50 Grudge Quotes on the Power of Forgiveness

By Norbert Juma

Master quote curator and editor on a mission to inspire

Published August 19, 2023

If you are searching for grudge quotes, just take a look at our list provided below.

Here, you can come across some of the most relevant and interesting grudge quotes.

These quotes are worthy to be shared with friends and family.

In addition to our quotes section, we have also talked about the term “Grudge”.

You may also enjoy reading these related articles:

So, without any further ado, let’s dive in!

What is Meant by the term Grudge?

The term grudge represents a lingering feeling of ill will or resentment against a person or group of individuals.

Holding a grudge is common, and it is considered as a key element of human nature.

One holds a grudge due to feelings like:

Hurt
Betrayal
Injustice

Nevertheless, the burden of a grudge tends to have a toxic output.

It could prove detrimental to both mental and emotional well-being.

Grudges can ruin our life by damaging our relationships.

Nature of Common Grudges

A grudge is usually a result of unresolved conflicts.

This leads to negative experiences, which hold onto long after the unpleasant occurrence.

Grudges can consume our emotional strength and thoughts.

This affects our interactions with others.

While it offers a sense of protection or justification, keeping grudges for longer periods can poison our minds.

The Emotional Toll

Holding a grudge could be detrimental to our mental and emotional health.

It helps us to forget the past and gives us the strength to move forward.

Moreover, anger and resentment could lead to anxiety, stress, and depression.

Holding a grudge also results in changing our perception of others.

As a result, it leads to a cycle of negativity within the society.

How to Break Free from Grudges

Below are the ways that can help you break free from grudges:

Acknowledge the Grudge
Practice Self-Reflection
Empathize with Yourself

Acknowledge the Grudge

If you recognize you have a grudge, it can help you understand the level of resentment.

It allows us to understand the toll you are paying for keeping the grudge.

Practice Self-Reflection

You need to understand the true cause of the grudge.

Make sure to practice self-reflection, which is the key to strengthening you.

This helps us know the relationship and its strength.

Empathize with Yourself

You can empathize with yourself to acknowledge that it is normal to experience unpleasant situations.

Once you understand that getting hurt emotionally is a natural experience, it can help you deal with the grudge.

Top 10 Grudge Quotes

Let’s check out the top 10 best grudge quotes for leading a beautiful life without keeping grudges.

1. “I don’t hold grudges.” — Ian Mcewan

2. “Life is too short for long-term grudges.” — Elon Musk

3. “I bear no grudges. I have a mind that retains nothing.” — Bette Midler

4. “When you nurse a grudge, it is not good for your health.” — Desmond Tutu

5. “Irish Alzheimer’s: you forget everything except the grudges.” — Judy Collins

6. “In ceremonies of the horsemen, even the pawn must hold a grudge.” — Bob Dylan

7. “I’m a very tolerant man, except when it comes to holding a grudge.” — Robin Williams

8. “At some point, you have to forget about grudges because they only hurt.” — Taylor Swift

9. “Sharks don’t target human beings, and they certainly don’t hold grudges.” — Peter Benchley

10. “If I can catch him once upon the hip, I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him.” — William Shakespeare

Grudges Quotes On Forgiveness and Redemption

Discover the path to healing and growth with these powerful grudges quotes.

11. “Don’t let the grudge last. Be the first to try to make things right and stop waiting for an apology.” — Nouman Ali Khan

12. “The state of your heart dictates whether you harbor a grudge or give grace, seek self-pity or seek Christ, drink human misery or taste God’s mercy.” — Max Lucado

13. “Vampires bore a grudge longer than any technically living creatures, and whenever they were in a bad temper, they expressed themselves through murder.” — Cassandra Clare

14. “Are you holding a grudge? You will never be more like God than when you forgive. Let it go. Kill the root of bitterness. Let the hurt go and set yourself free.” — Craig Groeschel

15. “The writer has a grudge against society, which he documents with accounts of unsatisfying sex, unrealized ambition, unmitigated loneliness, and a sense of local and global distress.” — Renata Adler

16. “Hostile armies may face each other for years, striving for the victory which is decided in a single day. This being so, to remain in ignorance of the enemy’s condition simply because one grudge the outlay of a hundred ounces of silver in honors and emoluments is the height of inhumanity.” — Sun Tzu

Grudge Quotes Showing the Negative Impacts of Holding Grudges

We should not hold grudges against others as it has a negative impact on us. So follow these quotes to letting go and move forward.

17 “A grudge will soon rot the pocket you carry it in.” — Betty MacDonald

18. “Grudges seldom hurt anyone except the one bearing them.” — Sherrilyn Kenyon

19. “Grudges are like hand grenades: it is wise to release them before they destroy you.” — Barbara Johnson

20. “The problem with holding a grudge is that your hands are then too full to hold onto anything else.” — Seth Godin

21. “We cannot embrace God’s forgiveness if we are so busy clinging to past wounds and nursing old grudges.” — T. D. Jakes

22. “Holding a grudge does not hurt the person against whom the grudge is held, it hurts the one who holds it.” — Booker T. Washington

23. ”The grudge you hold on to is like a hot coal that you intend to throw at someone, only you’re the one who gets burned.” — Gautama Buddha

24. “I’ve had a few arguments with people, but I never carry a grudge. Do you know why? While you’re carrying a grudge, they’re out dancing.” — Buddy Hackett

25. “Resentment or grudges do no harm to the person against whom you hold these feelings, but every day and every night of your life, they are eating at you.” — Norman Vincent Peale

26. “We are all children of the Great Spirit; we all belong to Mother Earth. Our planet is in great trouble, and if we keep carrying old grudges and do not work together, we will all die.” — Chief Seattle

Grudge Quotes for Avoiding Grudges

One should avoid grudges and should forgive and live peacefully with others. So avoid grudges for leading a peaceful life.

