"I can forgive, but I can't forget" is just another way of saying, "I can't forgive." Henry Ward Beecher
(1813-1887) American religious.
Source of the quote.
By pure chance, I came across this phrase attributed to an American clergyman, abolitionist, and as I understand it with a good reputation in terms of his phrases and thoughts.
I have to admit that I am not one to forgive easily, I do it at the end to have a bit of mental calm and not to give my opponents the satisfaction of having my head full of unpleasant memories and ideas. But I certainly don't think that memory and forgiveness are incompatible, after all, every bad experience is a source of learning and if you dedicate yourself to forgetting what bad people, bad decisions, and bad results teach you, then, you would be making a great waste of the lessons that life has tried to teach you.
So, I have to contradict this quote, I think it is entirely necessary to remember, learn from what happened and do everything possible not to repeat what led us to a situation that we judge negative.
Can you forgive without forgetting? I postulate that it is possible. Since forgiveness has to do with an emotional bond issue or a negative anchoring in a painful memory that is worth releasing to move forward if it were to forget everything that is supposed to be forgiven, then it would seem silly to me, it is as if a child who burned his finger with a flame forgot that fire burns.
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