The saying - forgive and forget?

Question

i never understood the saying "i can forgive but not forget", what does it mean?

I never understood the difference between forgiving and forgetting. is forgiving not forgetting as in you are more careful in future or one holds a sort of grudge? i guess that wouldnt be forgiving if one holds a grudge.. , no? hmm can u explain this to me? thanks

Answer 1

FORGIVING is letting off the grudge between the quarreling persons and Forgetting is about putting the past in the past.

Answer 2

forgive him and love him,

so long as one loves, one forgives.

Answer 3

You can forgive the harm that someone did to you but you'll never forget it. Like the saying goes :"Once bitten, twice shy"

Answer 4

it means forgive and forget it ever happened!!

Answer 5

You forgive which means you forgive that person for doing what they did, you are on good terms with them again, but you won't forget which means what they did will still hurt you - or they will see you in a different light from now on.

Example: My partner and I have an argument and during it he says something hurtful - we make up, I forgive him, but what he says till hurts/ makes me think about what he said....

Answer 6

Forgive = get over it and give them a second chance and don't hold a grudge but you've learned a lesson and won't fall for it next time. Forget = Let it go completely as if it never happened. Wrondoing completely wiped out.

Personally I'd go for the first one. There's more clauses.

Answer 7

Depends on the person and what they did to me, then i choose whether to forgive and forget.

Answer 8

Forgive, but don't forget. M.

Answer 9

It means you will forgive the person for what they have done.  You accept their apology, and are willing to move on.  But they cannot forget the pain that your actions have caused.  It doesn't mean they are holding a grudge, merely that the memory is not one that will go away easily.  

Answer 10

"I can forgive" - I'm not going to hold it against you/wish that you get hit by a bus etc.

"but not forget" - but while I won't hate you I won't trust you/respect you/want to spend vast amounts of time with you etc.

Answer 11

To forgive is to get over a person's wrongs. You can do this without forgeting them. If you forget as well, you put the wrongs out of your mind forever.

Answer 12

I AGREE WITH DA "EXPLODING JELLY FISH"

Answer 13

My sister did something to me years ago, I've forgiven her, but I'll never forget it!

Answer 14

to forgive & forget means that you move past whatever someone has done to hurt you. something happened or someone made a mistake, but it's in the past and you let it go and move on with your life. it's not always easy to do.

Answer 15

Interesting  question.  The  neo-n***s,  many  of  whom  are  on  this  site  hate  foreigners  and  people  of  different  colours  and  cultures  and  will  never  'forgive  and  forget',  for  what,  is  still  unexplained  to  me.  Therefore  they  take  things  personally  against  these  people,  again  unexplained. Maybe  it's  something  not  recorded  in  history.  I  however  will  never  forgive,  or  forget.  EVER!?

Answer 16

Forgive and forget means exactly what it says; if someone upsets you for any reason, forgive them and don't hold a grudge. I like this phrase because it make one the better person by doing so.

Answer 17

Forgive means that you are not angry with the person anymore，and that you are not holding a grudge against the person.

Forget means not remembering something.

Eg. My friend went out with my boyfriend. I have forgiven her (means I'm not angry with her anymore for what she has done) but I will never forget it.,

Eg2 My teacher forgave (past tense of forgive) me for forgetting my homework at home.