27. “I’m just a person who forgives and forgets. I have a hard time holding grudges.” — Zachery Ty Bryan

28. “Don’t hold grudges; it’s pointless. Jealousy too is a non-cathartic, negative emotion.” — John Milton

29. “Carrying a grudge is difficult work that brings nothing of value. Forgive, and be free.” — Ralph Marston

30. “Grudges are a waste of perfect happiness. Laugh..apologize..let go of what you can’t change.” — George Carlin

31. “Carrying a grudge is a heavy burden. As you forgive, you will feel the joy of being forgiven.” — Henry B. During

32. “Hold no grudges and practice forgiveness. This is the key to having peace in all your relationships.” — Wayne Dyer

33. “Don’t go into the new year holding a grudge from last year. Leave the hurts and disappointments behind.” — Joel Osteen

34. “Grudge no expense – yield to no opposition – forget fatigue – till, by the strength of prayer and sacrifice, the spirit of love shall have overcome.” — Maria Weston Chapman

35. “We should learn from children not to hold grudges. Children often fight when they play together, but they quickly make up and their fights don’t deteriorate into bitter feuds.” — Joseph Wechsberg

36. “Begrudging others leads to disharmony. Without harmony, there can be no happiness. Therefore, let go of grudges and restore harmony. In a harmonious world, happiness is possible.” — Arthur Dobrin

Grudge Quotes Showing People’s Grudges

Let’s explore the depths of human emotions with these grudge quotes, revealing the persistence and impact of people’s grudges.

37. “It’s counterproductive and self-destructive to bear grudges with people that are negative.” — Carl Froch

38. ”Whenever he saw a dollar in another man’s hands, he took it as a personal grudge if he couldn’t take it any other way.” — O. Henry

39. “Holding a grudge against someone means you think you know what they deserve, and you take it upon yourself to give it to them.” — Timothy Keller

40. “People don’t just disappear. There’s always a reason or an enemy with a grudge. There’s always a loose thread that starts to unravel.” — Jodi Picoult

41. “Most people probably assume that Hristo is a grumpy, stubborn guy… That can’t be further from the truth. He’s a cheerful, candid person that never holds a grudge.” — Michael Laudrup

42. “The problem is we bear grudges that go a thousand years into the past. Really, I could find people who begrudge the Greeks for doing awful things to the Bulgarians more than a thousand years ago.” — Miroslav Penkov

Quotes About Grudges from Literature

Here are some quotes about holding grudges you may recognize.

43. “Two households, both alike in dignity In fair Verona, where we lay our scene From ancient grudge break to new mutiny Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.” — William Shakespeare

44. “The truly scientific mind is altogether unafraid of the new, and while having no mercy for ideas which have served their turn or shown their uselessness, it will not grudge to any unfamiliar conception its moment of full and friendly attention, hoping to expand rather than to minimize what small core of usefulness it may happen to contain.” — Wilfred Trotter

45. “Indeed, a good quotation hardly ever comes amiss. It is a pleasing break in the thread of a speech or writing, allowing the speaker or writer to retire for an instant while another and greater makes himself heard. And this calling-up of the deathless dead also implies a community of mind with them, which the reader will not grudge the author lest he should seem to deny it to himself.” — William Francis Henry King

46. “Not so in haste, my heart! Have faith in God and wait; Although he lingers long, He never comes too late. He never comes too late, He knoweth what is best: Vex not thyself in vain; Until he cometh, rest. Until he cometh, rest. Nor grudge the hours that roll: The feet that wait for God Are soonest at the goal. Are soonest at the goal. That is not gained by speed; Then hold thee still, my heart, For I shall wait for his lead.” — Bradford Torrey

Additional Grudge Quotes

Here are a few remaining quotes about holding grudges for you to reflect on.

47. “When people are dying, they call their old enemies and try to forgive them and try to be forgiven by them… They give up old hatreds and grudges, and that’s a wise, intuitive thing, because it’s much freer to live like that.” — Robert Thurman

48. “Most people tire of a lecture in ten minutes; clever people can do it in five. Sensible people never go to lectures at all. But the people who do go to a lecture and who get tired of it presently hold it as a sort of grudge against the lecturer personally. In reality, his sufferings are worse than theirs.” — Stephen Leacock

49. “People are chaotic quiddities living in one cave each. They pass the hours in amorous grudge and playback and thought experiment. At the campfire, they put the usual fraction on exhibit and listen to their own silent gibber about how they’re feeling and how they’re going down.” — Martin Amis

50. “If he says that, if he wins, he’s going to, you know, dismantle the libel laws and come after the newspapers, I feel like we should take him at his word. This is the same man who has been writing letters to people who he’s, you know, bared a grudge against for 20 years. So if Donald Trump says that, I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to believe him.” — Trevor Noah