"Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death and judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends."
— J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring)

"I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them."
— Oscar Wilde (The Picture of Dorian Gray)

"The willingness to forgive is a sign of spiritual and emotional maturity. It is one of the great virtues to which we all should aspire. Imagine a world filled with individuals willing both to apologize and to accept an apology. Is there any problem that could not be solved among people who possessed the humility and largeness of spirit and soul to do either -- or both -- when needed?"
— Gordon B. Hinckley (Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes)

""I know you love me. The question is, how much?"
"
— Jodi Picoult

"Love thy enemies, it says in the scriptures. My foster mother always added, "At the very least, you will be polite to them.""
— Patricia Briggs (Moon Called)

"The world will give you that once in awhile, a brief timeout; the boxing bell rings and you go to your corner, where somebody dabs mercy on your beat-up life."
— Sue Monk Kidd (The Secret Life of Bees)

"Reluctantly, I pulled out my necklace and showed it to them.
Samuel frowned. The little figure was stylized; I suppose he couldn't tell what it was at first.
"A dog?" asked Zee, staring at my necklace.
"A lamb," I said defensively, tucking it safely back under my shirt. "Because one of Christ's names is "The Lamb of God.""
Samuel's shoulders shook slightly. "I can see it now, Mercy holding a roomful of vampire at bay with her glowing sheep."
I gave his shoulder a hard push, aware of the heat climbing to my cheeks, but it didn't help. He sang in a soft taunting voice, "Mercy had a little lamb...""
— Patricia Briggs (Moon Called)

"I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live."
— BIBLE SOCIETY

"'C’est moi, c’est moi,’tis I,' I told him. It seemed appropriately melodramatic, though I didn’t know if he’d catch the reference. I shouldn’t have worried.
Unexpectedly, he laughed. “Trust you to quote Lancelot rather than Guinevere.” "
— Patricia Briggs (Moon Called)

"You cannot conceive, nor can I, of the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God."
— Graham Greene (The End of the Affair)

"With time and perspective we recognize that such problems in life do come for a purpose, if only to allow the one who faces such despair to be convinced that he really does need divine strength beyond himself, that she really does need the offer of heaven’s hand. Those who feel no need for mercy usually never seek it and almost never bestow it. Those who have never had a heartache or a weakness or felt lonely or forsaken never have had to cry unto heaven for relief of such personal pain. Surely it is better to find the goodness of God and the grace of Christ, even at the price of despair, than to risk living our lives in a moral or material complacency that has never felt any need for faith or forgiveness, any need for redemption or relief."
— Elder Jeffery R. Holland

"Why should I question God about all the trials and pain in my life? I never question the goodness and blessings."
— Johanne Jestafie

""Are you going to tell me what that was about?" Adam asked as we went back upstairs.
"Sometime," I told him. " When we're telling ghost stories around a campfire, and I want to scare you.""
— Patricia Briggs (Bone Crossed)

"In the heartfelt mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will visit us, to shine on those sitting in darkness, in the shadow of death, to guide our feet to the way of peace."
— Luke 1:78-79

"Jesus can you show me
Just how far the east is from the west,
Cause I can't bear to see the man I've been
Rising up in me again.
In the arms of your mercy I find rest
Cause you know just how far the east is from the west---
From one scarred hand to the other."
— Casting Crowns (Casting Crowns - The Altar and the Door)

"Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy."
— Wendell Berry

"10 percent of any population is cruel, no matter what, and 10 percent is merciful, no matter what, and the remaining 80 percent can be moved in either direction."
— Susan Sontag

"Night is a time of rigor, but also of mercy. There are truths which one can see only when it’s dark"
— Isaac Bashevis Singer (Teibele and her demon)

"Children are innocent and love justice while most adults are wicked and prefer mercy."
— G.K. Chesterton

"I used to think mercy meant showing kindness to someone who didn't deserve it, as if only the recipient defined the act. The girl in between has learned that mercy is defined by its giver. Our flaws are obvious, yet we are loved and able t love, if we choose, because there is that bit of the divine still smoldering in us."
— Susan Meissner (The Shape of Mercy: A Novel)

"Poor is the man whose pleasures depend on the permission of another. "
— Madonna

"The quality of mercy is not strain'd;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless'd;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes;
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown."
— William Shakespeare

"It's better to risk saving a guilty person than to condemn an innocent one."
— Voltaire

"Sidonie, I know you don't remember it, but you once promised to trust me beyond all reason. And I swear to you that all that I am, all that I possess, including this gem-stone, is yours. I need you. I can't do this alone. Forget your memories. Look into your heart. And if you can find somewhere there, some lingering spark of trust that owes naught to reason, I beg you to speak the word written here."
— Jacqueline Carey

"We do not want to have mercy for the things God has under judgment. We do not want to fall in the ditch on the otherside of unsanctified mercy."
— Rick Joyner

"The quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It is twice blest: it blesseth him that gives and him that takes. It becomes the throned monarch better than his crown. His scepter doth show the force of temporal power, wherein doth sit the fear and dread of kings. But mercy is above this sceptered sway, it is enthroned in the heart of kings, it is an attribute to God himself. And earth power doth then show likest God's when mercy seasons justice. Therefore Jew, though justice be thy plea, consider this: that in the course of justice none of us should see salvation. We do pray for mercy, and this same prayer doth teach us all to render the deeds of mercy. I have spoke this much to mitigate the justice of thy plea."
— Shakespeare: Merchant of Venice

"Few things a doctor does are more important than relieving pain. . . pain is soul destroying. No patient should have to endure intense pain unnecessarily. The quality of mercy is essential to the practice of medicine; here, of all places, it should not be strained."
— Marcia Angell