later. In that moment I decided to forgive him and to pray for him. However, because he had not changed his ways, I did not allow myself to forget the past thus opening the door for him to hurt me again and I did not maintain a friendship. A few years after my visit, he did the same to another family member during her visit. In spite of it all, I don’t hate him and I still pray for him. I also pray that one day I can forget.

He Said – I still think you are wrong. You are already making a decision that they’re never going to change. You have to give them a chance to change.

She said – Sorry but I don’t owe such people anything. I think in these circumstances “to forget is foolish.”

Now that you have listened in on a conversation, consider my dilemma…

The Bible says, “forgive as I have forgiven you.” So does God want us to forgive and forget in all cases even if it renders us as open prey for the wicked? Are we capable of forgiving on the same level as the Lord; he is perfect and we are not. According to the Bible did God really forget and forgive?

Written by Antoinette Forsythe Copyright © All rights Reserved, Image Credit: IMG_0211 by Nick Skitch Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License, Slavery Museum by timbrauhn Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License, Jewish victims of the Nazi holocaust during World War 2 in Public Domain.